Longtime resident; founder of Messiah Sing and town pageant
Anne-Marie Arnold. (Courtesy photo)
Anne-Marie Solem Arnold of Old Mill Road died Oct. 8, 2009, on her beloved farm of 53 years.
She was born on May 24, 1935, in Oslo, Norway. She attended the local schools and later attended the University of Oslo, where she studied chemistry. In 1953 her future husband, Bramwell Baker Arnold, sailed on the Pavana, as the acting navigator, from Newport to Oslo. Two years later on June 25, 1955, she and Bramwell were married in Brookline, Mass.
After settling in Harvard in 1956, Anne-Marie became active in community affairs, while raising four children. About 1967, she founded the town band and personally sewed all of the first uniforms, which were red vests. She was a trustee of the Warner Free Lecture series, and as a very active member of the Garden Club of Harvard was a frequent participant at the New England Flower Show. In both 1998 and 2000, the town of Harvard honored her for her many contributions. Above all, family came first for Anne-Marie and she was, at times, embarrassingly proud of her children.
Anne-Marie was very active in the Unitarian Universalist Church, where she was the choir director for many years. In 1965, she started the Messiah Sing, which became an annual event. In 1967, while directing the Unitarian junior choir, she started the Christmas pageant. In the 1970s that pageant became the Ecumenical Christmas pageant, which has also become an annual Harvard event. Anne-Marie was a skilled pianist and later in life learned to play the cello.
Anne-Marie had a lifetime interest in science and chemistry. In the 1980s she began a teaching career in chemistry. She taught at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, North Middlesex Regional High School, Andover High School, and Lowell High School. She also taught Norwegian to the Green Berets at Fort Devens. Even while teaching, she continued her education and earned a master’s degree in education from Fitchburg State College and a Master of Science degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In retirement, she was an educational director at the Leominster Plastics Museum. There she could be found mixing chemicals and inspiring students in the joys of chemistry and science. Anne-Marie was often a judge at the Bromfield School’s science fair.
In 1998, Anne-Marie was honored at the Harvard Elementary School’s Earth Day Fair for her work in establishing the Small nature trail. In the 1970s, Anne-Marie was the chairwoman of the Conservation Commission, and she suggested to the Garden Club that this trail be built. Through the efforts of these two groups, the trail was constructed.
In 1985, her husband, Bramwell, who for nearly 30 years taught physics at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, died suddenly. Even without his help, Anne-Marie continued to tend her farm, where she could be found driving a tractor, cutting hay, tilling the large vegetable garden, or feeding her flock of sheep. In 1997, she received some assistance in tending that flock from Alaska, a guard llama. A Harvard Post reporter happened to be driving down Old Mill Road when the llama arrived, and snapped a picture of a beaming Anne-Marie with her new “helper.” That photo can be found in the Sept. 12, 1997, issue of the Harvard Post.
Growing up in Oslo, Anne-Marie learned both downhill and cross-country skiing. She and her family were active members of the Drifters Ski Club in Jackson, N.H. They spent part of each summer in Vinalhaven, Maine, where they sailed and enjoyed the Maine coast.
Anne-Marie loved her native Norway and returned there frequently to visit, and to ski and hike from Brambu, a cabin she owned in Hamsedal. During one of her last visits to Norway, she led her grandson and son-in-law up over the mountains on the route where her father had established the first electrical line to a remote Norwegian village. The trail ended at an overlook with the fjord and village far below.
Anne-Marie is survived by her four children, Bram of Lemoore, Calif.; Ellen of Pomfret, Conn.; Finn of Grafton; and Tim of Harvard. She also leaves 10 grandchildren and one sister, Irmelin Grønn of Norway. Her services will be at the Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church in Harvard, on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 4 p.m.
Anne-Marie suffered from primary progressive aphasia, a degenerative brain disease. It is the wish of her children that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the National Aphasia Association.
