Joy Guthrie Durell, the last of that generation for my East Coast family, died at 6:00 pm, on Saturday, September 3, 2011, one month and two days after her 97th birthday.
She followed her family roots as she, too, was a pioneer. When she was 21 she left California and traveled by herself for three days on the Vista Dome train across the country to join my father’s old New England family who had ideas quite different from those of the little farming village of Winters, California where she grew up.
Don’s mother, Sadie Durell, loved her at first sight and taught her all things Massachusetts style. Mom’s first cooking triumph was Boston Baked Beans following a miserable failure, trying to please her new husband, by boiling the beans with no seasoning. By the time I took notice she has become a wonderful cook.
Mother finally had time to pursue her own star after we moved to Falmouth in 1950. Joy worked for our local newspaper selling advertising and came to realize that the local realtors all sold houses but no one specialized in summer rentals. She’d found her niche. She got her Brokers license and opened her own office in our kitchen. She must have done this for 35 successful years.
One last thought. Way ahead of her time and for as long as I can remember, Mom was a proponent of wind energy for electricity. She saw it as an untapped power source here on Cape Cod with our constant wind, way back in the 50s. Her dream is happening now.
I miss her and revere her memory.
Karen
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