The Reverend Becky Blodgett—who lived a life of service to others, within and outside the parish, as layperson and then minister—died on 12 August 2017, at the age of 84.

The Rev’d Karen Lewis Foley, a Harvard Divinity School classmate, recalls: “Becky’s ministry was pastoral and she had a strong focus on the elderly, working with aging groups and with pastoral care groups providing care for congregants… She had immense respect for the rich lives and unique wisdom of older people… I’ll never forget her saying, “Old age is almost like another country.”

Rebecca Morton Driscoll was born on 16 April 1933 in St. Paul, Minnesota, to John and Helen Driscoll. After graduation in 1955 from Vassar College (NY) with a B.A. in Geology and Conservation, she settled with her new spouse, Timothy Blodgett, in Concord, MA. As a young mother, Becky was a dedicated volunteer with several organizations. Eventually discerning a call to ministry, she earned her M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School in 1989.

After Ms. Blodgett was ordained 17 March 1991 by her home congregation, she worked as a hospice chaplain at several Boston-area nursing homes and hospitals, including Mass. General Hospital. For a year (1996–97) she served as interim assistant minister to Concord’s First Parish and then resumed her wider chaplaincy work. She remained active in the parish as an affiliate minister, conducting weddings and memorial services, training lay leaders, preaching from time to time, and offering pastoral counseling. She retired in 2002.

At time of death, survivors included her spouse of 61 years Tim Blodgett, brothers Frederick and Andrew, children Sarah, Amy, Jeffrey, and Katherine, and eight grandchildren.