Louise Todd Obituary

NEW LONDON - Louise Jensen "Wee" Todd, 159 Old Main Street, New London, NH, died July 30, 2006, at Woodlawn Nursing Home, in Newport. She was born in Longmeadow, MA on December 26, 1923, the second daughter, youngest, and last surviving child of Harold Holmes and Agnes Mumford Jensen. As a child she worked in the family business, Jensen's Chocolate Factory, Springfield, MA, and graduated from Classical High School in Springfield, in 1942. She first lived in New London when she attended Colby Junior College (now Colby-Sawyer College) graduating with a degree in Secretarial Sciences in 1944. She lettered in field hockey and served as a counselor for inner city youth at the Colby Town Camp on the shore of Little Lake Sunapee in the Summer. After a short period of employment with Standard Envelope Company in Springfield, MA, she returned to New London and worked in the Colby Junior College Student Fund Office (now the Alumni Office) for the late Gen Millar. She also ran the "Curb," a snack bar operated by the College for the Gordon Research Conferences during the Summer. She attended the First Baptist Church and while singing in the church choir, she met Edward A. Todd, from New London, and they were married in Longmeadow, MA in 1949.

The couple returned to New London and lived in a cottage on Lake Sunapee off Hastings Landing. Following the death of Edward's father the same year, they purchased the home at 159 Old Main Street where they lived and raised their family. She was the water collector for what was then the New London Water System Precinct from 1960 to 1964, worked as a secretary for the New London Trust Company shortly after it opened, and worked as a housekeeper for Murray's Housekeeping Cottages on Little Sunapee Lake. She also drove for Edmund's Bus Lines providing transportation for local Summer Camps. She ran the food concession for the Outing Club at the New London Ski Slopes at Pleasant Lake in the winters, before King Ridge opened in 1961. An avid skier, she taught generations of young skiers beginning with the Colby Junior College Ski Program, then as an instructor for the Outing Club Junior Ski Program, and for Laurids Lauridsen Ski School until several years before the "Ridge" closed. She continued to cross-country ski and walk daily, until she was confined indoors.

She started Yarns and Hand Knits, a knitting shop with Barbara "Bobbie" Parker, Little Briton Farm, New London, in 1963. She ran the retail shop and taught classes out of her home for the next 35 years. Following her study at the Elsa Williams School of Needlecraft she taught classes in crewel embroidery, knitting, pettipoint, rug hooking, crochet, and rug braiding, adorning the floors and walls of her home with her rugs and tapestries. She designed and made her own lampshades, and untangled and ripped out many knitting projects for her customers and patiently showed them how to complete them properly, as well as knitting countless pairs of mittens, socks, scarves and sweaters for her customers and family. She mastered both American and European knitting techniques and designed many knitted garments. Her last project was an Oriental hooked rug of the Halley style, which was completed several months ago by her generous friends Mary Teach and Jean Price. An avid painter, she painted for years with John W."Babe" Sargent, Georges Mills, in watercolor and oil on canvas. She also painted custom designs on various mesh fabrics for customers' various embroidery projects, as well as painting designs on antique trays and furniture. She also enjoyed working in her flower gardens and tending her African violets.

She was an active member of the New London Historical Society serving as Secretary for ten years and on the Archives Committee, and was an active member of the First Baptist Church, singing in the Church Choir for years, and serving as the Baptist Womens' Fellowship chair of the Crafts Table for ten years. She remained active with the Alumni Office of her alma mater, frequently inviting reunion attendees to stay in her home, and in 1994, she served as Co-chair of the 50th reunion Class for the Colby Junior College Class if 1944 with her classmate and lifelong friend, Jean Bush Gabriel. She served as chair of the Bicentennial Quilt Committee for New London and completed the project in 1979. The quilt is now on display at the Tracy Memorial Library.

She was an excellent cook and baker, and learned to grow and preserve food by using several different techniques. She baked fresh bread and made countless pounds of her famous potato salad for the deli at the Old Cricenti's Market, when it was a small family market. She demonstrated "Hearthside Cooking" at the New London Historical Society for many years, and her baked goods and homemade preserves were always donated to raise money for various New London institutions over the years. She also served as a Den Mother for the local Cub Scout Troop when her children were younger. Shortly before her retirement, she befriended Rosemary Peters, a neighbor living across the street who was completing her studies at Andover Newton Theological School. She joined in the "laying on of hands" at Rosemary's ordination at the First Baptist Church in August 1987.

She fondly remembered life in rural New London in the 1950's when the population in Winter was measured in the hundreds of hearty souls. Said she, "There was a great sense of neighborhood and community back then. You relied on your neighbors in emergencies. Your relationships with others was most important; it was what sustained you through difficult periods."

Her husband of thirty years, Edward A. Todd, died in 1979. Members of her surviving family surviving include two sons, E. Andrew Todd, Wilmot, and W. Michael Todd, Esq., New London, a daughter-in-law Suzanne R. Todd, New London and Manchester, MA, a step-grandaughter, Hunter Leigh Ann Rametta, Storrs, CT, nieces and nephews.

There will be no calling hours. There will be a graveside memorial service at the Old Main Street Cemetery, on August 25, 2006 at 11:00 A.M. with an invitation to all to come to the New London Historical Society for a celebration of her life immediately following. She has asked that her remains be scattered on the ski slopes where she spent so many rewarding hours teaching others to ski. Contributions may be made in her memory to the New London Historical Society, P.O. Box 965, New London, NH 03257. Chadwick Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.