Mary Stearns Chaffee, 96

Providence, R.I.

Mary passed away Sept. 30. She grew up in Barrington, R.I., and the family also had a winter residence in Miami, Fla. The family’s favorite activity together was sailing their 60-foot schooner, Mohawk, flagship of the Barrington Yacht Club. She also raced Beetle Cats, the classic 12-foot, gaff-rigged wooden sailboats.

Competing in the first annual race for the Narragansett Bay Beetle Cat Association, in 1935, she was named winning girl skipper, sailing her boat named Lady Luck. From 1944 to 1946, she lived in her family’s home in Miami, where she was a volunteer teaching sailing through the Miami Power Squadron, and also did volunteer work through the American Red Cross. In 1945 she earned her private pilot’s license so she could visit friends in the Northeast. She later obtained a water rating to fly seaplanes so she could more easily access the Florida Keys and the Caribbean. For most of her life, Mary was an avid tennis player and, in her earlier years, skier.

Mary Stearns married Henry N. Chaffee in 1946, and returned to Barrington, where the couple raised three children. She was active in land conservation and the environment. She co-founded and was president of the Barrington Land Conservation Trust, and chaired the local Parks and Recreation Commission. She helped map the Barrington wetlands, including her beloved Hundred Acre Cove.