Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Marcia ADKISSON
LORD, Marcia A. Babbidge Marcia Adkisson Babbidge Lord, who, as first lady of UConn in the 1960's, was one of the most celebrated women in the state, died Monday, (December 15, 2008) at her home in Mystic. She was 79. Born October 5, 1929, in Lincoln, NE, Mrs. Lord spent her early years in the poverty of the Depression-era dustbowl before relocating to Seattle, WA with her family in the 1940's. After graduating from West Seattle High, she worked as a fashion model and attended the University of Washington, with a major in art history. In the 1950's she moved to Washington, D.C. to work for her congressman, and there met and married her first husband, the late Homer D. Babbidge, Jr. The young couple moved to Storrs in 1962, when Babbidge was named president of the University of Connecticut. At UConn, Marcia Babbidge distinguished herself as an elegant hostess and active committee woman. She established the tradition of a community Easter-egg hunt on the lawn of the president's residence, founded the UConn League "to provide worthwhile service to the university," and was instrumental in the creation of the William Benton Museum of Art. She served for many years on the boards of the Hartford Ballet, the Hartford Stage Company, the Women's Committee of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, the Goodspeed Opera House and the Eugene O'Neill Theater, among others. A woman of exceptional style, she was once named The Best-Dressed Woman in Connecticut; daring to wear midriff-baring gowns and exotic Indian ensembles in small-town Storrs. She loved parties and practical jokes, had a deep compassion for animals and lonely people, and was sensitive to injustice of all kinds. In later years she worked as an independent art and antiques dealer in New Haven and Hartford. In 1993, she married George de Forest Lord, a former Yale professor, and the couple retired to Stonington. In the last years of her life, Mrs. Lord struggled with the progressively worsening effects of Alzheimer's disease, but always remained a strong and vital personality and a loving matriarch to her family. In addition to her husband, she is survived by her brother, Keith Adkisson, of Cocoa Beach, FL; her children, Aimee Babbidge of Old Saybrook, Alexander (Tracy) Babbidge of North Haven, and Sandra Levis of Pittsburgh, PA; seven grandchildren and three stepchildren. Services will be private.
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