Phyllis Larkin

05/29/2001

Phyllis Larkin, 95, formerly of Knob Street, died yesterday at Timberlyn Heights Nursing Home, where she had been a resident since April 1998. Born in Magnolia on April 21, 1906, daughter of Philip and E. Jennie Wilkinson Lycett, she attended schools there and graduated from Gloucester High School. She also graduated from Simmons College in Boston with a bachelor's degree in home economics. She moved to Great Barrington in the late 1920s. Mrs. Larkin taught home economics at the former Searles High School. She later became interested in politics, especially regionalism of South County schools and social economics. She was on the School Committee when her twin daughters graduated from high school and handed them their diplomas. She was the first woman from this district to run in the independent party for state representative. She then returned to teaching at the former Searles High School and then at Mount Everett Regional School, from which she retired in the early 1970s. Mrs. Larkin was a member of First Congregational Church and was active in the Women's Guild. She was also a member of the Loving Grandmother's, which sewed patchwork blocks that were sold at church craft fairs, the Jenifer House and the Jenifer House catalog. She was known for her recipes and shared them with members of the community. Her husband, Leo I. Larkin, whom she married in 1929, died in 1973. She leaves a son, Locke Larkin of Great Barrington; a daughter, Martha Szewczak of Rockingham, N.C.; a brother, Philip S. Lycett Jr. of Hamsted, N.H.; six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a daughter, Laura Jean Montrose, who died in 1972. Funeral services will be private. Contributions in Mrs. Larkin's memory may be made to either the Shograna Syndrome Foundation or to the Magnolia Historical Society in care of the FINNERTY & STEVENS FUNERAL HOME, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. Remembrances, memories or reflections may also be sent to finnfh@bcn.net.

Obituaries

Celebrating Lives & Legacies

Phyllis Larkin

Memorials