Gretchen Conklin

Gretchen Conklin, 89, of Boston, died peacefully on Saturday, February 11, 2023, after a brief illness.

Gretchen was preceded in death by her first husband, Dr. Ellery W. Stone, her second husband, Louis H. Conklin, and her brother, USMC Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Knowles, Jr. 

She is survived by her two sons, Ellery Stone and his wife Molly Stone of Hingham, Massachusetts and Robert Stone of New York City, her stepchildren Elizabeth Zander and husband George Zander of Dickerson, Maryland and Cynthia Conklin of Boston. She was the loving grandmother to three precious grandchildren, Jackson, Madeleine and Claire Stone.

Gretchen was born in 1933 in Boston. She spent her early childhood in Cohasset, Massachusetts and attended Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She continued her studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where she developed what would become a significant talent as an artist.

Gretchen, it could be said, was a renaissance woman. Her talents were abundant and varied. She was a skilled sailor, swimmer and lifeguard, she could call with loons on the waters in Maine, and could hail a cab with her whistle from down the block like you have never seen. She rowed single shells on the Charles River in the 40s and 50s, and more recently in this century, plied the waters of Greenland cove in Bremen, Maine in an ocean shell, occasionally followed by a curious harbor seal.

Gretchen had a lifelong interest in gardening and horticulture and designed several gardens on behalf of the Cohasset Garden Club for the annual New England Spring Flower show in Boston. In her later years she adopted the role of master gardener of her building in Boston. Earlier on, she was in the gardens herself; in later years, she provided steady, clear instruction from the sidewalk, seated on her walker.

Gretchen was an artist throughout her life. She was a ceramicist, a sculptor and a most prolific and skilled watercolor painter. She was a lifelong lover of both performing and fine art, an appreciation that she instilled in her sons, most especially Bob. She spent many years teaching outdoor painting to budding artists throughout New England. Gretchen also managed the Guild of Boston Artists gallery on Newbury Street in Boston for many years and had a knack for coaxing and supporting many a wayward artist vying for wall space for their paintings in the gallery.  She spent her later years in coastal Maine with her beloved second husband, Lou, where she studied and painted with watercolor and displayed and sold her art in galleries along the Maine coast. Living in the Back Bay for the past two decades, she continued to find joy through her drawing, painting and relationships with her many dear friends.

Among the greatest and most meaningful of her achievements in life would be that of a single parent raising two young boys which she did beautifully. Gretchen loved her sons, daughters and grandchildren fiercely. She was proud of their accomplishments, protective of them, and forged special bonds with each as she participated in their lives in unique ways. Gretchen taught us all the value, pleasure and warmth of a welcoming smile and genuine, personally engaging conversation. Like virtually everyone who knew her, we all have our own special personal memories of Gretchen.

Services for Gretchen Conklin will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of one’s choice.