Geraldine “Gerry” Lattimore, a lifelong resident of Massachusetts and Maine, died on April 22 at the age of 84.
She was a sculptor, sang for years in the Concord Chorus, and wrote poetry and stories in secret. She took many extension courses at Radcliffe and elsewhere, leading to lifelong friendships. She was also an inveterate storm-chaser. Deeply self-effacing, she never sought renown, but loved art and nature. She nurtured young people who shared her passions or simply needed shelter and affection. She was dear to her friends for her imagination, wit, and kindness. Although shy, she (a confirmed Democrat) never hesitated to speak out vehemently for women’s rights and against racial injustice and war.
Gerry grew up in Belmont, the daughter of Gerald Harrison, a radio pioneer, sports announcer, and sailor, and Janet Hoch Harrison, a radio pianist, organist, and station manager. Gerry went to Abbot Academy Andover and graduated from Beaver Country Day School. While at Colby College, she married Hugh Nazor in 1957. When he was at Wharton, they were house parents for the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children and cared for homeless boys, which they remembered fondly.
From 1962–1972, Gerry lived in a 1738 farm house with 50 acres of fields and woods in Bolton. When Gerry sold the property, she introduced Bolton to the practice of land conservation. From 1973 onward, she lived in Lincoln, spending summers on a Maine island. From 1978 until the early 1980s, Gerry worked as a fundraiser for Physicians for Social Responsibility, assisting Helen Caldecott in her fight against “nuclear madness.” She also shared a sculpting studio in West Concord where they hired live models and introduced her grandchildren to the complexity of the human form.
Gerry’s life in Lincoln and Harpswell, Maine was shared with her two daughters, Karen Nazor and Leslie Nazor Riversmith, and with Andrew, Julia, and John Linnell, and Margaret Macy, the children of her second husband.
In 1992 she married her third husband, Professor David Lattimore of Brown University, adding to the extended clan his six children by a former marriage: Michael Lattimore, Maria Sheppard, Clare Lattimore, Anne Price, Evan Lattimore, and the late and much-loved Rosette Lattimore. Gerry also leaves a brother, Stanley Harrison, and his children, Michael Harrison and Rebecca Harrison Moser. She leaves Ama Harrison, widow of her deceased brother Theodore Harrison, their two sons, Cobina and Anthony Kwame Harrison, and daughter Joan Nowak. In all, she leaves 15 grandchildren.
In celebration of Gerry’s life, an informal gathering will be held at her Lincoln home on Saturday, June 4 at noon. Click here to send flowers or make a donation in her memory.
