Grace C. Garland Wadsworth

Grace C. (Scott) Garland Wadsworth passed away peacefully on January 16th surrounded by her loving family.  She was a lifelong Upton resident, having been born in Malden, the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Fretts) Jacobson Scott.  She was 98 years old and remained active in her community and for her family until the time of her death.  Around 1930 the family moved to Upton where her mother’s family was located on Pearl Street (later Christian Hill Road).  There they ran a large farm consisting of 50,000 chickens that Grace and her sisters Doris Jacobson and Phyliss Scott, along with their mother Elizabeth, sold eggs and processed chickens for hundreds of families in Milford and Hopedale.  Their father would drive his truck to Draper Corporation where the workers would buy their products after a day’s work.

She attended Upton schools, graduating with twelve others in the Class of 1943.  It was here that she met and fell in love with Benjamin J. Garland, Jr.  Grace volunteered with the American Red Cross during the War making bandages at the Upton Town Hall.  Grace and Ben married in 1946 following his service in the U.S. Navy and they began their family, living in the big house on Christian Hill.  Grace attended Becker Junior College and graduated with a degree in business accounting which she used to manage three successful businesses including G.S. Millwrights, which was an erecting company of monorails, conveyor systems, and cranes.  This business took Benny all over the Eastern and Central United States and into Canada.  Grace would accompany Benny on many jobs, some of which included summer long stays in the cotton fields of South Carolina and into Canada.  Grace was the business accountant and the workers, as many as forty per week, would line up for their checks at the new Christian Hill Road home that they had built on the family farm in 1958.

At one point, as Ben was nearing retirement, he felt that his wife would be bored with not doing accounting anymore, so he bought her the Upton Hardware Store.  From 1972 until 1984 Grace tirelessly managed this store and proved her physical strength as well.  She could often be seen loading 100 pound bags of horse feed into customer’s vehicles.  In 1975 Ben came off the road and bought another store, this one in Hopedale, known as Draper News, or Billy Draper’s Variety to the old timers.  The store was a popular local attraction, providing daily newspapers and penny candy to adoring customers, young and old.  Ben passed in 1982.

In 1986 she met her former classmate Edward Wadsworth of South Upton.  “Eddie” had also been widowed.  They married in 1986 and Grace instantly became “gramma” to many more children and great grandchildren.  Eddie passed away in 2008.  Grace moved to Milhaus Apartments in 2010 where she remained a very active participant in her community, attending Council on Aging meeting, calling Bingo, and taking the senior bus to wherever it may lead.

During her lifetime Grace’s interests were varied.  A dedicated member of the United Parish of Upton she was instrumental in the project to combine the parishes of the 1st Congregational Church and Upton Methodist Church in 1971, served many years as a Sunday school teacher and was active in the Upton Cub Scout Troop 136 as a den leader.  In 1964 she became a Charter and Lifetime Member of the Upton Historical Society.  A member and Past Commander of the Ladies Auxiliary of the George L. Wood V.F.W. Post, Upton.  An active participating member and Worthy Grand Matron of Columbia Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, the Upton Woman’s Club, and Co-Chairperson of the 225th Anniversary Celebration of Upton.  She was a Mayflower descendant on her mother’s side, and a member of the Daughter’s of the American Revolution.  For many years she was the school lunch monitor at Upton Memorial School.  She greatly enjoyed her time spent at her Cape Cod house in Grey Gables, Bourne.  She was a foodie at heart enjoying a boiled lobster nearly every week and she could cook the most amazing New England boiled dinner that you could ever imagine.  She partook of sardines from a can and enjoyed baking apple, mincemeat, and lemon meringue pies.

Grace is survived by her sons Wayne Garland of Walhalla, South Carolina and his children Jamie, Jessica, Jeremy Garland, Whitney, and Tory who will soon enter the service; Barry Garland and his wife Margaret of Vero Beach, Florida and their children Lisa, Barry Jr., Angela, Kevin, Brian, Meaghan, Brigitte, Scott, and Sean; and Retired Fire Chief Scott Garland with his wife Wendy of Douglas and Scott’s children Josephine Grace and Airman Benjamin Scott Garland.  She was the loving stepmother to the former Edward Wadsworth Jr. of Upton, Cathy Bertorelli of Framingham, Fran Ebbeling of Douglas, and Patricia Fales of Uxbridge.  She adored all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren from both marriages.  Andrea and Laura Bertorelli, with their sister Keri Mulcahy spent vigils by her side during her final days along with sons Wayne and Scott, and grandchildren Josie and Jessica.  She is also survived by her loving nieces Kathleen (Rooney) Humes, her sister Karen (Rooney) Pond, and by her Brother-in-Law John Robinson and his sons J. Dennis Robinson and Jeffrey Robinson.  She is pre-deceased by her former husbands, her sisters Doris and Phyliss, and nephew Brian Scott Robinson.  The family is forever grateful to lifelong friend Ida Jette for her hospitality and care assistance along the way.

Her funeral service will be celebrated at 12 Noon on Saturday, January 20, in the United Parish of Upton Church, 1 Church Street, Upton.  Burial will follow in Lakeview Cemetery, Upton.

Calling hours are from 4 to 7 P.M. on Friday, January 19, in the Pickering & Son Upton Funeral Home, 45 Main Street, Upton.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be sent to the Upton Fire & EMS Association Ambulance Fund, P.O. Box 1012, Upton, MA 01568.