Chaffee, Mary Stearns, 96, of Providence, R.I. passed away peacefully September 30,2016 at Tockwotten on the Waterfront in East Providence. Born April 2, 1920 in Central Falls, R.I., she was the daughter of Albert and Marjorie Stearns.

She grew up in Barrington, R.I., and the family also had a winter residence in Miami, Fla. The family's favorite activity together was sailing their 60-foot schooner, the Mohawk, flagship of the Barrington Yacht Club. She also raced Beetle Cats, the classic 12-foot, gaff-rigged wooden sailboats. Competing in the first annual race of its kind for the Narragansett Bay Beetle Cat Association, in season 1935, she was named winning girl skipper, sailing her boat named Lady Luck.

Mary attended Lincoln School in Providence and graduated from Barrington High School in 1937. She went on to Smith College and graduated in 1941, with a B.A. in English Language & Literature.

From 1944 to 1946 she lived in her family’s home in Miami, where she was a volunteer teaching sailing through the Miami Power Squadron, and also did volunteer work through the American Red Cross. In 1945 she earned her private pilot's license so she could visit friends in the Northeast. She later obtained a water rating to fly seaplanes so she could more easily access the Florida Keys and the Caribbean.

Mary Stearns married Henry N. Chaffee in 1946 and returned to Barrington where the couple raised three children. She was predeceased by her former husband.

Mary was active in community life, her favorite causes being land conservation and the environment. She co-founded and was president of the Barrington Land Conservation Trust, and chaired the Parks and Recreation Commission in Barrington, where she planned and implemented new landscaping in the historic Town Hall and Peck School areas of town.
She was also very involved in mapping the wetlands in Barrington, including her beloved Hundred Acre Cove.

She also had belonged to the Barrington Garden Club, Barrington Preservation Society, Barrington Yacht Club, Handicraft Club, International Club, Junior League, Rhode Island Country Club, Smith College Club, and The National Society of the Colonial Dames.

For most of her life Mary was an avid tennis player, and an enthusiastic skier in her earlier years. In 1963 the Chaffees built a ski house in Kearsage, N.H. where the family spent most weekend and holiday winters. She loved to play bridge throughout her life and continued until quite recently.

Mary was a devoted mother and survived by sons Steven Chaffee, and his wife Sandy of Barrington and Edgartown, Mass; Richard Chaffee, and his wife Jeanne, of Barrington;, daughter Deborah Wall, and her husband Patrick, of Henderson, Nev.; and by ten grandchildren she adored.

She was preceded in death by her father Albert, mother Marjorie, sister Dorothy Allison and brother Thornton Stearns.

Friends and family are invited to a celebration of life for Mary at the Barrington Yacht Club, 25 Barton Ave. Barrington on Saturday, Oct. 8 from 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers contributions in her memory may be sent to the Barrington Land Conservation Trust, P.O Box 324, Barrington R.I. 02806, www.blct.org or Smith College’s Botanical Garden at (800) 526-2023, www.smith.edu, in memory of Mary Chaffee.