Published in the September 19, 2017 edition.
WAKEFIELD — Mabel Ellen Laura Christensen (Chris) Hathaway passed away on September 8 at the Wakefield Care and Rehabilitation Center, where she had been a resident since September 2016 due to Alzheimer’s disease.
Mabel was born on April 21, 1927 in Arlington, the first daughter of Herman and Karen Christensen of Bedford. After emigrating from Denmark, Mabel’s parents lived their entire lives at 10 Sunset Rd. in a house that Herman built. Mabel was the older sister to Grethe, Stanley and Elinor, and helped them to learn English when they went to elementary school, since both Danish and English were spoken at home.
After graduating from Lexington High School, Mabel took a position with the War Department in Washington D.C., where she met a tall sailor from Wyoming named Robert Hathaway. They were married in the Naval Chapel in Washington in July 1947, then drove their Model A (nicknamed Lizzy) to Rapid City, SD where Robert received his Mechanical Engineering degree from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1952.
Chris and Bob also had three children while in school (James, Bruce and Susan).
Bob worked for General Motors and Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY. Then the family moved to Racine, Wisconsin where Bob took a position with Walker Manufacturing. Chris was a den mother in Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts and was active in the PTA as well as chauffeuring children to piano, cello and violin lessons and Little League games and practices and church activities. While in Racine, she had a fourth child (Paul) in 1959.
In hopes of improving Bob’s asthma as well as receiving a promotion, the family moved to Sunnyvale, CA in the summer of 1966, where he worked for Tenneco before ultimately dying of asthma in June 1967. Chris returned to Bedford in 1968 and worked for a number of firms, including Carling Brewery, Filene’s, Digital Equipment Corporation and for 20 years at The Savings Bank of Wakefield.
She was active in Bedford’s First Church of Christ and served as a deacon.
Mabel was predeceased by her parents, her brother Stanley and her sister Elinor and by her son Paul. She is survived by her sons James and Bruce, her daughter Susan, by her sister Grethe as well as by her granddaughter Erika Hathaway Bergeron (husband Matt) and her grandson David Hathaway (wife Rowena) and by her grandsons Brian and Matthew Cipperly and granddaughters Megan and Sage. Mabel also had six great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her devoted friend and companion of 20 years, Herbert Fletcher of Wakefield.
Mabel’s family appreciates the care provided by the staff at the Wakefield Center and by the Compassionate Care Hospice.
Burial will be held at Shawsheen Cemetery at a later date.
