Mariette Walker Ladd, 87, of Greenwich Conn. and Vero Beach passed away on Jan. 16, 2014.
She was preceded in death by her brother, Willard Foster Walker, Jr. and granddaughter, Emily Prescott Rodgers. Ladd is survived by her husband of 64-years, Delano Wood Ladd, Jr; her four daughters, Cynthia Ladd, Marcy Champagne, Susan Rogers, Margot Brady; two sons, Delano W. Ladd, III, and Willard F.W. Ladd. She is also survived by 17 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.
Ladd [Sis] was a skilled business woman and consummate volunteer. She ran a glue factory in Brooklyn, N.Y. during the war and was on the governing board of her family’s company, The Cleveland Container Company. Ladd was very active in fundraising activities for the United Hospital in Rye, N.Y. She held numerous positions in the Rye Twig organization including Program Chair for the Westchester Golf Classic and Vice-Chairman of the first May Fair, a fundraising event at Playland Amusement Park in Rye, N.Y. She also served in numerous capacities on her children’s school auxiliary boards. Her love for gardening ranged from mowing lawns, cultivating vegetable gardens and clipping hedges with a corn cob pipe in her mouth, to the finer horticulture and flower arranging which she pursued as a member of Rye Garden Club and Hortulus of Greenwich. Ladd was an accomplished athlete. Her name is immortalized on club walls in Rye and Madison for her numerous championships in tennis and paddle tennis. She was an accomplished sailor. Ladd and her family sailed every summer along the coast of Conn., Mass, and Maine, but her true love was her keeled sloop – the Zip. She was an avid skier and was thrilled when she turned 65 and could ski for free. She was a skilled marksman and swimmer. She loved to swim especially when accompanied by her grandchildren. No water was too cold for her. She was one of a kind, a barrel of fun, devoted to her family and friends. Ladd relished every minute of her never dull life and lit up the room with her presence and charisma. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1, at The Community Church of Vero Beach Chapel in Vero Beach. There will also be a celebration in Greenwich, Conn. on April 5. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be given in Mariette Ladd’s name to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, 30 Glenn St., Ste 407, White Plains, N.Y. 10603 or VNA Hospice, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, Fla. 32960. Arrangements are by Strunk Funeral Home and Crematory, Vero Beach. A guest book is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.