Gwendolyn Fuller Reynolds of Yale Ave in Wakefield, beloved wife of Lt. Col. Glenn M. Reynolds, USAF (deceased), died Friday, April 2nd at age 88 of a stroke—peacefully, in comfort, and surrounded by her family.
Born May 22, 1915, in Seattle, Washington, Gwen was the daughter of Almon H. Fuller and Mary Gwendolyn Cook, and sister to John A. Fuller. Gwen grew up in Ames, Iowa, where her father was professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State College.
Gwen was an extraordinary woman who, in a time when relatively few women pursued higher education, earned a Bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1936 and a Master’s from Bryn Mawr in 1937, both in French. During WWII, she joined the Red Cross, serving in Ireland, France and England, where she met her future husband on D-Day.
Wife, mother and teacher, in later years Gwen authored two family genealogies, and was in process of completing a third. She was an active member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, the Mt. Holyoke Alumnae Association, the Bryn Mawr Alumnae Association, the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the Friends of Lake Quannapowitt. She was loved and respected by all who knew her.
Residents of Wakefield may recall seeing Gwen, in her late eighties, daily walking the three miles around Lake Quannapowitt where she would stop occasionally to sit on the bench, dedicated to her husband Glenn Reynolds, that overlooks Hartshorne Cove. Nimble in body, mind and spirit.
Wise, funny, dry-witted, enthusiastic, merry-hearted, feisty, independent, loving...she was all these things.
Gwen is survived by her children Mary C. Rochon of Winchester, MA, John L. Reynolds of San Francisco, CA and Susan M. Reynolds and husband Norman Gautreau of Wakefield; and grandsons, Marc and his wife Mimi and Steve and his wife Kristen.
A funeral service was held at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Wakefield, MA on Tuesday, April, 13, 2004. Gwen is buried at her ancestral home in Merryall, PA.