Mary Disston, 90, formerly of Chestnut Hill, a community volunteer and gardener, died Dec 25 at the Beaumont Retirement Community in Bryn Mawr.
Mrs. Disston volunteered as a reading tutor to first-grade students at what was then Springside School, her alma mater. She also was a volunteer for several years at the Delaware Valley Science Fair.
She served on the boards of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and the Morris Arboretum, and was on several boards at Beaumont.
An avid gardener, she enjoyed sharing her horticultural expertise with others, and her gardens were frequently the destination of garden club tours and receptions. For many years she was a participant and a judge at the Philadelphia Flower Show.
She was a lifelong athlete, with an enduring interest and skill in sailing, skiing, tennis, golf and paddle tennis, and liked spending summers in Maine.
She is survived by a son, Robert Granville Worrell; a daughter, Katherine Worrell Williams; a sister, Patricia Clay Hancock; stepsons Henry Disston Jr., Michael Fleming Disston and James Steelman Disston; a stepdaughter, Lisa Disston Templet; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Mrs. Disston’s husband, Henry Disston, and a brother, Edward B. Clay Jr., preceded her in death.
Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 21, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 22 E. Chestnut Hill Ave. in Chestnut Hill, and at the Church of the Redeemer in Sorrento, Maine, in July.
Memorial donations may be made to the Morris Arboretum, 100 East Northwestern Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19118; Delaware Valley Science Fairs, 3201 Arch St,, Suite 310-A, Philadelphia, PA 19104; the Philadelphia Flower Show, 100 N. 20th St., 5th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or the ASPCA, 424 E. 92nd St., New York, NY 10128. – WF
