Mary-Claire and Ted Axford

Mason Axford Ted's kindergarten report card. The teacher wrote "Ted has the answers to your questions. He has a large fund of information on many things. He loves to talk to his neighbors and doesn't always pay attention to what is being said. However, if I call his attention to the discussion he usually has the answers." Sounds like Ted!! LOL

Rita Axford Ted with big sister Jean, and with little sister Rita.

Rita Axford Ted, parents Gordon and Margaret, and Ted's grandmother Naida.

Rita Axford Axford family at Christmas.

Mason Axford Ted diving in the Navy

Mason Axford Lucy Honig with Ted & Mary Claire Axford in Alexander, Maine

Mason Axford 4th of July!

Anna Glass Maine in the 70s & 80s: Ted said it was a place hippies could go where the locals didn’t stick their noses in - Montana was like that, too, he said. But he picked Maine, because that’s where he met MC, so that’s where he stayed. Originally, he was stopping on his way from California through to Florida. It was - sort of - on the way?

Mason Axford Wedding Day!! January 22, 1973

Mason Axford Ted and Don Bamman lowering a boat built by Jim Loomis in his barn on “Park Street”, the Cherryfield end of the Kansas Road.

Mason Axford Ted with his mom (Margret) and kiddos Mason and Yarrow

Rita Axford Mary Claire enjoying art during a wonderful 2+ weeks in France and Italy with Ted, Mary Claire and Yarrow. - Mary Claire sketching in Provence, France. - Mary Claire and Yarrow at Musee D'Orsay.

Rita Axford We went sailing with Ted and Mary Claire in the British Virgin Islands in 2007, one of our many great trips with them to oceans and beaches.

Mason Axford Yarrow & Chris' wedding! Look at that proud Mother and Father of the bride!!

Rita Axford The lobster whisperer, making them stand on their claws. He did love his lobsters.

Chris Kuzawa Leo learned so much about mechanics - and tractors (a favorite obsession as a toddler) - from Ted! Leo had so much to say about tractors (brands, types etc) in class that his teachers one time asked us if he came from an agricultural family...

Chris Kuzawa

Chris Kuzawa Mary Claire reading a story with the grandkids

Mason Axford Ted with his grandson Leo

Rita Axford Ted spent countless hours telling Leo fantasy stories about Poke and Tusk, a squirrel and a chipmunk (or maybe vice versa). Leo couldn't get enough Poke and Tusk at bedtime.

Anna Glass Ted & Mary Claire visited Brownie in June 2016. She was very happy to see her old friends! And she loved hearing about them today from all of you. Thank you.

Chris Kuzawa

Chris Kuzawa Ted with Yarrow testing out a lake coring rig at a local lake. Also in our backyard working out a new system for coring using two portable rafts. Ted was always Yarrow's wingman - helping design and build the field equipment that she and her team use to core lakes in Greenland and elsewhere. Those rigs are all still in use!

Mason Axford Mary-Claire's love for art was passed down to her grandaughter Kinley

Chris Kuzawa

Mason Axford The Fam! Mary-Claire & Ted Yarrow, Chris & Leo Mason & Kinley

Chris Kuzawa Ted, Mary Claire, Yarrow and Leo watching some wildcat football!

Rita Axford Christmas 2018, one of many wonderful holidays in Evanston.

Rita Axford Ted and Rita. So fortunate we could spend a couple months together last summer.

Chris Kuzawa Mary Claire wanted to see some live music and get southern food - we made the trip down to chicago to the house of blues - great food and music!

Chris Kuzawa With family celebrating mother's day. This was a local favorite for mother's day brunch

Chris Kuzawa Mary Claire, Ted, sister Rita, Brother in law Gary, daughter Yarrow and grandson Leo - enjoying a family meal

Anna Glass I got to see Mary-Claire and Ted again last summer for the first time in many years - too long. When I arrived at their house the day before this picture was taken, Mary-Claire opened the door and my mouth said "Second Mommy" before I could even blink. I was so happy to see them both and it was like no time had passed. Their voices, their selves were the same people I knew so well as a child. I am so grateful they were part of shaping me into the woman I became.

Mason Axford Mary Claire Axford November 9, 1950 - July 10, 2019 Mary Claire Axford, born in 1950, died July 10 2019 at home surrounded by family. She was the daughter of the late Thomas Granberry Dowdy and Bernice Midgett Dowdy of Manteo, NC. She had deep, treasured family roots in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, loved the beach, and raised her children in Milbridge, ME. Mary Claire was a talented painter, prolific gardener, and devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She was her children's champion, and taught them to be brave and loving and to always take time to smell the roses. She earned a Master of Social Work degree and had a long career as a therapist, helping countless people in three states. She was also a creative nonconformist with a spirited sense of humor and adventure. In their early married years, she and her husband Ted lived off-the-grid in Washington County, Maine, where they established many lifelong friendships. Mary Claire was predeceased by her parents, sister Edna Bruce Dowdy Etheridge and brother-in-law Ernest Etheridge. She is survived and deeply missed by her husband of 46 years Ted Axford; children, Mason Granberry Axford of Hopkinton, MA, and Yarrow Axford of Evanston, IL; sister Ann Dowdy Morse and brother-in-law Donald Morse of Gray, ME; her Morse and Etheridge nieces and nephews; sister- and brother-in-law Rita Axford and Gary Grunwald; son-in-law Chris Kuzawa; and beloved grandchildren, Kinley Axford and Leo Kuzawa. She blessed her grandchildren's lives by sharing her love of art and nature, and especially her love for them, at every opportunity. "There are flowers everywhere for those who want to see them." - Henri Matisse

Mason Axford Theodore Gordon Axford February 4, 1945 - September 3, 2019 Theodore Gordon Axford, born in 1945, died peacefully at home on September 3 of mesothelioma. Ted was born in Callaway, NE, to Margaret Rosene Axford and Gordon Axford. He grew up in California, including in Strathmore and San Andreas. As a young adult, he served honorably in the Vietnam War as a U.S. Navy diver and boilerman, and fought forest fires with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Ted met the love of his life - his wife of 46 years Mary Claire Dowdy Axford - in Maine. They began their adventures together as homesteaders, and Ted built their first homes himself, including a geodesic dome and a yurt far from the electric grid. They raised two happy children and made lifelong friends in Milbridge, ME. Later they moved to Nags Head and Edenton, NC, and then to IL. Ted had a brilliant scientific mind, and was known for devising equipment that transformed many New England and Canadian lobster pounds and kept lobsters healthier. His ingenious inventions were granted patents, yet Ted's proudest achievement was his family. He worked tirelessly to support his wife and children, and taught his kids to build things, be kind, and seek truth. His family, friends and coworkers remember Ted as smart, gentle, hard-working, and always busy building or fixing something. Ted was predeceased by his parents; sisters Jean Morris and Betsy Axford Thompson; and his wife who passed away in July. He is survived and deeply missed by his children Mason Axford and Yarrow Axford; sister Rita Axford and brother-in-law Gary Grunwald; son-in-law Chris Kuzawa; and two much-loved grandchildren, Kinley Axford and Leo Kuzawa.

Elizabeth Lee High school years in Portsmouth, Virginia

Elizabeth Lee Three stylin' Dowdy sisters!

Elizabeth Lee Easter Bonnets?

Elizabeth Lee Mary Claire's high school graduation with Aunt Cynthia!

Yarrow Axford A few shots from MC and Ted's many years in Maine. MC pregnant with Yarrow, the geodesic dome home Ted built for them, with dear friend Brownie Glass, protesting pesticide spraying (can you spot MC, Ted, Yarrow and Mason? recognize others?), and Ted giving Yarrow a pep talk before a middle school jazz dance recital :-)

Yarrow Axford Ted as a young guy (starting at age one!), with his parents and beloved sisters Jean, Rita and Betsy.

Yarrow Axford Dad (age 19ish?) with his father Gordon and Betsy, the youngest of his three very special sisters.

Yarrow Axford Walking Yarrow down the aisle, Boulder, Colorado 2010.

Yarrow Axford Basking with pride as Mason gets his M.B.A.

Yarrow Axford Basking in the joy of spending Christmas 2016 with both of her kids and both of her grandkids!

Yarrow Axford Mary Claire as a girl, with her parents and loving sisters Ann and Edna Bruce. Look at that little MC smile! Makes it easy to imagine that her fun sense of humor arrived at a young age...

Yarrow Axford Mom enjoying two of her favorite things - a beach, and a grand-baby.

Yarrow Axford When Mason and Alison were married in 2020, they included some of Mary Claire's paintbrushes in the flower girl's bouquet. MC's grandaughter Kinley -- the flower girl -- did a beautiful job walking the bouquet down the aisle.

Yarrow Axford Mom with Mason and me, in the house we grew up in. So many memories on that staircase!

Yarrow Axford Winter holidays 2016, Dad with his sister Rita -- a close lifelong friend. Rita stayed with Dad in Evanston after Mom passed away last summer, kept him company and made every day of his last few months so much better for him than it otherwise would have been.

Yarrow Axford Dad doing two of his favorite things -- driving a boat and hanging out with a grandkid -- in Florida a couple of years ago.

Yarrow Axford The (sooo proud and soooo excited!) grandparents with newborn grand-baby Kinley, 2012.

Yarrow Axford US Navy Deep Diving School. Dad loved diving and used it for lots of his work after finishing his military service.

Elizabeth Lee These pictures are from the last time I saw my amazing aunt and uncle. I applied for and got the opportunity to take a class at the Kellogg School at Northwestern. Great professional opportunity but I really wanted to to out and see Mary Claire and Ted. What a fun time seeing Mary Claire, Ted, Yarrow, Chris and Leo.

Rita Axford Axford family in New Orleans for Gordon and Margaret's 50th anniversary. Ed (Jean's husband), Gordon, Margaret, Jean, Rita, Gary (Rita's husband), Yarrow, Mason, Mary Claire, Ted, Betsy (Ted's youngest sister), and John (Betsy's husband).

Rita Axford Family meeting Ted on his return home from Vietnam in the navy. Note the poster in the foreground.

Mattie Bamman Memories of Ted and Mary-Claire from their old neighbors in Milbridge, Maine, Don, Barbara, and Mattie Bamman (with lots of love and support from Ashley, too!).

Mattie Bamman Memories of Ted and Mary-Claire from their old neighbors in Milbridge, Maine, Don, Barbara, and Mattie Bamman (with lots of love and support from Ashley, too!).