Janice Vaughan Snow of Ipswich was born on
April 17, 1910 in the horse and buggy era. Her involvement with
horses remained direct, until she passed away in her sleep on
April 3, 2010, two weeks before her 100th
birthday.
Her long life included youthful years as
the daughter of a North Shore shoe manufacturer, the glamorous
times as a debutante coming out in the Boston society of the
1920's, the adventures of a consummate horse woman, fox hunter
and successful steeplechase rider, service as a volunteer nurse
and plane spotter during World War II, driving dog teams with
her brother Norman Vaughan, the noted South Pole and Iditarod
adventurer and flying in single-engine airplanes around the
country with her husband Crocker Snow, a pioneer aviator.
Through all this, she cultivated and catered to a large circle
of friends and family throughout her beloved North Shore of
Boston.
She was known by all - including and her
faithful four-legged companions - for her smile, her generosity
of spirit and deep Christian faith.
Born in Salem as the daughter of George
Cutts and Besse (Dane) Vaughan, she was encouraged in her
education at the Windsor School of Brookline and the Ethel
Walker School in central Connecticut . She was married after
her debutante year to Grafton Smith of Boston who died in an
automobile accident two years later. Her second marriage in 1933
was to Englishman John Douglas Little Jr. In 1939 she married
the Cape Cod and Boston aviator Crocker Snow, surviving him
after 55 years together.
Janice Snow was a member of the Vincent
Club of Boston and the Junior League. She was for some years co
chair of the Republican Town Committee of Ipswich, winner of the
famed Mortimer Hunt Cup Steeplechase, Whipper-in of the Myopia
Hunt, longtime member of the Myopia Hunt Club and a faithful
parishioner of the Christ Church of Hamilton.
In her later years, less physically active
herself, she became a dedicated spectator at all manner of
sporting activity for her children and grandchildren ranging
from the lacrosse fields at Shore Country Day School to ice
hockey rinks at Pingree, Middlesex and St. Paul's Schools as
well as at Harvard and Yale, the start of the Iditarod dog sled
race in Anchorage, and, most regularly, autumn hunts and Sunday
afternoon polo games at the Myopia Hunt Club.
Janice Snow is survived by two sons,
Donald Vaughan Little and Crocker Snow Jr., of Ipswich, daughter
Janice Patricia Moseley of South Hamilton, nine grandchildren
Adam Crocker Snow of Aiken, SC, Andrew Kitchell Snow of Chicago,
Joshua Winston of Fairbanks, AK, Nicholas Benjamin Snow of
Manchester-by-the-Sea, Connor Wright-Snow of Atlanta, GA,
Virginia Moseley Nides of Washington, DC, Ailsa Moseley of
Hamilton, Donald Vaughan Little, Jr. of Ipswich and Andrea
Little Eaton of Topsfield and fourteen great grandchildren, who
are scattered widely around the country and returned regularly
to her Ipswich home for "Nana's" celebrated family get-togethers
and her strong but gentle wisdoms.
Her funeral service will be held on her
birthday, Saturday, April 17 at 9:00 am in the Christ Church,
149 Asbury St. Hamilton. Visiting hours will be Friday, April
16, 5:30 to 8 pm in the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home, 6 High
Street, Ipswich. Friends and acquaintances are invited to a
memorial celebration at 4:00 on April 17 at Janice Snow's home
for more than 60 years, 126 Topsfield Road, Ipswich . Memorial
contributions in her name may be made to Christ the Redeemer
Anglican Church, 188 Elliott Street, Danvers , MA 01923
