Rev. Theodore M. Atkinson Jr.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Rev. Theodore Mayo Atkinson Jr. of Berkshire Drive died Saturday, March 26, 2011, at Sweet Brook Care Centers in Williamstown after a time of declining health. The Rev. Atkinson had served as a Congregational minister in New Marlborough, Peru and Pittsfield.
Born in Boston on Nov. 3, 1926, son of Theodore M. and Jane Holt Atkinson, he grew up in Winchester and graduated from Amherst College in 1950 and received a master of divinity degree from the Yale Divinity School in 1953. He later received a master's in education from Harvard and briefly taught in Ipswich.
An Army veteran of World War II, he was stationed in the Philippines.
Mr. Atkinson was ordained in 1953 at First Congregational Church in Winchester. In addition to serving in the Berkshires, he was minister to Congregational churches in Danbury, Conn., Boston, Newport, R.I., and Bethesda, Md. He retired after 25 years to become a professional genealogist and specialized in researching early Vermont families, notably the Carpenters of Carpenter Hill in Pownal and Bennington, from whom he was descended.
He was a member of Congregational Church, was a faithful and generous volunteer in the research library of the Bennington Museum and was a docent at Old First Church in Old Bennington. Subjects of his special interest were early New England meetinghouses and gravestones, on which he gave illustrated lectures. Also active with the Pownal Historical Society and in recent years was its program chairman. His other interests included birds, classical music, tennis, and poetry; he enjoyed playing bridge and playing chess with his grandson Zachary.
He leaves his wife, the former Anne Kelway Libby; two sons, retired Navy Capt. Timothy Atkinson and his wife, Michelle, of Manassas, Va.; Dr. Tobias Atkinson and his wife, Janet, of Andalusia, Ala.; two brothers, Robert Atkinson and his wife, Elizabeth, of Mattapoisett and John Atkinson and his wife, Natalie, of Reading; four grandchildren, Zachary and Hannah Atkinson, both of Manassas, and Joshua and Sarah, both of Andalusia, Ala., and his first cousin Jane Chamay of Pownal.
FUNERAL NOTICE — A private memorial service for Mr. Atkinson will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 10, in the Paresky Education Center of the Bennington Museum. Interment of ashes will take place in the family cemetery near the orchard on Carpenter Hill in Bennington.
Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, West Chapels, 521 West Main St., North Adams, is in charge.