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Constance Sumner Lapham ’43

Constance Sumner Lapham ’43, June 28, 2001, after a long illness from a series of strokes, at a care facility in Stanwood, Washington. She married Dudley Lapham ’43 in April of their graduating year. From 1945 to 1946 she worked as the Reed switchboard operator. Constance and Dudley moved to California, where he had a career in municipal management in La Mesa, Garden Home, Seaside, and other communities. She was active in the League of Women Voters and served a term as chairperson of the Seaside, California, Planning Commission. She had a keen interest in environmental and animal protection issues, and she was active in a successful campaign to reduce entrapment of waterfowl in plastic beverage holders. She also volunteered for Friends of the Sea Otter Center in Carmel, California. She was an avid gardener, with a special interest in old garden variety roses, and was frequently recognized for her trophy showings. She was the editor of the Bay Rose, a monthly newsletter of the Monterey Bay Rose Society. In the ’80s she wrote a weekly garden column for the Herald, a Monterey newspaper. In 1992, after several strokes, she and her husband, along with several other family members, relocated to Friday Harbor, Washington, where she entered a convalescent center. Survivors include her husband; a daughter, Roseamber Rain Sumner ’73; a son; three grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

Appeared in Reed magazine: November 2001