Maude W. Urmston, 97, Was West Chop Visitor

Longtime Wilmington, Del., resident Maude W. Urmston died March 13 at Stonegates in Greenville, Del. She was 97.

Brought up in Richmond, Va., Mrs. Urmston was educated at Collegiate School, which was founded by her grandmother, and graduated from Oldfields School in Glencoe, Md. Subsequently, she attended school in Florence, Italy which triggered a life-long interest in Italian. Later she took courses at Columbia University in New York city.

Mrs. Urmston was an active volunteer with a number of organizations in town, including the Delaware Hospital, the American Cancer Society and the Ferris School. She was also a member of the Altar Guild at Christ Episcopal Church. During the summer months on the Vineyard she was an aide at the hospital and played the piano occasionally for disabled children and adults at Camp Jabberwocky.

An avid sportswoman all her life, she played on golf and tennis teams at both the Wilmington and DuPont Country Clubs and in the summer at the West Chop Club on the Vineyard. She was widely recognized for her effective lobs and her opponents were known to be careful about when they came to net.

She is survived by her three children and their spouses - Maude and Tim Chilton of Boston, Tom and Sheila Urmston of Sherborn and Randolph Urmston and Eliza Davidson of Seattle - as well as 12 grandchildren, including Wilmington resident, Edmund Chilton, and 15 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be private with interment on the Vineyard alongside her husband, Thomas H. Urmston, who died in 1990.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Maude's memory to either the Martha's Vineyard Hospital, P.O. Box 1477 Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 or the American Cancer Society,92 Read's Way, Suite 205, New Castle, DE 19720.