Mary “Val” Lavilla Cogswell Babson, 73, died July 30, 2019, peacefully at her home in Gloucester, MA, after years of enduring Alzheimer’s dementia. She died as she lived – full of grace, love, strength and beauty.

Born in Baltimore, MD, the day before Valentine’s Day, she was known to most as “Val” and to her grandchildren as “Tutu.”
Val adored her family and shared 47 loving years married to David E. Babson. They loved to travel but mostly enjoyed being at home together watching the tides come in and out of Lobster Cove. She always shared a vitality for life, a mischievous sense of humor, and boundless compassion and love for her many friends and family. We are all blessed to have her close to our hearts.

She graduated from the Friends School of Baltimore (1964), Wells College (1968), and Lesley University.
She was impassioned to improve the Gloucester Public Schools and contributed in a variety of roles by co-founding the Gloucester School Connection, helping to create the Multiple Intelligence Program, and working as the Public-Parent Information Director, Title I Liaison, and Community Outreach and Media Specialist.

She was an advocate for reading and building community, volunteering on the boards of the Annisquam Village Library and Sawyer Free Library, and always adding insight to her beloved book group. She got great joy from spending time in her beautiful garden and volunteered with the Garden Club of Gloucester. She also served on the board of the Gloucester Universalist Unitarian Church and was a docent at the Cape Ann Museum. For her years of dedicated service and leadership, she was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by the Gloucester Rotary, in 2013.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her three children, David B. Babson and his wife, Annalei (McGreevy) Babson, and their children Kavika and Toni Rose, of Rockport; Amanda L. Babson of Narragansett, RI; and Warren C. Babson and his wife, Rachel Grinstead-Babson, and their children Winston and Cedarmae, of Gloucester; and her brother Corbin C. Cogswell, III and his wife Lynda W. Cogswell of Cape May, NJ.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Corbin C. Cogswell, Jr. and Mary (Chapman) Cogswell, of Baltimore, MD.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Gloucester Education Foundation, http://www.thinkthebest.org.