Margaret Henry Penick Nuttle

On Monday, July 27, 2009, Margaret Henry Penick Nuttle, 96, died at her home. She was 96. She was born at Bloomfield, NJ on March 11, 1913, daughter of Margaret Henry Dabney Penick of Lynchburg, VA and Sydnor Barksdale Penick of Culpeper, VA and was a descendant of Patrick Henry. Educated at the Kimberly School, Montclair, NJ and Hollins College, Roanoke, VA, Mrs. Nuttle also attended the Boston Conservatory of Music and made a recording of Classical music. Mrs. Nuttle made her Début in 1931 in Montclair and New York City. On September 10, 1938 she married Philip Everngam Nuttle of Denton, MD at the First Baptist Church in Montclair, NJ and they went to Bermuda on their wedding trip before settling into domestic life in Montclair where their three children were born: Emily Dabney Nuttle, Philip Everngam Nuttle and Margaret Barksdale Nuttle. In 1947, the Nuttle family moved to Denton, MD and summered with the Penick Family in Middletown, NJ where they were members of the Rumson Lawn and Tennis Club and the Seabright Beach Club. A move to Easton, Maryland in 1952 established Mrs. Nuttle’s last permanent residence, “Return Point”, although she maintained a house, “Encore”, with her husband and another house “Oleander” as a widow, on Juniper Island in Hobe Sound, FL where she was a member of the Jupiter Island Club and the Hobe Sound Yacht Club. She was also a member of the Harbor Club, Easton, MD; Tred Avon Yacht Club, Oxford, MD; and the Mount Vernon Club, Baltimore, MD. Music , travel and community service were very important to Mrs. Nuttle. For many years she traveled from the Eastern Shore to Phildelphia for the Symphony Season and subscribed to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She delighted her family with playing pieces by Haydn and Schumann year round and carols at Christmas. Mrs. Nuttle made many Grand Tours of Europe with her family and was quite adventuresome to travel by Concorde to Paris in 1989. She and her husband also enjoyed trips to the Bahamas and Cuba before Castro as well as a trip with the Smithsonian to Australia. She was a community leader wherever she lived including: membership in the Junior League and the American Red Cross, World War II in Montclair; President of her Freshman Class at Hollins College; Cub Scout Den Mother in Denton; a Gray Lady at Easton Memorial Hospital and President of both the Easton and the Jupiter Island Garden Clubs. Mrs. Nuttles favorite projects recently have revolved around her Ancestor, Patrick Henry and the Board of Trustees at his last home, “Red Hill” near Lynchburg, VA. Through both the Board and the Descendant’s Branch, she helped to teach historically accurate and nationally important facts about Patrick Henry’s life and influence before and during the American Revolution. Mrs. Nuttle sponsored special presentations of reenactments of Patrick Henry’s famous “Liberty or Death” speech at the Princeton Presbyterian Church and at St. John’s Church in Richmond, VA, the original site of Henry’s passionate plea to resist England’s domination of the New World Colonies. Mrs. Nuttle also promoted learning the lessons taught by P. Henry’s “Parsons Cause Case” which became his forst experience with rhetorical fame. She established Colonial History Programs at Washington College and John’s Hopkins University. She has been a benefactor to Princeton Univeristy, The University of Virginia, The Virginia Museum of History in Richmond, and the Hampden Sydney in Farmville, VA and she has established a Research Fellowship at the Smithsonian Library in honor of her Mother, who was a published poet. She made contributions to the Theatre of the Arts and the Cemetery in Lynchburg, VA and was given Keys to the City in appreciation for her efforts. She is both a member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America and the Colonial Dames, Chapter One. Becoming a member of the Godwin Society of Colonial Williamsburg was a great honor. The development of the Country School in Easton and the Historical Society of Caroline County in Denton have been favorite Maryland interests. She is survived by her daughters: Emily D.N. Fuchs of Baltimore, MD and Seal Harbor, ME and Margaret B.N. Melcher of Easton, MD; and two grandsons: Stephen P.C. Fuchs of Jacksonville, FL and Philip E. Nuttle, III of New York City. She was predeceased by her husband, Philip E. Nuttle, Sr. and her son, Philip E. Nuttle, Jr. Services will be held on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 3:00 pm at the Old Wye Episcopal Church, Wye Mills, MD. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to: Memorial Hospital at Easton, 219 S. Washington St., Easton, MD 21601; Christ Episcopal Church, 111 S. Harrison St., Easton, MD 21601; or The Country School, 716 Goldsborough St., Easton, MD 21601. Arrangements made by Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, P.A. in Easton.

Margaret Henry Penick Nuttle

March 11, 1913 - July 27, 2009