The house on Hopedale Street, between Freedom and Chapel, where Marge grew up. It was originally the chapel and school of the Hopedale Community.
Marge graduated from high school at the age of 16. She never got a degree in library science, but she took courses and received professional librarian certification from the Division of Library Extension in Boston. By the time she retired, she had worked for ten library directors.
One of Marge’s best friends from her younger life was Paul Gibbs. She sometimes referred to him as the brother she never had. Years later he would come up every year from Key West, Florida to visit. His father had been the owner of the pharmacy when her father worked there. He’d take several of his friends from earlier days out, including Marge, Helen Shimkus and Mrs. Grillo. Another of Marge’s friends was Zeta Snodgrass. Zeta worked at the library. Stuart Catherwood was another friend she’d mention a lot.
Marge’s family would spend the summers at Lake Nipmuc. They’d sometimes take the trolley to get there. One of her memories was of a stripper (or fan dancer) who lived two doors away. She performed at the theater at the lake. She had a regular visitor; a judge from Rhode Island. On Sundays she’d be out in the yard and lots of men would pass by for a look. Marge’s friends at the lake included Helen Harvey, and Jesse White’s wife. When Marge was married and spent summers at the lake with her family, the Dedham police chief, Jack Cahill, his wife Helen, and their children lived next door. The Cahills and the Hattersleys became good friends.
Martha Bell was one of Marge’s good friends. They had gone to Alliance meetings together for years. Marge and Sten would often get together with Martha and her husband, Bayard. Later in life they traveled to Bermuda and other places together.
Marge’s first date with Stenson Hattersley (b. Nov 16, 1908) was on April 11, 1933. He actually asked her out two weeks previous to this date. They went to a weenie roast at Moroney’s Grove. They double dated with her friend Zeta and Stuart. She was 19 and he was 24. “Had a swell time,” she wrote in her diary. As they dated, they enjoyed going for rides and getting ice cream. They also spent a lot of time at her summer residence on Lake Nipmuc where they went out in the canoe many nights during the summer.
Sten had grown up on Freedom Street, just a short distance from where the Arnolds lived. He had been a very good ball player. He was always helpful in the years when Marge was working at the library. He’d make dinner for the girls when she was working evenings. He’d often go to the library to take care of a problem. When Connie Clark was the library director, Sten drove her to the library and brought her home every day for years.
Marge and Sten purchased her diamond in Boston on Feb. 13, 1937. It was a 1/4 carat yellow gold with a “perfect” stone, and it cost $40.00. Their engagement was announced on Feb. 15, 1937. They were married on July 3, 1937 at the Hopedale Unitarian Parish parsonage by the Rev. J.B. Hollis Tegarden. “The big day at last!” she wrote. Both of their parents were in attendance as well as her aunt and uncle. Stuart Catherwood and Kathleen (Sten’s sister) were their attendants. She wore a navy-blue net dress embroidered in white with white accessories. Sten wore a dark suit. Her corsage was of gardenias. Pictures were taken at Adam’s Studio in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, followed by dinner at the Uxbridge Inn. They went to Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard for their honeymoon and took a boat to Nantucket for the day.
On December 30, 1961 Marge was notified by the State Board of Library Commissioners that she had successfully passed an examination given by them, at the Division of Library Extension in Boston, and that she was now certified as a professional librarian. Her certificate was dated Feb. 6, 1962.
Marge retired in March 1994. She loved the library. The library was her life. She loved the children and saw many grow up and return with their children. In some cases she saw a third generation. She used to tell them, “I came with the building.”
Kids would go into the library and tell her all kinds of stories. She’d never repeat the ones the parents wouldn’t have wanted to be spread around. One little boy once said to her, “Mrs. Hattersley, you’ve got blue ink in your hair.” The next time she went to the hairdresser, she said, “Wanda, no more of that blue rinse.” She never did that again. She liked the kids and they liked her. She had a nice way with them.
When Drapers closed, that really bothered Marge and her generation. The grass wasn’t mowed on the Chapel Street School block. Things like that bothered her. She loved her town and she loved her church. She was very active in the Unitarian Church. She was on the Alliance for years. She was the secretary right up to the time of her death.
Marge and Stan took a great deal of pride in their two daughters, Sandra and Judy, their three grandchildren, and their two great-grandchildren. Her daughters and grandchildren always spent the holidays with her. Friends and family were there for Christmas Eve.
Marge and Sten loved to go dancing. They’d often go to Chicken Pete’s and the Rock Garden for that. Lucile Damon was a proofreader for the Milford News and a good friend of Marge. Marge’s name was Marjorie E. Hattersley, but when Lucile would write an article that included her name, she would always put in a different middle initial. That was her way of saying, “Hi, Margie.”
In April 1968, Marge and Sten were heading south on a trip with their friends, the Damons. During that time, Martin Luther King, Jr.was assassinated. They were told that there was a sniper in the area and they couldn’t leave the motel they were in. That was a frightening and memorable time. She went to Bermuda a few times, but not with Sten. She made those trips with Zeta. She and Sten went to Martha’s Vineyard years after their first trip, but it was much more commercialized by then and they were disappointed in the change. Hampton Beach became a frequent vacation spot for them, and Plymouth became a five-generation destination for the family.
Marge wasn’t one who wanted a lot of attention, but she really shined the day of her retirement party. It was at the Canoe Club on Lake Nipmuc, which was a wonderful choice, because the lake had been such a big part of her life. Among the items presented to her at the party were two scrapbooks with messages from all the elementary school children in town. She kept those books and the plaque that she had been given right with her on her couch until the day she died.
The memories of Marge, above, were recorded by her daughter, Judy Oldfield, and her grandson, Fred Oldfield in the spring of 2015. It also includes some items from Marge’s diaries.
