WESTERLY — On Sunday, Oct. 20, friends of the late Marion Stedman Palm will gather at the Chorus of Westerly’s George Kent Performance Hall to celebrate the life of an exceedingly generous woman who gave so much to so many.
Palm, who was known widely for her philanthropic ways and was a “forever benefactor and dear friend” of the chorus, died last July, leaving behind her nephews and nieces, her large chorus family, and the many local people and local organizations she supported over her long lifetime.
“Marion was, to generations of us here at the chorus, so much more than a donor,” said chorus Executive Director Ryan Saunders one day last week as he spoke of Palm’s extraordinary generosity to the chorus and its members. “She was like a grandmother, aunt and friend to so many of us.”
“We loved her,” he said, “And I know it flowed both ways.”
Saunders said Palm and Andrew Howell, the chorus’ music director — whose official title is actually, “The Marion & Bill Palm Music Director” — enjoyed a particularly close relationship.
Saunders said Howell visited Palm several times a week in her final years, “taking her on drives, eating with her, and offering her his own love and the love of all of us all the time.”
The Oct. 20 event “will definitely not be a funeral,” said Saunders. “Marion was pretty clear with us that she didn’t want a funeral or a big deal paid to her when she left this world.”
“But we couldn’t do that,” Saunders said. “She just meant to much to all of us. We want to send her off with love.”
“It will be a chance for folks to say nice things about her,” he added, “and to just come together in the hall she literally helped save.”
Saunders said that Palm donated millions of dollars to the chorus, and helped sponsor everything from the recent renovations to Kent Hall to the many classical concerts offered by the chorus to Christmas and Summer Pops, Twelfth Night performances, tours and capital campaigns.
“She even bought Kent Hall a new boiler a decade ago,” he said, and covered the costs of program expansion, staffing and programming.
She gave the gifts “because she believed in the chorus and in all of us,” he said. “She loved all of us. She trusted all of us. And she knew how much we all believe in our mission and that we will always, always, make every effort to fulfill it.”
“We know there are a lot of people out there who loved her,” Saunders said. “The number of kids she quietly sent to college is astounding.”
“Marion was such a special person,” he went on, unique, “smart as anyone, observant. Inquisitive. Never shy to express her thoughts, but fun and amazing too.”
Saunders said Palm was like a member of the family so, next week’s gathering, headed up by Howell, will be a party for Palm, one where people can be together in her name to share stories and memories.
“She was just a true, honest, and genuine spirit,” he said, “Andrew and I and so many of us, are going to miss her so very much.”
“Marion found joy in quietly helping others and letting them find their own paths to their dreams,” Saunders added, noting that Palm possessed “an incredibly warm, generous, loving, and kind heart.”
Palm, who summered in Weekapaug, was a resident of Leicester, Massachusetts for most of her adult life, and was a choral singer who developed her love of choral music singing under the baton of the famous Alfred Nash “Bud” Patterson with the Worcester Chorus.
She was involved with the Boston Symphony Orchestra — especially in the early years when the Tanglewood Music Center was in its infancy. She supported countless orchestra productions and, along the way, got to know some young musicians whose stars were on the rise, Saunders had, noting that “rumor has it she became friends with some young singer/songwriter named James Taylor.”
When she moved to Weekapaug full time and became more involved in the Rhode Island arts scene, Palm met chorus founder George Kent and Kent’s wife, Lynn, developed a deep relationship with the Kents and therefore the chorus.
Over the last four decades, Saunders said, “Marion became not just a major supporter and benefactor of the chorus, but a stalwart subscriber, volunteer, cheerleader, and longtime board member.”
Marion and Bill may not have had children of their own, Saunders said, “but they did adopt and have us — their chorus family.”
“She gave the chorus much,” he said, “I know her heart was filled every time she saw that wall of singers. Every time she saw Andrew take the podium. Every time a singer would come talk to her in the back of the hall where she sat with a score and sang along. And we loved her all the more for it. She was just a true, honest, and genuine spirit.”
