PORTLAND, MAINE -- Sophie Carter Whitin Draper died peacefully at the Maine Medical Center in Portland on May 26, 2006.
Sophie was born in Northbridge, Massachusetts on January 21, 1912, the second of five children of Paul and Rebecca Whitin. She was educated at the Bowling Alley School and Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. In 1934, she married stockbroker George Draper of Hopedale, Massachusetts, their marriage bringing together the Whitin and Draper families of the Blackstone Valley. The Drapers lived in Boston until 1942, when George enlisted in the army. Sophie moved with their two children to Dover, MA, where she worked as a volunteer for the Red Cross during George's three-year absence in North Africa, Italy, and the Philippines. After the war, the couple had two more children and remained in Dover for twenty-five years. In 1967 they moved back to Boston, where, for the next thirty-five years, Sophie served as a volunteer for a wide variety of Boston-based organizations: WBZ's Call for Action, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Ellis Memorial Hospital, the Visiting Nurses Association, the Chinese Institute, and the Vincent Club among them. In 2003, Sophie moved to the Piper Shores community in Scarborough, ME, where her sister, Cora Truslow, was already a resident.
Sophie was predeceased by her husband, George, and a daughter, Sophie Draper of Northfield, IL. She is survived by her sister, Cora, her sister-in-law Lilla Scharnberg of Needham, MA, her daughters, Rebecca King of Greenfield, MA, and Matilda Graham of Kansas City, MO, her son, George Draper of Sorrento, ME, nine grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Sophie was a devoted pianist and gardener, and a brilliant and beloved hostess. She deeply loved her family, which, over the years, grew to include every person she knew.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 o'clock on Friday, June 30 at the Dover Church in Dover, MA. Worcester Telegram, June 9, 2006
Sophie's husband, George, was the son of Clare and Matilda (Engman) Draper. He was born on April 4, 1908. Clare was the son of General William F. and Lilla Draper.
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