My beloved great-aunt Cleo died on Monday at the age of ninety-eight. She would not have approved of any sort of elaborate memorial; she wished to depart with a minimum of fuss. Still, I feel compelled to pay tribute to someone who from a very early age had an exalted presence in my life. She was the last surviving child of the Rev. Basilios Lambrides, who was born in Varna, Bulgaria, in 1867; was ordained at Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; and earned a doctorate of divinity at the University of Jena. He came to America in 1906 and led Greek Orthodox churches variously in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Georgia, Utah, Alabama, Washington DC, and Massachusetts. Cleo grew up in Boston and studied art at the Museum School, where she met her lifelong friend Esther Geller, a noted exponent of encaustic painting. (Cleo introduced Esther to her husband, the composer Harold Shapero.) Cleo produced striking abstract canvases with a Baroque richness of color and intricate, arboreal geometries. In 1942 she survived the horrific Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston. Soon after she married the pioneering plastic surgeon Richard Webster, and spent the remainder of her life in a vast, rambling house in Brookline, stocked with her artwork, gems and minerals, Uncle Richard's prized collection of snuffboxes, an extraordinarily large trophy sailfish, and various other items suitable for museum display. This household would inspire awe when our family would pass through on summer vacations. Cleo spoke in a vaguely Boston Brahmin accent that harked back a hundred years. She was not, however, grand in manner; she was filled with curiosity about a world that inevitably came to seem remote to her, especially as she had trouble with her vision. She remained in reasonably good health right to the end. Her mind and spirit were brilliantly intact, her voice booming out in a grainy mezzo. I would be in a good mood for hours after every conversation with her: she was a fixed point of character, warm and keen, sage and frank. I can't believe I won't hear her voice again: "Hello Ahlexahnder…" If only we could all grow old while changing so little.
Deepest condolences to the Webster daughters: Cassandra, Kathryne, Heather, and Martha. Heather took the picture above at Cleo's ninety-third birthday party.