Obituary of Rosalie Brown Maury

Rosalie Brown Maury, formerly of 24 Indian Spring Road, died Sunday, January 9, 2011 in Stamford Hospital. The wife of the late Jack Maury was 94. Endowed with an effervescent personality and a gift for rhyme, Mrs. Maury could be counted on for ready laughter and a poem for every occasion. The talent led to her being dubbed the "poet laureate" of Atria of Darien, where she and her husband lived from 2000 until his death in 2003 after 63 years of marriage, and where she continued until her death. Mrs. Maury, known as "Rolly" to almost everyone, was a sixth cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a first cousin of the late Margaret Suckley, with whom the President had a lifelong relationship depicted in the best selling book "Closest Companion" of 1995, in which Mrs. Maury is quoted. Miss Suckley had lived for several years in the winter home of Mrs. Maurys grandmother on Park Avenue in Manhattan and she and Rolly had become bosom friends. "We always referred to the President as the "Prez" and she saw to it that I had several opportunities to be with him," Mrs. Maury related in a 1995 Hour interview. "One time I introduced my husband to him and the President, wishing to put him at ease, asked Jack to measure some windows for new draperies." Mrs. Maury enjoyed telling stories of her childhood visits to Hyde Park and Sunday chauffeured rides with the President. She spent most of her youth in Shippan Point and Manhattan with summers in Rhinebeck, N.Y. She attended the Low Heywood School in Stamford and Miss Hewitts Classes in New York City. A highlight of her later life was the sumptuous 60th wedding anniversary party given by her family at the Norwalk Yacht Club in 2000 on the very date she and her husband had married in St. James Episcopal Church in Manhattan. She adored children and four of her own kept her involved with the Rowayton School PTA for several years. She was also a Cub Scout leader, Sunday school teacher, a longtime choir member at the United Church of Rowayton, a driver for Fish, a member of the Rowayton Gardeners and the Norwalk Yacht Club. She enjoyed bridge, skiing, tennis, paddle tennis, and, of course, sailing for which her husband, a native of Bermuda and longtime owner of the Maury & Spence Boat Yard in East Norwalk, was always ready. Mrs. Maury was born Dec. 26, 1916 in Morristown, NJ, to the late Thomas Ellis Brown and Helen Langdon Brown. Her father was an engineer who was co-designer of the elevator in the Eiffel Tower of Paris, France. Her mother was a descendant of John Jacob Astor. Mr. Maury is survived by two sons, John Maury of Point Verde, FL.; Dick Maury of Gillette, WY, two daughters; Rosalie Chanler of Rowayton, and Betsy Perry of Southport, two sisters; Margie Barker of Buffalo, NY and Joan Aitken of Madison, nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Private interment will take place with family members with a memorial service to be held in May at a date and time to be announced. Memorials may be made to the United Church of Rowayton, 210 Rowayton Ave, Rowayton, CT 06853. The Edward Lawrence Funeral Home, 2119 Post Road, Noroton, is handling arrangements. Funeral Home: Edward Lawrence Funeral Home 2119 Post Road Darien, CT USA 06820