Mary (Molly) Goodrich Houston

Mary (Molly) Goodrich Houston, age 95, passed away on April 10, 2023. Born December 6, 1927 in Charleston, West Virginia, she was the daughter of Edgar Jennings Goodrich and Beulah Lenfest Goodrich.

Molly grew up in Washington, D.C., where she attended the Sidwell Friends School. She was educated at Mount Vernon Seminary and later at Centinary Junior College. In 1949 she graduated from Mount Holyoke College. That same year she married her beloved husband of 58 years, Benjamin Franklin Houston. They moved to Princeton, New Jersey, and raised three children there.

Molly had a lifelong career dedicated to teaching young children. She first taught at the University League Nursery School in Princeton. The family moved in 1959 to New Haven, Connecticut where she spent ten happy and creative years at the Foote School. Moving back to Princeton in 1969, she was offered a position at Stuart Country Day School and following that at Princeton Day School, where she remained for 26 years until she retired in 1996. Throughout her years in Princeton, Molly enjoyed memberships at the Present Day Club and the Mount Holyoke Club of Princeton. After retiring from teaching, she worked for many years as a docent at the Princeton University Art Museum, where she continued her work with young children by providing tours of the museum’s collection to visiting students from the Trenton public school system.

Molly especially enjoyed her time in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where she spent every summer of her life from the age of 3. She loved the beach and swam in the ocean until she was 93. She was often found with a box of watercolors painting an ocean scene or looking through her binoculars at birds and boats. She shared her passion for art, education, and nature with her children and grandchildren. Known as “Grandmolly” to her grandchildren, she was always overjoyed to spend time with them and claimed they rejuvenated her. She will be forever remembered and loved by all that knew her.

She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, and her two brothers, George Herbert Goodrich and Charles Lenfest Goodrich. She is survived by her children, Linda G. Houston (husband David) of Blodgett, Oregon; Wendy H. Brown (husband Keith) of Rowayton, Connecticut; and Scott G. Houston of Morristown, New Jersey; as well as three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.