Bebe Whittle
Bebe Whittle was born Avilda Dana Wilson on August 3, 1931, in Hyannis, MA, to Avilda Downing Moore and Ernest Dana Wilson. She lived with her brother Robert Downing Wilson and their parents in Larchmont, NY, until they moved to Worcester, MA, when her father became head of the chemical engineering department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Her family spent summers on Cape Cod at their cottage on Lake Wequaquet in Centerville. As a child, Bebe liked to get up earlier than everyone else to head out in her rowboat to a lily pad-filled inlet to go frogging. She had always wanted a pony, and one summer, made a deal with a neighbor boy to trade his pony for her rowboat. He would drop the pony off for the day and take off in the rowboat. Bebe’s godmother, Violet Smith, owned an estate, the Grey Gables, up the lane on the same lake. One day, Bebe walked her borrowed pony up to the Gables to ask Aunt Violet, an accomplished equestrian, to show her some riding tips. While attempting to mount the pony, Violet fell and broke her ankle, swearing Bebe to secrecy about the incident to keep her from getting into trouble with her parents.
Upon graduating from high school, Bebe first attended Mount Holyoke College in MA, then McGill University in Montréal, and later Tobe-Coburn in NY for fashion merchandising, which led to a job at Filene’s as a buyer.
In 1950, her future husband Howie Whittle followed his brother George to WPI to study mechanical engineering. Bebe’s childhood friend, June Forsberg, was dating George and talked Bebe into a date with Howie. One thing led to another, and pretty soon, Bebe (who had been skiing since she was 14) convinced him to join her on the slopes.
In December 1953, Bebe and Howie became engaged and were married on June 19, 1954, the day before his graduation from WPI.
After a honeymoon trip through Paris, Spain, Portugal, Tangiers and Majorca, they returned to the U.S. via the French Riviera with the Austin Somerset sedan that had been a wedding gift from Bebe’s parents, settling into an apartment near Howie’s new job at Bradley Container Corp. in Maynard, MA.
Before two years were up, they purchased a small farm property in South Acton, MA, where they lived for 33 years and raised their three daughters. They spent summers at the lake on Cape Cod and skied winters, mostly at Mad River Glen, in Vermont. Bebe did all the cooking for their ski lodge on Bragg Hill that slept 22 people in dormitory-style bunk rooms,
Bebe traveled the world with (and sometimes without) Howie, their daughters, family members and friends, visiting 28 countries into her 90s. She skied at dozens of resorts in the U.S., Canada and Europe – she also traveled to many horse-related events.
She was a devoted equestrian and rode until the age of 89; she made her last ski run at Sugarbush at 90.
Bebe passed away on July 19, 2024. She is survived by Howie Whittle, her husband of 70 years, her three daughters and their spouses – Dana Whittle and Claude Méthé of Sainte-Béatrix, QC; Leslie and Blaise Carrig of Steamboat Springs, CO; and Kristen Whittle and Tom Norwood of Sunderland, MA, as well as 10 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, we hope that you’ll make a donation to the Mad River Valley Ambulance Service at mrvas.org/donate. You can address personal condolences to Howie Whittle, 185 Pine Haven Shores Road, Apt 117, Shelburne, VT 05482.
