Harriet M. Preston

Harriet M. (Naylor) Preston, 99, of St. Joseph, passed away Wednesday, December 10, 2014 at her home. Harriet was born October 16, 1915 in Pikesville, Maryland to Henry and Louise (Requardt) Naylor.  Her mother was a concert trained pianist.  Her father was a Johns Hopkins trained country doctor. Although at age thirteen her father’s untimely death left her widowed mother nearly destitute at the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Harriet was able to complete her education, first at the prestigious Friends School in Baltimore and finishing with a Master Degree in Social Services from Smith College in Massachusetts where she, among other jobs, waited tables for the world renowned Chef Julia Child, another Smith student, to pay for her tuition. In 1941, while working in Cincinnati and dating a local doctor, Harriet, a loyal southern socialist, answered a stranger’s knock on the door and met a recent Law School graduate canvassing door-to-door for the Republican Party.  She explained she was a committed Democrat.  Impressed by her Eastern manners (and the concert grand piano that almost filled in her small apartment), he asked if they could discuss his conservative views over dinner.  As a single woman of limited means, stretched by installment payments on the piano, reluctantly she agreed. Two weeks later the Maryland pacifist Quaker and the soon-to-be World War II naval aviator from Saint Joseph were engaged; and on March 21, 1942, less than three months after meeting, she married Arthur “Pete” Preston, Jr. and moved to her husband’s home in Saint Joseph.  Their marriage bond lasted until her husband’s death in 2010, sixty-eight years after their first chance encounter.  After her husband’s passing Harriet continued to live in the south Saint Joseph house they built in 1951 until her death. In addition to raising four children and being a supportive wife to her attorney husband, Harriet, or Pat as she was known, was an active member of the community.  She was an accomplished pianist, past president of Monday Musical and a piano student of Paul Flyger until just prior to her death.  She enjoyed bridge after learning the game with her siblings while still a very small girl and played duplicate competitively locally for many years. Athletically inclined as a member of the Friends School woman’s lacrosse team, she and her husband were long-time members of Berrien Hills and the South Shore Racquet Club.  She played golf until in her mid-eighties and tennis until well over ninety.  Her enjoyment of athletics was reflected in her daughter’s equestrian pursuits and her son’s participation on local school high school sports teams.  For many years she and her husband were members of the First Congregational Church and attended services every Sunday. Preceded in death by her husband, parents, and siblings; Harriet is survived by her four children; Mary (Preston) and James Workinger of Jacksonville, FL, William A. (Patricia) Preston and Robert (Judy) Preston of St. Joseph, and Edward (Ginger Macheski) Preston of Valdosta, GA, as well as twelve grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. Active until the last few months of her life, Harriet and children would like to thank all her devoted friends, the wonderful folks from Hospice-at-Home, Comfort Keepers and Private Duty, as well as Julie Pillow, her caregiver and friend for the past four years, all of whom ensured she was able to remain comfortably at home until she died. A Celebration of Life Gathering will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 PM on Saturday, December 13, 2014 at Starks and Menchinger Chapel, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph.  In lieu of flowers, Harriet requested memorials may be made to St. Joseph’s Maude Preston-Palenske Library.  Those wishing to sign Pat’s guestbook may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com.