MARY CONNIE L. COMFORT MAT’70

MARY CONNIE L. COMFORT MAT’70, an administrator at Wesleyan and a tireless community volunteer, died May 21, 2016. She was 81. After studying drama at the University of Washington, from which she received her BA in 1953, she worked for a local television station. In 1957 she married William Wistar Comfort II, professor of mathematics, emeritus, at Wesleyan, and they moved to Massachusetts, where her husband was an instructor at Harvard University. While in Cambridge she worked as a research assistant on an early study about birth control pills, and she also worked as a social secretary to a local celebrity. When the family moved to Rochester, N.Y., she participated as director and actor in a community theater and established a traveling Punch and Judy puppet show. Upon moving to Amherst, Mass., she entered graduate school in theater at Smith College and worked part-time writing theater reviews for the local newspaper. Through subsequent years and subsequent travels, she taught English literature and drama. Most notably, she was part of a feminist collective, establishing the first family planning clinic in Middletown and serving as its first director. She also was involved in other community organizations and was active in Quaker meetings. She served for many years as a board member of the American Friends Service Committee of the New England Regional Meeting and as a member of the Permanent Board of the New England Yearly Meeting. For two decades she served as a career counselor to a wide range of Wesleyan undergraduates, specializing in pre-medical advising. In her last years with Wesleyan she directed the Honors College. Upon moving to the shoreline, she started two film series at libraries there, as well as an active Theater Club. Survivors include her husband, William Wistar Comfort II [Note: Professor Comfort passed away on Nov. 28, 2016.], two children, four grandchildren, and three siblings.