Laurie Anne Thomas Spry (1952-2023)
Laurie passed away on Friday, March 24 in Providence, Rhode Island, surrounded by family. She was soldiering through a two year illness that had been at bay until recently, but fortunately she didn't have to suffer pain and indignity for too long, having been dancing and riding her horse at the beginning of March. We are so relieved that she is now released to be her free spirited self.
Laurie was born in New Jersey to Marjorie and Fred Thomas, long of Thetford, VT and now of nearby Lebanon, NH. She leaves her husband of 30 years, Brian Bishop (Austin, RI), former partner, Jenny Spry (Melbourne, Australia), two younger sisters, Cassie Thomas (Anchorage, AK) w/ Russell, and Barb Thomas Harrington (Thetford, VT), and two nephews, Tom Harrington (Thetford, VT) and Will Harrington (Macalla, and children, Ellorie and Jagger, Princeton, NJ). On the Bishop side of the family she leaves loving in-laws: Brian’s father Ed (and his wife Mary-Jean Francis, Providence, RI), and siblings Kalee Roberts(Providence, RI) w/ children Cynthia and Sam (w/ Kate and children Eleanora, John and Max), Sharon (Pawtucket, RI) and her daughter Andrea Lee, Lisa Tuckerman (Bozeman, MT) w/ Russell and children Cooper and Hudson, Colin (Cranston, RI) Angel and daughter Molly, and Meg Kaufer (Mamaroneck, NY) w/ Patrick and children Liam, Hannah, Cecily, Carl and Quinn.
Countless extended family and friends created a huge and constant field of love around Laurie. Of special note, her lifelong college roommates, Big Carol Malthaner (Cambridge, MA) and Little Carol Clothier (Evansville, IL), and her riding partner, Lucy Butler (Arcadia, RI).
After some years in Cincinnati and Chicago, Laurie moved with her family to Australia, where she was first able to fulfill her dream, and ultimately lifelong habit, of owning horses and spending time in nature. She studied biology at Principia College, founded to serve the cause of Christian Science, and emphasizing in Laurie both the highly rationalist and spiritually devoted person.
After college, Laurie married John Spry (now Jenny Spry), an Australian friend of the family. They spent time living in the US, but eventually bought a small apple orchard and farm in Victoria, Australia, and adopted Samuel Thien Spry (1981-2009) as an infant. They moved back to the States in 1986, and lived in Thetford, VT where Laurie is remembered for her years at the Killdeer Farm and Farmstand of Liz and Jake Guest, and for her participation in the contradance community that was forerunner to the music and dance that brought her to Rhode Island.
Laurie studied in the Upper Valley Teacher Training Program (VT/NH) in her late 30s, and began her teaching career in Rhode Island, becoming a treasured member of the School One community in Providence, where she taught math and science for 25 years. Her entire experience was one of teacher development, from decades of learning and self critique devoted to establishing her own teaching practice, to supporting a wider environment of cooperative critical development for the continuing cast of characters . . . er, teachers, at School One.
She and her husband Brian met at the Cajun Bluegrass Festival at Stepping Stone Ranch in Escoheag, RI, a rural hamlet adjacent to the village of Austin, RI where he lived on the border of Exeter and West Greenwich. This niche event on Labor Day Weekend has morphed into the Rhythm and Roots Festival in Charlestown, RI. From its inception it drew crowds from around New England and the Mid-Atlantic to its Louisiana and Gulf Coast-centric mixture of dance, music and sociality, thus bringing Laurie to her new home.
Laurie and Brian (and his father Ed), own Austin Farm, where Laurie kept horses, miniature donkeys, and various other critters over the years; was the matron of Bishops Castle, a 19th century mill–later both a 4H club and dance hall; was the proprietor of Laurie’s Lorry manure removal service; and where she applied her green thumb to what acres she could flower as a patina of human flourishing softening her husband’s appalachian décor of the curtilage. It is a place of joyous nature, frequent celebrations, music events, and constant fence mending.
Laurie and Brian's famous travels took them in pursuit of nature but also the artifact of its human taming–sranches, timber cuts, oil patches, and mines. However wild the locales, they were bird watching, dancing and kiteboarding the whole way back to Australia, to the Caribbean and Central America, and to various parts of the US. Her illness brought plans for a journey to beloved Fahan, County Donegal, Ireland, homeland of her grandmother, Marjorie Hutchinson, but its rapid advance foreclosed them.
While fate did not allow her to make the journey corporeally, Laurie lived it vicariously through the remarkably poignant and edgy humor of “Derry Girls” where Sister Michael observed of an (admittedly insipid) student dramatical effort auguring the hope of the Good Friday Accords: “the conflict here has lead to so many terrible atrocities and now we must add your play to that list.” If Laurie had not the time to tread on Irish soil, she had the blessing of its culture, its hope, and its humor to see her to her rest.
In her last days of life, Laurie had her music playing and her dog Jack on the bed, a devoted final connection to her life on the farm and in nature, even as those days were spent with the caring staff of the Women and Infants Hospital Gyn-Oncology ward, her husband by her side due to their humane invitation to spend day and night in her room.
In preparing for gatherings in Laurie’s memory, remembrances in the form of pictures, tokens of experience, and prosaic offerings are welcome by mail at 199 Austin Farm Road, Exeter, RI 02822 or email austoniansri@gmail.com. An informal extended “Protestant Shiva” will follow her peripatetic pursuit of riding and rhythm through the spring. Upper Valley (VT/NH) friends may join those of us who will be sitting at the Thomas family seat,1221 Gove Hill Road, Thetford VT Friday, April 14th 4-8. Southern New England events focus on various geographies and gaggles but are not meant to be exclusive in that regard: Sneekers Café, Groton, CT April 1st 7-11; Winchester Café, Portland CT, April 2nd 4-8; Knickerbocker Café, Westerly, RI, April 5th 7-10; The Parlour, PVD, April 7th 6-9; Union Station Brewery, PVD, April 9th 5-9; Steak Loft, Mystic, CT, April 14th 6-10; Richmond Smoke, Wyoming, RI, April 20th 6-10; Nick-a-nees, PVD, April 22nd 8-11; School One & The Parlour, PVD, April 28th 2-6 & 6-9; Somerville, MA location TBA, May 25th; Stepping Stone Ranch, Escoheag, RI Memorial Day Weekend. Date TBA
Her memorial celebration will be held in August amidst the melodies and flowers of her beloved farm. In lieu of sending more flowers, her family has worked with School One to establish the Laurie Spry Memorial Teacher Development Fund. We invite Laurie’s friends and family to support that effort. Checks can be written to “School One” with “LSMTDF” in memo and mailed to attn: Robin Lansinger, School One, 220 University Avenue, Providence, RI 02906. Gifts may be made electronically by navigating to the “Make your Gift Now” link at https://school-one.org under Give>Why and How to Give sub-menu by checking “Dedicate my Donation” and noting Laurie Spry as honoree. Help and information is available by contacting Robin Lansinger, Director of Development at robinl@school-one.org
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