Joyce “Dede” Calderone Todd, 94, passed peacefully on March 19, 2025.
Dede left us on Wednesday, March 19th, surrounded by family and friends. She was the daughter of Joseph Calderone and Edith Dow and the widow of Robert Sherwood Todd. Dede grew up in the Boston area before moving to Ipswich as a teen. She graduated from Ipswich High School in 1948, where she was a cheerleader, piano player, dancer and author of the humorous “Class Will” in the yearbook. She also attended Salem Teacher’s College, now Salem State College.
In 1949 Dede met her husband when he saw her dancing in the Annual Rowley Show at the Town Hall. He courted her with great determination, and they were married on August 29, 1953, on a one-hundred-degree day at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newburyport. After Bob’s time in the Navy, they made their first home on Hanover Street in Newbury. They had three children, Robbie, Barry and Jennifer by 1959. She was a busy mother in the neighborhood, at school, and at St. Paul’s where she and her children sang in the choir while Bob was a Vestryman, Warden, Sunday School Teacher, Lay Reader, Treasurer and the Children’s Service Rector in St. Anne’s Chapel, all with Dede’s love and support.
In 1967 the family moved to High Street in Newburyport and were among the first people to completely renovate and refurbish one of the lovely old houses on that beautiful street. Dede was very artistic and loved her home, which she decorated and furnished beautifully. It was on the Yankee Homecoming House Tour one summer, much to her delight.
In 1977 Bob and Dede sold their house and moved to an old Rowley home on Main Street on 3-1/2 acres. They, again, carefully restored the house and barn and became parishioners at Bob’s family church, directly across the street from their home. There, Dede once again became a big part of the church and choir until her final move in 2021, as a widow of six years, to Atria in Newburyport.
Dede and Bob loved to dance and socialize. They were a gracious and gregarious couple who counted people of all ages and backgrounds as close friends. Dede sang with the Newburyport Choral Society and was in a Hampton Beach Playhouse production of the Sound of Music which starred Rue McClanahan of television’s Golden Girls, and, of course, she was a featured fixture as a dancer and spright in the Annual Rowley Town Show.
Dede had many close cousins and friends, and was especially close to her only sibling, her brother Richard. A wonderful daughter, sister, cousin, wife, Mother, aunt, grandmother and great grandmother, her charisma, charm, beauty, humor and love radiated effortlessly from her kind, loving heart and soul. Dede’s lifelong friends, cousin Mika, Mary Webber, and Ruthie Lippoldt were joined by neighbors, fellow parishioners and choir members later, to form an amazing sisterhood of brave, loving women. In Rowley they were joined by her “little sisters” Judy Robillard and Stephanie Desjardins, both of whom were with her until her last hours. Her daughter, Jennifer, above all, was her pride and joy. She devoted herself to her little girl, who, like her mother became a radiant woman.
Dede read a few books a week, loved old musicals, delighted in most music and was the embodiment of style, taste and fashion. Her children adored her and were blessed by her love, support and protection right up to her final hours. Her parents gave her a piano when she was a girl, and throughout her life, she would enliven day and evening with music, laughter and dance.
Dede and Bob were a golden attractive couple who drew people to them. For 60 years it was impossible to separate or divide them in any way, yet she endured after his death in 2014, and at Atria she found love, again, with Arthur Cote, a gentleman her age who romanced her with charm and his vintage harmonica. For four years they were a delightful couple who charmed all who knew them, a wonderful coda to a long life, much to the delight of Dede’s children, grandchildren and friends.
Dede leaves behind her two sons, seven grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren, many friends and two cousins, Tony and Frank. She also leaves many ethereal moments and memories. But, above all, she leaves us her strong faith and love.
The sad note in her life was the death of Jennifer in 2022. During Jennifer’s sudden illness and rapid decline, Dede was strong, stoic, full of faith and a fountain of love for the whole family. So, goodbye to a remarkable woman, a rare combination of a great lady and a sweet, innocent girl, someone who did everything out of love, faith and what was the right thing to do.
We would like to thank the staff at Brigham Manor for their care and kindness for her especially during the last few months of her life.
Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend calling hours on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., at F. S. Roberts & Son Funeral Home. A Funeral Service will be on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, at 11:00 a.m., at First Congregational Church of Rowley, 175 Main Street, Rowley. Burial will follow at Rowley Burial Ground.
In lieu of flowers, donation pledges may be made to the American Diabetes Foundation or specific choice.
To light a memorial candle or to leave a message of condolence, please visit www.fsrobertsandson.com.
~ Arrangements entrusted to F. S. Roberts & Son Funeral Home ~
