Del Brebner

Del Brebner-- August 14 1917- March 28 2009

Del is gone.
From under the most delicate sliver of a moon in the Northwestern sky
Lit from penultimate below by the sun unseen.
A moon that looked like a smile, with the hint of sphere airbrushed against a backdrop of pink turning dark blue.
In back of a stark Maple where red squirrels chased each other like monkeys.
Earlier in the day, redpoles and chickadees and woodpeckers jockeyed for position at the bird feeder while six white tailed deer
grazed on patches of grass that were emerging from the snow.
Where did she go?
The vast silence enfolded her Identity into its ordered chaos-the same yet always different.
And it was ok with all of that.
On the table lay a piece of paper, a living will typed on yellowing office paper stating the desire not be be resuscitated
and that no funeral or religious ceremonies be held.
Signed by Del and Win. (Win could not help adding a personal touch to the quasi-legal document: his opinion that religion was the cause of a large
portion of human misery)
I read it again when Del was gone

The impersonal panorama outside the back porch of 633 Blaney Road seemed to say:
I am not gone, I linger on, in every leaf and honey bee
Don't say goodbye, Because I'm alive - every time you think of me.

Del Brebner, born Margaret Ardel Cogswell on August 14, 1917, left us on March 28, 2009 after 40 years as the heart and soul of 633 Blaney Road where she died with her family and friends by her side. She was known to many as the wife of Winston Brebner known as Geppetto, her husband of 58 years, a WW II veteran of Darby's Raiders of the Tenth Mountain Division, who she met at a VJ Day celebration in Boston, MA .


Born in Great Barrington, MA, Del grew up on the North Shore of Massachusetts and graduated from Danvers High School and Emerson College. Always with a distinctive flair, she began a career in marketing and advertising for Jordan Marsh, Filene's, and Arnold Advertising. Continuing in the field, she brought her knowledge and joy to others as a teacher of English and marketing at Boston University, School of Public Communication.


As the principal publicist for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Del devoted her energies as a children's advocate and was instrumental in the formation of the Marblehead, Massachusetts Thrift Store for the MSPCC. She continued in the children's field as the operations coordinator and editor of Boston University's New England Special Education Instructional Materials Center, a resource for teachers of handicapped children.


During this time she worked as a free lance writer and had articles and short fiction published in McCall's, Woman's Day, Coronet, Executive Digest, Better Living and Teaching Exceptional Children as well as papers disseminated nationally by the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped. Her proudest literary achievement was the 1978 publication by J. B. Lipincott of her novel, Snapshots that reflected her staunch advocacy for the legalization of marijuana.


In 1969 the Brebners bought the old Blaney Farm in Bethlehem and split their time between Boston and New Hampshire until retiring to the farm in 1987 where she enjoyed gardening, cooking, cribbage games, the New York Times crossword puzzles, bridge games and visits from their many friends. She especially loved children and always enjoyed watching them examine her many treasures.


"When I met Del, I was just out of college at my first job, and she was a glamorous young war widow who became my lifelong friend," says Estelle Bond Guralnick, a Boston-based journalist/editor. "Subsequently, when she met and married Win Brebner, a novelist/advertising writer, and I married a surgeon, our two families bonded totally, going on annual rugged fishing trips together in northern Maine and sharing a lifetime of precious moments regularly. Our kids are close friends to this day.

"Both the Brebs--as we called them--were Renaissance people, each in his or her right. Successful professionals, they also played concertos on their recorders and were formidable games players, always ready for a round of bridge. In her prime, Del was a seemingly-effortless gourmet cook. Wherever they lived--whether Boston, Marblehead or New Hampshire, their home was a mecca for friends of all sorts, all of us drawn to the guarantee of good conversation, good food, good times.

"It's hard to think of Del without mentioning Win. Perhaps an early holiday greeting card said it all. It was hand painted, of course, depicting a large bow-tied bell. The message read: 'Ding Dong. Win and Del.' "

She is survived by her son Asa Prescott Brebner of Bethlehem, NH and Cambridge, MA. She was predeceased by her husband Winston Prescott Brebner in 2004 and by her first husband Gerald Gettings, a navy flier who was killed in a jet accident, and by her brother Mel Cogswell who was killed in a B17 over Germany.

Arrangements and care have been entrusted to the Pillsbury Funeral Homes and Cremation Service, Inc. To view an online memorial or to send a message of condolence, please visit www.pillsburyfh.com.