Priscilla F. Drake
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Priscilla F. (Randall) Drake, 95, of New London and Delray Beach, Fla., died peacefully Sunday, April 4, 2021, surrounded by her family at the Jack Byrne Center for palliative care.
Priscilla was born February 8, 1926, in Lynn, Mass. during a blizzard. She was the second child of Perley Edward and Alice (White) Randall. She went through the Swampscott, Mass. public schools, graduating in 1943, and attended Bridgewater Teachers College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in teaching in 1947. She was employed in Swampscott and Marblehead, Mass. as a 2nd-grade teacher until her marriage to Dr. Thomas J. Drake, a dentist in Swampscott, in 1951.
Priscilla was a volunteer at Salem Hospital, a member of the Junior Aid Society and the Young Republican Club of Swampscott. In 1970, the family moved to Sunapee, where she bought the Seven Hearths Country Store and started Priscilla Drake Antiques. Later, she moved her business to the red antique barn on Main Street in New London when the family moved to the property in 1977. She operated the shop until 2006. In her 70s, Priscilla studied Antiques Appraisal, earning a license to appraise antiques in New Hampshire.
Priscilla was an avid reader, loved needlepoint, bridge, and tennis, which she continued to play until the age of 90.
She was predeceased by her husband of 42 years in 1993; her brother Martin in 1962, and her stepson Richard in 1995. Members of her family include her daughter Deborah D. Cross and her husband Richard of New London; her daughter Suzanne Thrun, of Soquel, Calif. grandchildren Jonathan Cross and his wife Sara; Lindsay Hanson and her husband Mike; Trevor Cross and his wife Ginger; and Evan Cross and his wife Jennifer, Jeffery Thrun, and Michele Claussen and her husband Jim; and 10 great-grandchildren Eli, Jasper, William, Brooks, Olivia, Paxton, Thomas Jayden, Julie, Sawyer, and Ava.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday, June 26, 2021, at 11:00 A.M. at the New London Historical Society, In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Lake Sunapee Region Visiting Nurse Association, P.O. Box 2209, New London.
To sign an online guestbook please visit www.chadwickfuneralservice.com.