Elizabeth S. Talbot

Elizabeth S. Talbot died July 17, 2018, at the Tippett Hospice Home in Needham, Massachusetts after a short, brave battle with renal cancer. She was 80 years old and had lived for the last 30 years in South Orleans, Reading, and Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, after raising her family in White Plains, New York.

Known as “Liz” or “Zibbie” to her friends, and as “GrandZ” to her grandchildren, Ms. Talbot, an avid reader and environmentalist, had most recently worked to find housing for summer workers under the J-1 visa program on Cape Cod.  Earlier she had helped care for her four grandchildren in Reading and worked as a realtor in Oak Bluffs.

Throughout her life, but particularly during her time in White Plains between 1969 and 1985, she volunteered for Democratic political candidates and a variety of environmental and civic organizations. She worked at various times as a realtor, paralegal, teacher, administrator, and volunteer keeper of the East Chop Lighthouse in Oak Bluffs.

Born Jane Elizabeth Speakman on January 11, 1938 to George Dixon Speakman and Jane Cunningham Speakman, and raised in Short Hills, New Jersey, she was a 1959 graduate of Mount Holyoke College. Her marriage that year to Allan Talbot ended in divorce.

She is survived by daughter Katharine Fitzgerald of Concord and husband Paul; son David Talbot of Reading and wife Julie; grandchildren William Fitzgerald and Nathaniel, Alexander, and Cordelia Talbot; sister Anne Speakman of Cambridge and wife Sally Kelly; nephew Thomas Speakman and niece Margaret Kelly; and cousins Rob Albright of Stow and Francie Hersey of Sheffield, Vermont, and their spouses, children, and grandchildren.

Services to be announced. Because tobacco contributed to Ms. Talbot’s death, her family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 1400 I Street NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20005. Donations may also be made to the Orleans Pond Coalition, Box 2485, Orleans, MA  02653.