Henrietta Parrott Light, of Watertown, died peacefully at her home on May 2, 2026.
Henrietta (Penny) was born in Dayton, Ohio, on Oct. 8, 1930, to Robert Ferguson Light and Henrietta Clunet Light. She graduated from Smith College with a degree in early childhood education, which she applied to a year of teaching at Ruggles Street Nursery School in Roxbury before dedicating her energy to raising her four children and cultivating her interests in music and horticulture. Later, she attended the Horticulture Program at Massachusetts Bay Community College and launched a second career, first caring for the historic greenhouses of Waltham’s Lyman Estate, with its 200-year-old camellia trees, and then as a self-employed garden designer.
A resident of Belmont for 21 years and Watertown for 49 years, Henrietta had strong social convictions and was an energetic and passionate member of many communities and circles of friends. An avid amateur violinist since childhood, she enjoyed friendships and chamber music with dozens of other string players and was a founding member of the Belmont Community Orchestra and an early board member of the Belmont (now Powers) Music School. She was active in Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety from its inception and helped to establish that organization’s Chemical-Free/Life-Friendly Garden Tours, of which her sloping, meadow-like gardens were a regular and much-admired feature.
Henrietta was pre-deceased by her ex-husband, Lee Wolman, and her husband, Ian Gorry.
She is survived by her children, Marc Wolman (Martha Cohen) of Belmont, Rebekah Wolman (Michael Bade) of San Francisco, California, Samuel Wolman (Loretta Lillios) of Natick, and Alexander Wolman (Terri Halperin) of Richmond, Virginia; her grandchildren, Maria (Ben) McBride, Rafael (Alyssa Bauer), Sofia, Nathan (Lydia Solano), Elias, and Lida Wolman; her great-grandchildren, Joseph, Winna and Theo McBride and Ida and Leonardo Bauer; her first cousin, Dr. Roy G. Fitzgerald of Lewes, Delaware; six nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren; and her former partner Corey O’Brien.
Following a private burial at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, a memorial gathering will be held in the fall with details to be announced.
The family suggests donations in her memory to Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment, watertowncitizens.org.