Hettie Beaman Lakin Shumway (September 1, 1903 – June 17, 1985) was an American philanthropist and humanist during the early and mid-twentieth century. She committed much of her time to volunteering and worked to change and improve the Rochester, New York area, particularly at the Strong Memorial Hospital, the East House Corporation, Lifeline, the Rochester School for the Deaf, among various other councils and committees. Shumway was also a strong advocate for establishing the National Technical Institute for the Deaf on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Personal life
Hettie Beaman Lakin (September 1, 1903 – June 17, 1985) was born to Herbert Conrad Lakin (1872–1952) and Helen Wardner Beaman (1877–1967) on her maternal grandparent's country estate named Blow-Me-Down in Cornish, New Hampshire. The oldest of four children, she and her family lived in New York City then moved to Scarsdale, New York and eventually settled down in Greenwich, Connecticut. Hettie was first educated at Brearley School in New York City and graduated from St. Timothy's School in Catonsville, Maryland. She also took courses at Barnard College and later would take American Red Cross courses in 1939. Hettie spent summers either at Blow-Me-Down or the Beaman family's summer home on Isle au Haut in Maine. Throughout her life Hettie enjoyed swimming, ice skating, singing, listening to radio broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera Company, and sailing. She also travelled Europe with her Aunt Mary Holmes and Uncle Ned Holmes. As a youth, Hettie sang with the Junior League Glee Club and the People's Chorus of New York City. She also joined the New York Junior League where she began volunteering in a settlement house and she later volunteered at the Child Welfare Department in Westchester County. On New Year's Day of 1930, Hettie Lakin met Frank Ritter Shumway when they both went to see Carmen at the opera. Nine months later on Monday, September 8, 1930 Hettie and Frank were married at Round Hill Community Church in Greenwich, Connecticut. Shortly after their wedding, the couple moved to 14 Crick Road, Oxford, England so Mr. Shumway could be educated at the University of Oxford. On May 30, 1931, Frank and Hettie Shumway welcomed their first child, Mary Ellen Shumway. The couple's second child, Frank Ritter Shumway Jr., would be born on May 9, 1933. In 1934 the Shumway family moved to the Rochester, New York area. They designed, built, and moved into a home on Ambassador Drive in Brighton, New York by the end of 1935. The third and final child of the family, Charles Lakin Shumway, was born on July 8, 1936. With a living room full of family photos, that home would become a gathering place for health and social agency staff, various committee members, traveling figure skaters, and many other friends. The Shumway family had a passion for sailing and owned two schooners named “Spindrift” and “Skookum III”. They also owned a beloved fifty-foot ketch named “Flying Gull”. Summers were spent sailing the Great Lakes and vacationing at Georgian Bay. Hettie Shumway was extremely fond of sailing and adored spending time with her husband on the "Flying Gull". Hettie dedicated much of her life to volunteerism, philanthropy, and humanism. She continued to be involved in the community even after she suffered from a paralyzing stroke in 1984, which left her in a wheelchair under the almost constant care of a nurse. Even a few days after her stroke, she left the hospital to attend a Friends of Strong event. Hettie Beaman Lakin Shumway died in her home on Ambassador Drive.
Philanthropy and community involvement
Strong Memorial Hospital
Hettie Shumway began volunteering in Strong Memorial Hospital’s library in 1935 and continued to volunteer and be active with the medical center until her death in 1985. She served on various boards and committees and also helped to found the Friends of Strong. Shumway received the University of Rochester’s Associates Medal in 1968 for her 34 years of service. Mrs. Shumway was appointed to the Board of Overseers for the hospital in 1974. In 1984 she received Strong's first Hettie L. Shumway Volunteer Service Award.