Henrietta Parrott Light of Watertown, MA, 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, who raised her with a lifelong love of gardening and the natural world, literature, music, and friendship.
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 energies to raising her four children and cultivating her interests in music and horticulture.
Later, she attended the Horticulture Program at Mass. Bay Community College and launched a second career, first caring for the historic greenhouses of Waltham’s Lyman Estate with their 200-year-old camellia trees and then as a self-employed garden designer, applying her creative and knowledgeable vision to the gardens of her many clients and supporting and befriending her peers as a founding member of the Women’s Horticultural Network.
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 the Chemical-Free/Life-Friendly Garden Tours, of which her sloping, meadow-like gardens were a regular and much-admired feature. She loved to give parties, and each of her passions could be counted on to provide the occasion for a gathering with a cake or two.
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 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 (https://watertowncitizens.org).