Marion Evelyn Jones Kingsford

Marion Evelyn Jones Kingsford (Troussoff) passed away on May 16, 2023 in Peterborough, New Hampshire, at the age of 95. She lived her life with spirit and kindness, devoted to family, conservation, and animals. As her granddaughter wrote, “She always knew how to coax living things forward and help them grow.” Marion was happiest outdoors, digging in soil, identifying plants, walking her dog, or having a picnic.

Born in Bernardsville, New Jersey on December 16, 1927, Marion was the second child of Catesby ap Lucien Jones and Lilian Post Jones. She was the beloved niece of Marion Post Peters and Thomas Peters and was proud to be the 5th generation of Posts in Somerset County. Her fondest memories were of growing up at Kennil House, her family homestead in Bernardsville, surrounded by fields, streams and animals. She attended Mt. Kemble School, Kent Place School, and Chatham Hall in Virginia.

Marion studied art history and geology at Vassar College - passions she pursued throughout her life - before marrying Wilmer H. Kingsford, in June 1947 in Bernardsville. In 1953, they were the first motorists to drive from New York City to Prince Rupert, British Columbia on the new Trans-Canada Highway, and were awarded the Prince Rupert Key to the Great Northwest. They settled in Summit, New Jersey, where they raised two daughters and were involved in many civic groups until her husband’s death in 1979. Marion was a member of the Summit Garden Club, Summit Playhouse, and Calvary Episcopal Church.

She moved back to Bernardsville in 1986 upon her marriage to George B. Troussoff. An active member of the Somerset Hills Garden Club, Marion won prizes for her specimen plants and vegetables. Proud of New Jersey’s role in the Revolution, she was a docent at Washington’s Headquarters in Morristown. After Mr. Troussoff’s death, she moved to Mendham and joined the town’s Tree Committee. In 2011, Marion moved to Rivermead in Peterborough to be closer to her daughters. She was a longtime member of the Colony Club in New York and Somerset Hills Country Club.

Throughout her life, Marion lived the motto, “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without,” always preferring to cook, make, and grow things at home. She was an accomplished seamstress and embroiderer. She loved maps, orienting herself to her surroundings in the world. A gifted gardener, she used her artistic eye and green thumb to create beauty. Endlessly generous, Marion was the keeper of family history and lore, sharing and preserving as much as she could for future generations.

Marion was predeceased by her siblings, Lilian Jones, Sarah Jones Winmill, and Mark C. Jones, and her beloved dogs: Danny, Blaze, Mack, Cosmo, and Bonnie. She is survived by her daughters Alessandra Kingsford of Wayland MA and Cynthia Kingsford of Cape Neddick ME, son-in-law Peter Gilmore, granddaughter Eliza and fiancé Brendan of Amesbury MA, grandson Nathaniel, wife Emma, great-grandchildren Eleanor, Wesley, and Alice Marion, of Austin TX, and many nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the staff, companions, aides, friends and therapy dogs at Rivermead for their care, kindness and joy over the years and at the end of her life.

A private memorial service will be held later this summer in Bernardsville. In lieu of flowers, donations in Marion’s memory can be made to New Jersey Conservation Foundation, 170 Longview Road, Far Hills, NJ 07931, or St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, 575 Woodland Avenue, Madison, NJ 07940.