RIP My Great Aunt Doris Hueston- Ivers

My Great Aunt Doris Hueston- Ivers passed away last week. She was 101 years old. She is survived by her son Larry Hueston. She was, as far as I know, the last remaining living member pictured in the "Adams Plectral Society" Gibson Promotional photo at the top of this blog. In the picture of the "Ivers Mandolin Orchestra" above she is wearing a white dress seated front and center, with an angelic gaze, directly in front of my Great Grandfather Joseph Ivers who was a Gibson Mandolin Company sales agent, a Mandolin Orchestra leader, and music teacher. My great Aunt Doris was probably around 10 or 11 years old when this photo appeared in the 1921 Gibson Mandolin Company Catalog. She's holding what looks like probably a H2 Mandola. Many years ago my Great Aunt Doris gave my father Robert Ivers a 1915 F4 mandolin which he played up until two years ago, when he gave it to me to play and take care of.  More recently she also gave my father a 1921 H2 Mandola, which he still has and plays today. Both of these instruments are pictured in the 1921 Gibson Promotional photo above, and are well documented on this blog, and listed on the Mandolin Archive website. Rest in peace my Great Aunt Doris.

Here's some information my father sent me in an email a year or two ago, before my great Aunt Doris passed away in which he talks about a phone conversation he had with her regarding what she remembered about my Great Grandather Joseph Ivers, and the Mandolin Orchestra:

I just got off the phone with Doris. She is 97 and rambled about the family as follows:

My granddad, her father, lived in Adams, Mass. when the picture was taken of the mandolin band. The picture was taken sometime between 1922 and 1923 in the Adams, Mass. High School auditorium where the band performed. (The recollection of this date is inaccurate as the photo appeared in a 1921 Gibson Catalog)  The band was called the "Gibsonians". He purchased all of the mandolins directly from Kalamzoo where the Gibson company manufactured the mandolins. At the same time, my grandfather, ran the cotton mill owned by the "Renfrew Manufacturing Company", one of two mills in Adams. He and Nana, my grandmother, played bridge with the other plant manager every Saturday night. The cotton was shipped from the south and made into cloth at his mill.  He had the first automobile in Adams. Granddad was from a musical family. (one of 13 children). Doris said that the family was an association with a slate of officers, held meetings etc. (This may have been like a corporation) He was one of five brothers who sang "in public" he was a tenor. His father was Welch. The Welch have been known for their good voices.His mother was Irish and was born in County Cork, Ireland.

Doris said "grandad was a wonderful organizer" - witness his twi-light baseball league founding, his political organizing, and the Adams "Old Home Week" which he chaired for many years.

Nana's (my Great Grand Mother; also pictured holding the F-4 in the orchestra photo) family was from Montreal. Doris said that they were musical also. "opera singers and lawyers."

I hope this answers some of your questions. Doris is the only source I have about my father's side of the family.