Marjory Fair Read, known to absolutely everyone as “Bodgie”, passed away peacefully on August 18, 2021 in Hockessin, Delaware. Bodgie was born in Washington D.C., and grew up in Middleburgh, VA, Merion, PA and Aiken, SC, the daughter of Josefa Hofmann Fair and Col. Howard Cleugh Fair and granddaughter of the world-famous pianist Josef Casmir Hofmann. Bodgie grew up with her sister, Loulie, riding horses in Aiken and she never stopped this life-long equine passion. After finishing at The Aiken Day School and St. Timothy’s School, she attended Bryn Mawr College and graduated in 1955 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and worked as a Toxicologist at DuPont’s Haskell Laboratory. She married her Haverford College beau Robert Read in 1955 and together they raised their two children, Katherine and Howard, in their historic stone farmhouse in Newark, Delaware.
Bodgie shared her time, knowledge and life-long passion for horses with everyone around her and did so selflessly and tirelessly. As a riding teacher and Director of Riding at Sanford School for more than 10 years in the 1970’s and 1980’s, she introduced legions of young riders to the sport. After helping start the Sunny Hills Pony Club, she went on to volunteer for 41 years with the DelMarVa Region until she “retired” in 2020 with the distinct honor of having been the longest continuously serving Regional Supervisor in the history of the U.S Pony Club.
Bodgie’s contributions to the equine sport and its people did not end with Sanford or Pony Club. For more than 20 years she volunteered with the Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program, helping people find their strengths through horsemanship. And in the 1980’s, she was invited to set up dressage for the nascent Fair Hill Equestrian Events and she continued to volunteer with the Fair Hill International (FHI) organization for more than 30 years where she first served as Dressage Scheduler and Organizer for the three-day eventing sport. Not held back by her arthritic artificial knees, summer thunderstorms, windswept hills, or continuously muddy cars, she went on to work in the vet box, as course flagger, as precision sign maker, and for many years the Volunteer Coordinator for all of the Fair Hill International events. Her love of the sport and of the people was clear in the thousands of volunteers and competitors and their families –from toddlers to Olympians — with whom she developed a lasting kinship. Just recently, she said “All of those relationships made working those long hours at Fair Hill, in all kinds of weather, absolutely worthwhile.”
Bodgie was predeceased by her loving husband of 45 years, Dr. Robert E. Read and her sister Louise “Loulie” Fair Fox, of Santa Fe, NM. Bodgie is survived by her brother M. Skip Hofmann (Elaine) of Elkton, Maryland, her children Katherine Stafford (Frank) of Newark, Delaware, Dr. Howard Read (Julie) of Morgan Hill, California, 3 grandchildren Erika Smith Strasser (Rick), Robert Stafford and Claudia Read, and one great-grandchild Vera Strasser.
A private celebration of Bodgie’s life will be held on Sunday August 29, 2021. Due to the family’s concern for everyone’s health and safety during this global pandemic, attendance will be limited and by invitation only.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: the U.S. Pony Club in honor of Bodgie Read, Faithful Friends or an animal-welfare charity of your choice.
We invite you to share your memories of Bodgie through the online guestbook.
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