Artist and landscaper Harriet Madden died peacefully in her
sleep in her Morgan Hill home just 20 days after her 101st
birthday.
Artist and landscaper Harriet Madden died peacefully in her sleep in her Morgan Hill home just 20 days after her 101st birthday.
Mrs. Madden was born Nov. 4, 1901 to William G. Griffith and Clara F. Hardy Griffith in Santa Barbara. She was graduated from Santa Barbara Girls’ School, attended Vassar College one year and was graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1925.
She majored in English but took all of the classes she could in landscape architecture, as well as some advanced mathematics classes in which she was one of only two women enrolled. She was a second generation member of Delta Gamma fraternity.
She pursued her love of horticulture, design and painting after her marriage to George Donald Hodgson in 1927. They lived in Salinas, then moved to Carmel, where they raised their two children. In the early years she designed and supervised the construction of a number of gardens of government and residential buildings in Salinas and Carmel.
She was divorced in 1947. Five years later she married Thomas Chester Madden.
They lived in Carmel Valley, Palo Alto and Santa Cruz before retiring in Morgan Hill.
During the Maddens’ 48 years of marriage, they enjoyed their extended family and travel. Cruises and motor trips to Southern California, the Southwest and Mexico visiting friends and family provided them much joy. With an eye for the scenes she might wish to paint later, Mrs. Madden always carried a camera with her.
She continued her painting into her 90s. And, always, wherever she lived, her first priority was a beautiful garden.
Mrs. Madden was preceded in death by her son William G. Hodgson in 1987 and by her husband Thomas Chester Madden in 2000. She is survived by her daughter Ann Hodgson Clarke of Mill Valley, her stepdaughters Eugenie M. Watson of Los Altos and Meredith M. Moore (and her husband T. Charles Moore) of Sunnyvale and her daughter-in-law Carol W. Hodgson of Pebble Beach.
She is also survived by her grandchildren William H. Clarke, Robert A. Clarke, Christian M. Clarke, Susan K. Clarke, Phillip W. Hodgson, Donald S. Hodgson and a step-grandchild Eugenie Ann Moore. She is also survived by 11 great grandchildren and one step great grandchild.
The family wishes to thank Molini Hoko for her loving care of Mrs. Madden for the past year and a half.
A memorial service was held on Dec. 14 . at the San Martin Presbyterian Church in San Martin. Remembrances may be sent to the church or a charity of your choice.
