Mary-Alice Symmes

Mary-Alice (“Midge”) Reid Wessel Symmes, of Middleton, Wisconsin, formerly of Concord, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on March 21, 2026. Midge was born in Denver, Colorado on February 6, 1937 to Lincoln and Shirley Annie Allen Reid. She grew up in West Point and Ithaca, New York. Her many visits to Castine, Maine, with extended family, remained fond memories throughout her life. Midge met her first husband, Robert LaVern Wessel (“Bob”) at a West Point Plebe Christmas. She graduated from Colby College in three years to marry Bob following his graduation in 1957. They were married at West Point and began their life as a military family. They welcomed their sons, Bill in 1958 and Bob in 1959, and lived on US military bases in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Hampshire, while Bob, a Captain in the US Air Force and a Strategic Air Command pilot, flew Cold War missions. In a tragic accident, Bob died on August 19, 1964. Several years later, Midge was introduced to Parker Symmes through their mutual friend, Sally Goodrich. Parker had three children from his marriage to Jane Russell Symmes (deceased 1967), Fred, Whit and Ginger. Parker and Midge married in 1969 and lived in Concord, MA until Parker’s death on July 21, 2022 and Midge’s move to Wisconsin to be near her son, Bill, and his wife, Liz, in May of 2023.

After their marriage, Midge joined Parker as a member of the White Mountain Ski Runners (the “White Mules”), and they spent weekends skiing with their children at Wildcat Mountain and socializing with their many friends at the White Mules lodge in Intervale, New Hampshire. In their later years, they enjoyed hosting Mule Meister mid-week winter events and summer family reunions at the White Mules. 

Midge and Parker vacationed frequently to Bermuda, and they also enjoyed square dancing, and a love of jazz, hosting many jazz concerts at their home featuring well-known banjoist, Jimmy Mazzy, and the Last Minute Men. Midge’s son, Bill, continued to play Jimmy Mazzy’s wonderful music for Midge after her move to Wisconsin, including at her bedside in the final months of her life.

Midge was predeceased by her husband of 53 years, Parker Symmes, her sister, Helen Reid Updike, and her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth (“Liz”) Morrison Wessel. She was survived by five children; two from her marriage to Robert Wessel: William Lincoln Wessel (his spouse, Liz, died in December 2024), and Robert Reid Wessel Symmes and his spouse Susan Symmes, and Parker’s three children: Frederick Russell Symmes and his spouse Connolly Colton, Chandler Whiting “Whit” Symmes and his spouse Marianne Jones, and Virginia “Ginger” Luce Symmes Sheehan and her spouse Michael Sheehan; and eleven grandchildren: Joseph Alexander Wessel and his spouse Christine Wessel, Riley Colton Symmes, Thomas Colton Symmes, Dena Morrison Wessel and her spouse Elliott J Wessel, Elley Margaret Symmes, Zachariah Symmes Sheehan and his spouse Rebecca Rocheleau, Russell Smith Colton Symmes and his spouse Claire Stragand, Jane Delano Symmes and her spouse Gabrielle Maggiotto, Frederick Chandler Sheehan, Clara Colton Symmes, and Adelaide Parker Symmes; and two great-grandchildren: Danielle Avery Wessel and Callum Brendan Wessel.

Private burial services will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the New England Ski Museum, North Conway Branch, 2628 White Mountain Highway, North Conway, NH 03860.