Services for Mallory will be held June 19, 2025 beginning with a small graveside service at Sandgate Cemetery (across from the church) at 11:30am, and followed by a celebration of her life for family and friends at the Battenkill Grange on Covered Bridge Road in Arlington, VT.
Should friends desire, memorial contributions in Mallory's honor may be made to The Martha Canfield Library or The Arlington Common, both in Arlington, VT, c/o Hanson Walbridge Shea Funeral Home P.O. Box 528 Arlington, VT 05250.
Mallory Bratton Rich, 88, a resident of Sandgate, Vermont passed away peacefully on May 8, 2025 at her home, following a long illness.
Mallory was born in Charleston, West Virginia on April 16, 1937 to the late William and Hazel (Baxley) Bratton. She grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL where she fell in love with poetry and books. She received her first college degree at Samford University in Birmingham, AL and a Master's Degree in American literature from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
When Mallory relocated to Connecticut, she taught middle school English before establishing her own business writing firm, Mercaldi Communications, where she received the Matrix Award for the advancement of women in the communications field. Mallory and her husband Harry then moved to Vermont where, so inspired by the local beauty, she learned to paint at the age of 66. She threw herself into her new passion for painting, studying mediums and learning from renowned painters and eventually showed her beautiful pastel and oil landscapes in galleries and exhibitions in New England and beyond.
Mallory is survived by her husband, Harry Rich; her three children, Whitney Inzer (Sandra), Steven Inzer (Monica), and Jennifer (Mercaldi) Ramella (Stephen); two grandchildren, Kelsey (Inzer) Zaengle (Jesse) and Jackson Inzer; her great grandson, Bodin Zaengle; and her sister, Bobbie (Bratton) Cross (John).
Mallory heroically battled an illness for fifteen months and is finally at peace with the help of the wonderful Bennington Hospice team. Their assistance was greatly appreciated by her family.
Services for Mallory will be held June 19, 2025 beginning with a small graveside service at Sandgate Cemetery (across from the church) at 11:30am, and followed by a celebration of her life for family and friends at the Battenkill Grange on Covered Bridge Road in Arlington, VT.
Should friends desire, memorial contributions in Mallory's honor may be made to The Martha Canfield Library or The Arlington Common, both in Arlington, VT, c/o Hanson Walbridge Shea Funeral Home P.O. Box 528 Arlington, VT 05250.