Wanda C. 'Wendy' Tarver

Wayland - Wanda "Wendy" C. Tarver, of Wayland, died Thursday, December 29, 2011 in The Miriam Boyd Parlin Hospice Residence. She was 87.

Wendy was born on November 6, 1924 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the daughter of the late Peter and Victoria (Dudek) Petrovich. Her earliest years were spent in Natick, but the family moved later to Waltham, where Wendy graduated from Waltham High School. One evening, at the urging of her best friend, she agreed to a blind date that would set the course for the rest of her life. She met her husband Wilmer "Will" Tarver, a sailor on shore leave in Boston that evening, and the two married in 1945. They lived on High Street in Waltham for eight years in a single room with a shared bathroom down the hall, a fondly-remembered "hard times" period that nurtured the close relationship that defined them as a couple.

Upon finishing school Wendy was an executive secretary at Raytheon Corporation, work that she loved and left only to raise her family. She and Will purchased property on Glezen Lane in Wayland, a rural community at the time; Wendy only agreed to move "to the country" if she had a car of her own. They labored nights and weekends over the course of a year to build their home from the ground up. Wendy and Will were genuine life partners

Wendy threw herself wholeheartedly into the multi-faceted challenge of creating a warm, loving and stable home for her family. She guided her children with utmost care, providing every opportunity for them to grow and flourish as individuals, while supporting every new activity and encouraging broad interests. Her respect for higher education inspired her children to graduate from college.

Sadly, Will predeceased Wendy by nine days, a period that was undoubtedly the hardest of her life. Wendy leaves her sisters Irene Sally Sylvester, Patricia Klofft and Joan Dwyer, as well as her children, Susan Tarver of Saco ME, Steve Tarver and his wife, Jill Hennessey, of Lancaster MA, her grandchildren, Katherine and Brian McGeever, both of Saco and Sean Hennessey Tarver of Lancaster, and many nieces and nephews.

She was the sister of the late Edward Pruitt and Helena Hartley.

Family and friends will honor and remember the lives of Will and Wendy Tarver by gathering at 10 am on Friday, December 30th, in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street, Waltham, where their Funeral Service will be held at 11 am. Burial will follow in Calvary Cemetery, Waltham.

Memorial donations may be made in Wendy's name to either The Lahey Fund (Lahey Clinic Philanthropy Department, 41 Mall Road, Burlington, MA 01805) or The Home for Little Wanderers (271 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115).