A 79-year-old triathlete, an 86-year-old activist, decades of good: Cape Cod's Six over 60

People over 60 are expected to retire and take life easy.

That’s not so for many women on the Cape who have found new, meaningful ways to convert lifelong skills or unexpected circumstances into significant contributions in business, the nonprofit sector, community enrichment or personal growth.

The Cape Cod Women’s Association recognized such achievements by six women in its second annual Six over 60 awards announced last month. The association brings women together to broaden their social and professional relationships and enhance their lives through networking, education, personal development and scholarships.

The accomplishments of older women facing challenges are sometimes overlooked, said Association vice president Cyndy Cotton.

“It’s important to see how women go through it and thrive and survive," she said.

The honorees, from their 60s to 80s, are Kerry Bickford, Jeanne Morrison, Kim Fulton Marchand, Olivia Masih White, Robbin Orbinson and Suzanne Dyer Wise.

Kerry Bickford, Marstons Mills

Kerry Bickford, 70, of Marstons Mills, has turned a personal tragedy into her lifelong work. Bickford lost her son, Nathan, in 2018 in a drug overdose death. She channeled her sorrow into forming Nathan’s Circle, a support group where other parents and family members who have had similar losses can share their grief.

She received training as a peer grief specialist along with her husband, Rick. Kerry also continued her decade-long service on the Massachusetts Grandparent Commission while raising two grandchildren, in addition to her three children.

“I could see that families in our situation were not getting a lot of help,” Bickford said of starting Nathan’s Circle.

She's also provided comfort by articulating her feelings in the Support After a Death by Overdose organization newsletter, Voices.

“The worst thing that happened to me created this very meaningful work. I can’t imagine not doing it," she said.

Olivia Masih White, Falmouth

“It’s been a lovely journey in the U.S.,” said Olivia Masih White, 86, of Falmouth.

A 25-year-old immigrant from India nearly 50 years ago, she arrived on a scholarship and earned a master’s degree in religious education at the Perkins School of Theology in Dallas. With a bachelor’s degree in biology, she then returned to her first love and earned master’s and doctorate degrees and taught biology for 20 years.

White’s theology degree came into use again when she was called by the United Church of Christ to be minister of Global Ministries in Cleveland. She was also elected as vice president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. After retiring, she and her husband, Terry, came to the Cape, where their only daughter, Sherie White, is working as an engineer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

“I’m an activist,” she said, so when coming to Falmouth, she immediately got involved in the First Congregational Church, the Cape Cod Council of Churches, and the Museum on the Green, became president of the Newcomers Club and is on the steering committee of No Place for Hate, an organization to create unity through vigils, stand-outs and lectures. She maintains traditions of her heritage as well as being a passionate Dallas Cowboys fan.

Kim Fulton Marchand, Yarmouth Port

Kim Fulton Marchand, 66, of Yarmouth Port, spent her whole career as an operating or financial officer for small businesses, and continues sharing those skills. She operated the Sesuit Harbor House in East Dennis for 11 years with her husband, Jim.

She served as president of the Dennis Chamber of Commerce, co-chairman of the Cape Cod Women’s Business Summit and was possibly the first female chairman of SCORE, a national nonprofit organization that offers free coaching and mentoring to small business owners.

While sharing her experience and expertise as a volunteer, Marchand hasn’t stopped working in business. She has two businesses, Marchand CFO, and most recently bought CapeSpace, a co-working flexible office space in Hyannis and Mashpee, from Robbin Orbinson, another Six over 60 honoree, who had owned CapeSpace for nine years. Both women earned MBAs at Simmons College.

Robbin Orbinson, Sandwich

In addition to helping small businesses, Orbinson, 64, of Sandwich, provided free meeting spaces at both CapeSpace locations to nonprofits. She has “transformed her co-working establishments into vibrant community hubs where collaboration thrives,” Cotton said in her awards ceremony introduction.

As president of the Cape Cod Tech Council, Orbinson led it out of an upheaval after the COVID-19 pandemic, “demonstrating her trademark tenacity and vision.”

Suzanne Dyer Wise, Dennis

Another award winner and testament to tenacity, Suzanne Dyer Wise, 79, of Dennis, was undeterred by past setbacks from an accident and triple bypass surgery and now participates in multiple triathlons annually.

Since retirement in the fields of operations, finance and public relations, she has been the driving force behind numerous nonprofit initiatives, including co-founding Educating Every Child and spearheading the transition of CCWA from the American Women’s Business Association. She is chairwoman of the Cape association’s scholarship fund that provided scholarships to women over 25 returning to college.

Jeanne Morrison, Centerville

Jeanne Morrison, 64, of Centerville, is now a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, but spent the bulk of her career as the assistant general manager of diversity and civil rights for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. She has been an advocate for human rights, equity, social and racial justice throughout her life and career.

She is also co-president of the League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area; political and civic leadership platform chair for the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition; chairperson for Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Commission; board president of Amplify POC; and an NAACP Cape Cod member.

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Meet these six Cape Cod women over 60 honored for making a difference