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Marion Rawson Vuilleumier

Instrumental in Craigville’s Resurgence (1960-1972)

When Pierre Dupont Vuilleumier was named southeast area minister for the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ, he was also assigned the task of creating a new Craigville Conference Center. His spouse, Marion Rawson Vuilleumier, assumed the role of assistant director, overseeing its summer operations while teaching in local elementary schools.

Few could have predicted the Craigville resurgence that followed. The CCMA added land and buildings, many of them winterized, and by 1963 the center was a year-round facility “For All People in All Seasons.” Marion moved to full time, overseeing a larger staff and forty college student each summer.

In her spare time, Marion raised a family, taught at Cape Cod Community College, founded several nonprofit elder care facilities on the Cape. For 30, years she chaired the Committee on Housing Concerns for the Barnstable Association United Church of Christ.

Beyond Cape Cod, Marion was known as a writer. She published 20 books, edited four others, and contributed articles and reviews for Prime Time, the Cape Cod Times and other publications. She authored three histories of Craigville, the latest published in 1994.

She was a founder of the Cape Cod Writers Conference that met for many years in Craigvillein 1963 and later was its executive director and host of its television show, “Books and the World.”The Vuilleumier retired from the Conference Center in 1973 but remained active in the CCMA and Craigville community. Marion died in 2013.