This is part two of a two part interview with Lorna Pierce and Gloria Coder, the daughters of Seamond Ponsart Roberts (1940-2023). Seamond was the daughter of the longtime Massachusetts lighthouse keeper Octave Ponsart, and she was the author of the book Everyday Heroes, The True Story of a Lighthouse Family. Seamond’s childhood was spent at Cuttyhunk Light and West Chop Light in Massachusetts.

Photo by Jeremy D’Entremont.

Here is an excerpt from Seamond’s obituary:
“The bad days were sure bad enough, but since there were so many good days (like 99.9 percent of the time) what the heck. She had a good life for sure — and I should know as I, Seamond Roberts, wrote all this myself. Goodbye to all my family and friends. Thank you for listening to me and for being so dear to me. I hope to see each of you in our next life’s further adventures.”
Right: Seamond, Gloria, and Lorna, circa 1960s.
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U.S. Lighthouse Society Historian Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of 24 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. He is a past president of the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. He is also the producer and host of the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s weekly podcast, “Light Hearted.” He can be emailed at Jeremy@uslhs.org