Maribell Tompkins

Maribell Tompkins (b.3/15/1889 d.1/23/1945?) was born Maribell Chrisfield. The youngest child to Joseph Chrisfield and Hilda Chrisfield. She became the sole heir when her elder brother (Peter Chrisfield ) died in 1916. Weeks before her marriage to Donald Tompkins in 1919, her parents were lost at sea. This made her the last survivor of the Chrisfield family.

The wedding ceremony went on as planned. The social pages at the time applauded her decision to continue the wedding as her mother had planned it. One paper, The Workers Pages, noted that "Maribell had not only recovered from the death of her parents, but had taken to being the head of the family's wealth without a hint of discomfort." The marriage to Tompkins also joined the Tompkin's families industries to the Chrisfield's. The merger caused most of the business to be directly owned by Maribell and Donald.

In 1927, Donald Tompkins died. The official cause of death was listed as a fall. He had fallen off the west tower of the main gate to the house. Even thought there was an investigation into his death, for a short time Maribell was considered a suspect. But her name was cleared a few weeks later. They had no heirs.

She became a hermit soon after, making fewer public appearances. During WWII, she fired most of her staff and shut herself into the Chrisfield Manor. The only people allowed to see her were her doctor (Jeremiah Lewis), and her maid (Joyce O'Brian ). Maribell passed away in her sleep during the blizzard of 1945. Due to the nature of the storm, her body was not discovered right away. The date of death is the date her body was found. She could have been dead for a few days.

Mari M 18:16, August 7, 2011 (UTC)