Roberta Mavis Efthim (Porter), 96, passed away peacefully on April 10th, 2025.
She was the beloved wife of Vasil William (“Bill”) Efthim for 65 years, and the daughter of the late Eldon and Mary Louise (Reid) Porter of New Brunswick, Canada.
Born at home on January 3rd, 1929, Mavis was raised in a farming community outside Woodstock, NB. Her father was a farmer and her mother was a schoolteacher. She pursued nursing training in Moncton, NB and Quebec before moving to Boston, where she met Bill. She worked at the New England Baptist Hospital from 1953-1961 and shared many stories of her time there and the treasured friendships made.
Her greatest passion was as a devoted mother, wife, grandmother, sibling, and friend. Nothing brought her more joy than raising her children and steadfastly supporting her husband in work and family life. Once her three children started school, she returned to nursing part-time, working the overnight shift so she could be home to send the kids off to school and greet them when they got home. She was known for her tenderness, warmth, resilience, understated sense of humor, and tireless caregiving.
After the family moved from Natick to Framingham in 1972, she developed a passion for gardening and birding. Her horticultural and birding hobbies reached their peak after a move to Wayland, where she was very active in the Woodridge and Wayland Garden Clubs. She enjoyed reading and had a keen creative interest, taking classes in watercolor painting and filling her home with artwork. She was a long time member at Plymouth Church in Framingham and enjoyed spending time skiing in Vermont and relaxing on Cape Cod. Although she lamented her 20+ years of weekly workout sessions with Jill Falvey, she valued them and Jill’s friendship immensely. Roberta will be deeply missed by all. The family is extremely grateful for the support received by all of her caregivers.
Roberta is survived by her husband Bill, son Paul Efthim and daughter-in-law Karen Estrella of Belmont, daughter Tracy Davignon and son-in-law Jim of Medfield, son Robert Efthim and daughter-in-law Rosetta of Tallahassee, Florida, brother Steven Porter and sister-in-law Glenna of Rusagonis, New Brunswick, and sister-in-law Ann Porter of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She was loving grandmother to Samuel Efthim, Margaret Efthim, Kate Davignon, James Davignon, and Ian Efthim. She also leaves behind many beloved cousins, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews and great grandnephews.
Roberta is preceded in death by her brother Reverend Ronald Porter of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to a charity dear to her and Bill, the Parmenter Foundation of Wayland, MA, https://parmenterfoundation.org/
To share a memory with the Efthim Family, kindly visit www.mccarthyfh.com
Leadership MetroWest 
Norton, McKinney & Lawler Funeral Home