Helen W. PENFIELD

PENFIELD, Helen W. Helen Mae (Wilcox) Penfield of Torrington and formerly of West Hartford and Portland, Connecticut died peacefully on April 28, 2010, at the age of 100. She was born November 25, 1909, in Torrington, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Frederick Richard Wilcox and Marie Elizabeth Jeanfavre, and the widow of Edgar M. Penfield to whom she married in 1957. The Penfields resided in Portland, Connecticut during their marriage where she continued her nursing career. Helen was a graduate of Torrington High School and the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing, class of 1931. She pursued a career in private duty nursing, caring for many of Hartford's and Connecticut's leading citizens. Her nursing continued throughout her life. While at Workman Apartments she would walk, with her walker, across the street to Wolcott Hall to assist with patients there. She always had a devoted allegiance to her nursing career and often declared that she had never retired. Helen was a member of the Hemlock Grange, the Daughter's of the American Revolution, The Hartford Hospital Alumnae Association, the West Hartford's Women's Club, and the Immannuel Congregational Church of West Hartford. Most recently she was an enthusiastic member of the First Congregational Church of Litchfield. Never idle, she knitted constantly for friends, family, gifts and church sales. Helen is survived by her niece, Gail P. Sperry of Litchfield; her grand niece, Alexandra Galloway Lawlor of Canton, Connecticut; and a grand nephew, Kyle P. Galloway of Louisville, Kentucky. Six great-grand nieces and nephews occupied her unending love and interest in children. She was predeceased by her older sister, Lillian W. Weld formerly of West Hartford, and her younger sister, Hazel W. Perret, formerly of Litchfield. A Memorial Service will be held at the First Congregational Church of Litchfield on Thursday, May 13, 2010, at two in the afternoon. Contributions in her memory may be sent to the Book of Remembrance of the First Congregational Church of Litchfield, Post Office Box 386, On the Green, Litchfield, Connecticut 06759. Arrangements entrusted to Rowe Funeral Home, Litchfield.