Mary Margaret Stefon

Sprague - Mary Margaret (McCarthy) Stefon, 87, of Sprague, died of natural causes on Thursday, May 26, 2011, at the Harrington Court Rehabilitation Center in Colchester.

Mrs. Stefon was born on March 26, 1924 in Providence to Daniel and Theodora (August) McCarthy. In 1927 her father, a railroad telegrapher, got a job as stationmaster at the Versailles railroad depot and the family moved to the Town of Sprague. In 1930, the family moved to a farm in Hanover, the village that Mrs. Stefon called home for the rest of her life.

Mrs. Stefon was one of four graduates from the two-room Hanover grammar school in 1937. She graduated from Norwich Free Academy in 1941. She served in the U.S. Navy WAVES during World War II as a radio operator, sending and receiving top-secret messages and working to break the Japanese naval code. After the war, she returned to her job at the Park-Davis Bay Company in Versailles, working with her husband-to-be, Louis Stefon. They wed in 1949, at the church where her mother played the organ, and were married for 52 years until Louis's death in 2001.

In 1961, Mrs. Stefon was elected to the position of town clerk in the Town of Sprague, a post she held for 34 years. In addition, she was the town treasurer from 1961 until 1977. She always went above and beyond the call of duty in her job, setting up mock elections for the schoolchildren, bringing home fishing licenses for any fisherman needing one at five a.m. on opening day, opening her office late at night and on Saturdays for those townspeople who could not get in during regular hours and always having a supply of lollipops for the kids who came into the town hall.

Mrs. Stefon's day never ended when the office closed. She was a tireless volunteer for her town and her church. She served on the Sprague Housing Authority as director and bookkeeper, on the Grist Mill Committee as secretary and treasurer, and as bookkeeper on the TVCAA Sprague Youth Employment Program. She was a speaker for the Northeast Utilities Career Motivation Program, a member of the St. Joseph School Board of Education, and a member of the Democratic Town Committee, serving variously as chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and treasurer.

In retirement, Mrs. Stefon continued to serve her church and community as a volunteer in several capacities, including writing the church bulletin every week. She enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and was an avid fan of UCONN basketball, the Boston Celtics and the Boston Red Sox.

Her quick, wry wit never left her, and her perpetual smile brightened everyone's day.

Mrs. Stefon is survived by her sons, James L. Stefon and his wife, Colleen Hennessy, of Denver, Colo., Gerald J. and Linda Jewell Stefon of Hanover, and Roger F. Stefon of Hanover; her grandchildren, Sara Stefon Fusco and her husband, Mark, of Lebanon, Eric Stefon and his wife, Tomoe, of Hamamatsu, Japan, Laura Stefon of New Britain, and Adam Stefon and his wife, Adriana, of Hanover; two great-grandchildren, Alexander and Nina Fusco; her sisters, Elizabeth Shefer of Hanover, and Kathleen Provencher of Norwich; her sister-in-law, Cecile Stefon of Baltic; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Stefon was predeceased by her husband, Louis, her son Daniel; and her brother Daniel of North Branford.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, at St. Mary's Church in Baltic, meeting directly at the church. Burial will follow in St. Mary's Cemetery, Baltic. There are no calling hours.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of the Church. P.O. Box 691, Baltic, CT 06330.

Guillot Funeral Home, 7 South B. St., Taftville is in charge of arrangements.

A special thank-you is extended to the dedicated staff at Harrington Court Rehabilitation Center in Colchester.