Dawn Hazelett

Dawn Hazelett

Age: 92 • Colchester

Dawn Hazelett died October 14, 2015, just as she had lived her remarkable life; with courage and grace, joy and dignity, and at the end, lucid and in control. Surrounded by love, sad yet inspiring, the beauty in her passing was, in a special way, a precious gift.

One might judge that her confrontation with cancer ended in a draw. She died one week short of her 93rd birthday. Dawn, a 6th generation Vermonter, was born in Essex, moved to Colchester at age three, and lived there the rest of her life. She received her Bachelor's degree from UVM at the age of eighteen.

What will endure is an exceptional legacy and the memories of a life that was truly lived in full. Dawn's quiet strength and intellect, her kindness and generosity were always there, a reassuring comfort and inspiration to young and old.

Dawn's life experiences were as myriad as they were prolific, whether entertaining a prime minister, or while skiing, having misjudged a cliff, hanging from a British Columbia tree. Indeed she was a superb deep powder skier into her eighties, as well as a consummate sailor and pilot.

Dawn was the matriarch of Stave Island for more than half a century, in that beautiful setting where over the years she welcomed hundreds. Her humble spirit, indomitable and satisfied, lasted until the end, and for that her family will be forever grateful.

Dawn was predeceased in 2010 by her husband of 60 years, Bill Hazelett. In the mid-fifties, Dawn and Bill co-founded Hazelett Strip-Casting Corporation whose employees were considered part of the family. She is survived by her son David and wife Wendy, her daughter Susan and husband Don Miller, her daughter Ann and husband Lee Cordner , and her adoring grandchildren, Heidi Miller, Lindsay Hazelett-Cordner and husband Chris White, Chelsea Cordner, Peter Hazelett and Peter's mother Elaine Hazelett.

There will be no memorial service. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Dawn's memory to: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, 4472 Basin Harbor Rd., Vergennes, VT 05491, Mountain Rottie Rescue, PO Box 109, Monticello, NY 12701, or Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden & Grand Isle Counties, 110 Prim Rd., Colchester, VT 05446.

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