Elsie Gates Sides

SIDES Elsie Gates Sides, age 89, died Thursday morning in her home at Devonshire Estates after a courageous struggle with lung cancer. Born in Stoughton, Mass., the daughter of James E. and Maude Lannen Gates, she was a 1938 graduate of South Royalton (VT) High School and earned her nursing degree in 1941 from Mary Hitchcock School of Nursing in Hanover, N.H. A registered nurse, Mrs. Sides worked for many years at Bridgeport Hospital. A resident of Southport, for much of her life, she was very active in the Southport Congregational Church where she was the first woman Moderator and the first female Chairman of the Board of Trustees. While living in Montreal, Canada, during the 1950s, she was active in the Presbyterian Church where she made many lifelong friends. Mrs. Sides kept busy throughout her life raising her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She was an exceptional cook and enjoyed entertaining family and friends, playing Bridge, and working part-time. Her husband, William E. Sides, whom she married in the Stratford Congregational Church in 1942, died in 2007. Mrs. Sides is survived by her four children, Lynne Roming and her husband, Peter of Pittsfield, David W. Sides of Hampton, N.H., Thomas B. Sides and his wife, Judy of Kent, and Nancy Trew Sugden and her husband, Jim of Lafayette, Colo.; 10 grandchildren, Peter W. Roming, Heidi Roehrs, Trevor Sides, Erin Trew, David Roming, Brooke Storti, Heather Roming, Jessie Sides, Stephanie Roming-Sullivan, and Laura Browne; 13 great-grandchildren; her brother, Thomas Gates of Newtown; twin siblings, Jean Brockway and John Gates, both of White River Junction, Vt.; and sister, Beatrice Griswold of St. Petersburg, Fla. She was predeceased by a sister, Edna Steward in 2008; a daughter-in-law, Susan Lambe Sides; a brother, Beecher Gates, was killed in action during World War II and posthumously honored by the U.S. Government which named Camp Beecher Gates in Germany after him. A funeral service will be conducted Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 11 a.m. in the Southport Congregational Church, 524 Pequot Avenue, Southport. Calling hours are Wednesday evening from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Spear-Miller Funeral Home, 39 South Benson Road, Fairfield. A memorial service will be held Friday, October 2, 2009, at 3 p.m. at Devonshire Estates, 329 Pittsfield Road, Lenox, Mass. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice Care in the Berkshires or the Alzheimer's Foundation, both in care of the Roche Funeral Home, 120 Main Street, Lenox, MA 01240. The family would like to extend a special "Thank-You!" to Doug, Dan, and all the staff at the Dakota Restaurant for adopting Elsie into their "family." Her last outing was to the Dakota on her 89th birthday. The family would also like to express their love and appreciation to Dawn Paterson, R.N., and the other caregivers from HospiceCare in the Berk-shires, as well as her private caregivers, Ruth Mason, Mary Kowalczyck, Sue Filippi, Juanita Colletta, Linda Messana, and Lucille Kane. To sign an online guest book please visit www.spearmillerfuneralhome.com