Beatrice Stuart Obituary

STUART, Beatrice (Easton) Beatrice (Easton) Stuart, 96, of West Hartford and Sturbridge, MA, widow of Louis P. Stuart died Monday (October 23, 2006) after a long happy life. She was the daughter of the late Frank and Linda Easton. Beatrice is survived by two sons, Gilbert and his wife, Diane of West Hartford, Norman and his wife, Mary Ann of Sturbridge, MA; a sister, Marilyn Jean Wheelock and her husband, Philip of Manchester, MA; eight grandchildren, Kimberlee Stuart, Marc Stuart, Gilbert Stuart, Jr., Jeffrey Stuart, Douglas Stuart, Michelle Stuart, Pamela Kovach, Wesley Stuart; ten great grandchildren; and two great great grandchildren. A son, Roger Stuart predeceased her. Her funeral and burial are private and there are no calling hours. The Sheehan Hilborn Breen Funeral Home, West Hartford is assisting the family.

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Published by Hartford Courant on Oct. 25, 2006.

Memories and Condolences
for Beatrice Stuart

8 Entries

Bob Maloney Sr

November 18, 2006

Bea's Hive with loving memories

Marley Stuart, one of the great grands, playing on the dock at B's Hive. Marley's father (whom she affectionately called "Skippy"), is in black and white on the dock at around the same age.

November 14, 2006

Memories at B's Hive

Delilah Stuart

November 14, 2006

Grama Bea is one of my favorite people I've ever met. She is also the wisest person I've ever met, and I've had a deep and profound respect for her ever since I can remember. My earliest childhood memories that I can recall were at B's Hive, and spending time with her at our house in Proctorsville, VT. I guess thats how much of an impact she had on my childhood. Here are some of those memories:

Grama Bea making my little brother and I fishing poles with sticks, and fishing with us on the dock. I remember being afraid of the fish, because they had sharp fins, and she always picked them up out of the water and petted them to reasure me. We would all make bread balls to fish with, but I always ate mine, and she would make another for me every time.

She would play checkers with me whenever I wanted, and it didnt bother her a bit that I had no idea how to play. I pretended I did, and she happily played along. I always won.

Sleeping out with my brother on the screened-in portch, and listening to all the "pretty nature sounds"

Grama swinging me tirelessly in the hammock for hours, and when the sun started going down trying to negotiate with me to get me out of it.

She kept my brother and I busy for hours finding her daddy-longlegs so she could play with them. She would them help us find a good tree to set them all free in.

I wasnt around for these memories, but my mother told me these stories about her and I always laugh when I think of them:

Grama eating oysters in a fancy restaraunt, and chucking the shells on the floor when she was done with them.

Grama coming to Dougles's wedding after dyeing her hair herself for the occasion. It was a perfect shade of mauve, the same color as her dress.

Grama Bea is a great insperation in my life. She had a long, happy life, and cherished every minute of it. Every memory I have of her is happy. Even towards the end, when she had no idea who I was when I visited her, she loved me so much. I only hope to someday become half the woman she was.

~Delilah Stuart, great-grandchild
(Covington, Louisiana)

Bea Stuart at "Camp" her father built when she was 16 years old

November 10, 2006

Pamela Stuart-Kovach

November 10, 2006

When I think about the loss of my gram, I'm not overcome with sadness. More just a feeling that an erra in my life is over. The last part of my childhood is now just a memory. Gram was like no other person I've ever known. I too share alot of the same "Grama Bea" memories that my sister, brothers, and cousins share. As I remember lying in bed up at camp, I can almost smell the Seabreeze that gram would lather my body in so that I would not be feasted on by every mosqieto in Sturbridge. Being up at camp with gram was always an adventure. She really loved "Beas Hive" and having her family with her was the best. Gram would stand on that old cement dock and spit on little balls of bread or dough and place it on our fishing hook so we could catch the fish that lived right out in front of camp on Cedar Lake. The best fishing spot on the whole lake. When we would get hungry...we would head up to camp for some M&M cookies hidden away in the Saltene can. Gram would also give us a cup of Kool-Aid, made the old fashion way with lots of sugar and water from the pump. Gram would get all excited about sponge baths in the sink or baths out in the lake. I was not as big of a fan about that form of bathing. I can remember looking forward to my nice hot showers back at home in West Hartford in a real bathroom with running water. Gram was always the one that encouraged us kids to swim across the lake. She would tell mom not worry about us getting hit by the motor boats. I don't know what was more entertaing....the actual swim or taking bets on who would win the dispute. Gram would sit at the picnic table and cheer me on, across and back I could hear her "hootin and holaring" when my head would come up out of the water. Nighttime at camp was also lots of fun. We would toast marshmallows over the burning coals from dinner. Then it was onto a night of Kings in the corner, and Set Back card games and lots of Checker games.
Spending time with Gram whether it was at Sturbridge, Ft. Myers, or West Hartford were some of the best times of my life. I love you gram....and I'll always remember the fun I had being Bea Stuart's granddaughter.
Love always your youngest baby,
Pamela

Kimberlee Stuart

November 4, 2006

It’s not easy to portray my Gram if you’ve never met her. Love is what I learned from my Gram. Gram was so full of joy and enthusiasm that as young children we all instantly and permanently had our heartstrings tied to her. Whether it was rowing in the boat to pick blueberries, studying acorns, rolling in the leaves, or making M&M cookies, my Gram was about fun. Her “whoop” and laugh was very loud, frequent, and infectious. Gram was smart too. She knew the most important things about being alive. She had stories about her loving parents and sisters that made you wish you were there to just watch. My Gramma Bea could whistle like a whipoorwill or a bobwhite. She was an environmentalist before there was any such thing. She loved “fresh air” and the “outdoors” and would cup a daisy in her hands as though it was the most precious gift. She held my face in her hands the same way. I think all of us nine grandchildren thought we were her favorite. She was a health food person before there was such a word and could cook up a delicious home-cooked meal in the snap of your fingers. She had huge appreciation for a good garden. Gram believed in exercise before it was popular too. We used to giggle when she’d get on the big bed at camp and do ‘bicycles’. At 97 she still had abs of steel. She cherished children as though they were the miracle of life. One of her favorite words was 'wonderful'. Some of her favorite expressions were “Happy as a Bird in a Tree”, "Run like a deer!", “Eat!,” and “I love the country”. My grandma taught me all the best things I know. I get to practice them every day, and my own grandchildren are the newest beneficiaries. I'm gonna make her proud. We will miss Gram but we know she’s with us still.
Here are a few Gram memories:
Pipes to blow bubbles with in the big double sinks in her kitchen, two of us grandkids at a time.
Her pulling us down the sidewalk in a red wagon.
A summer drive through the woods and her hand out the window, palm up as though to scoop it all in.
Fresh squeezed lemonade from her tree in Florida.
Gram pumping water into a bucket at her camp, barefoot.
Envelopes filled with double underlined news clippings of things she thought I might be interested mailed across the planet to where ever I was.
Handmilling 6 grocery bags of our Vermont apples into applesauce flavored with little red cinnamon candies.
The absolute exuberance that she would loudly express whenever I came to visit.
Lessons on how to diaper my new babies.
Quietly standing on the screen porch to watch squirrels and birds at camp in Sturbridge.
Her open appreciation for 'menfolk' and their abilities that made my boyfriends and husbands think she was one heck of a woman.
Making balls of white bread for us to fish off the dock with.
Her way of huddling up, ‘just us girls’, and making you feel like you were the best friends ever.
Picking up sea shells on the beach.
How to dress up a piece of toast with some sugar.
The joys of hanging clothes out to dry on the line.
Grams coming to stay in my geodesic dome in the woods to help me after the birth of my first son even though she knew we didn’t have running water.
Sitting on the dock and having her give me her beautiful antique ring… it’s still on
30 years later.
Bread bags hanging on the clothes line to dry.
Gram standing at camp, under a sign that said “Bea’s Hive” waving a dishrag and singing ‘Bye-bye, Bye-bye’.

Bob Ficks

November 2, 2006

My sister Jaime and I loved our "good friend" Stu-Stu! But she was much more than that to us. Actually, she was like our third grandmother. She had come to our home in Avon to help our Mom who had a miserable case of arthritis, but she stayed in our hearts forever. Thank you to Michele for sending me that beautiful tribute to alert me of Stu-Stu's (or Stu=Stu as she used to write it) passing. I thought of her often. This past March, I went down to Fort Meyers for the first time to see a Sox game, but I thought of her. After my Dad's death, I drove down our old street, I remembered our picnics (ALWAYS p,b&j's!!!) And like her grand-daughter, I opened up a jar of crummy store apple sauce, and of course, I remembered Stu-Stu! She taught me how to make apple sauce, she taught me to iron (although I have not kept up with that one, oh well!). She was so important to all of the Ficks family, I cannot even begin to tell you. She helped us to stay together as a family no matter what physical problem was thrown at us. My Dad stayed in touch until a few years ago (+/-) when she was having some more difficulties. Since my beautiful sister passed away just two week before Stu-Stu, I don't find it completely impossible that Jaime could not find anyone in Heaven to go on a good picinc with! God bless you Stu=Stu, we'll miss you, but we will NEVER forget you!!!

Love-
Bob (Bobby) Ficks

Megan Stuart

October 25, 2006

I am the greatgrandchild of my Grandma Bea. She was the best! Every fall she would come over our house for the weekend and we would make apple sauce. She always helped my dad boil the apples and make sure that he put in enough water but not to much or it will be watery. When ever we would visit her she would always mention that she remembered that she was a little kid and played with her siblings outside just like me and my sister. In her most recent apartment I would roll down the hill and she would watch and laugh knowing that we were having a good time. As her life went on I remember her large numbered phone and calender that she still needed a magnifing glass for. She also had a hearing helper that she would put on the headset and we would talk into the microphone. She always had a sense of humor and always guessed what grade we were in, and when she couldn't remember the grade we would tell her. I even remember her sending me my first magazine subscription. I loved her so much and now I miss her and there is a hole in my heart that belonged to her. I wish she could come back. I know she is in a happy place.

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