Jeanette Winchell Short

SHORT Jeanette Winchell, died Tue, Feb 24, 2009 after a very brief illness in Lewistown, ME, at age 90 and three months. She was born Nov 20, 1918 in Arlington, MA to Louise Margaret Weatherill and Thomas Riley Winchell and grew up in West Newton, MA. Jeanette passed away in her sleep in Lewistown, ME on Feb 24, 2009 at 9:30pm with her family around her. She grew up in West Newton, MA and attended Beaver County Day School in Brookline, MA, graduating in 1936. During WWII Jeanette sailed to Europe on the Queen Elizabeth with 21 other nurses sharing one stateroom, the QE had been converted into a troop ship. Jeanette was a nurse's aid in Germany, France and England and drove the Red Cross "Clubmobile" throughout Europe where she got to know General Patton's driver, Sargent George Meeks. Jeanette also had the historical moment of attended the Nuremberg Trials. Being an avid adventurer and traveler, Jeanette read an article in Life magazine about a man who was going to sail across the Atlantic on his 65 foot schooner, the Utopia. Enthralled and with a sailing background from growing up in Maine, Jeanette wrote a letter to Utopia's owner. She received a letter back inviting her to join on the crossing and bring a friend along. So before she knew it she and her friend were aboard Utopia! They started out in the Great Lakes after the famous Mackinac race (from Chicago to Mackinac Island in Lake Michigan), cruised out the St. Lawrence River into the North Atlantic. After making it across the North Atlantic without charts or any other navigational equipment, they found the Azores and for three months the Utopia cruised throughout the Mediterranean and sailed back to cruise the Caribbean for yet another three months. After her return from the seas, Jeanette became a flight attendant on the old Northeast Airlines for a year and a half. Skiing in Sun Valley she met up with a childhood friend, John P. Litchfield from Orr's Island. They were married in 1951. Litchfield, an accomplished skier and member of the 101st Mountain Division, was one of the co-directors who established Aspen's first ski school. They were married for 11 years with the marriage ending in divorce. She then proceeded on a trip around the world with her 80 year old father who was in the first group of civilians to be allowed to visit the newly open China in 1964. After the voyage with her father Jeanette moved to San Francisco for a short time. Finally settling in New York City, she worked at General Dynamics and the Bank of Montreal and spent her summers on Orr's Island, Maine and sailing extensively on the family yawl, Indra. She later married her long friend Marion Lewis Lovell Short, a Lexingtonian of aviation fame in July of 1975 whom she met through her brother, Robert Winchell, while he was attending Bowdoin College. Short died in 1989 after a brief illness that developed while traveling in Africa. It was remarked that Jeanette was considered "extremely nice for a Yankee"! Jeanette moved back to Maine to be closer to her family, spending summers at Orr's Island. A memorial service will be held in August at the family compound on Orr's Island. She loved animals and had a pet pig way prior to such a voyage. In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions be made to the Ocean Conservancy, 1300 19th Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC, 20036. Kerr Brothers Funeral Home-Main St. is in charge of local arrangements.