Helen Dutton

1928 - 2026

Helen Dutton
Helen Warfield Stone was born on November 15th, 1928, in the Orange Memorial Hospital, East Orange, N.J. Helen's parents, Caleb Stone and Helen Warfield Ruffner, had two additional children, Harriet and Porter. Helen attended Miss Beard's School from nursery level through 12th grade, whence she graduated in June 1946. Helen began college at Smith in September 1946. Unfortunately, Helen was diagnosed with hepatitis and restricted to bed rest, which forced her to leave Smith. She re-enrolled at Smith in the fall of 1948, but received a positive test for hepatitis again. She then convalesced in Tucson, Arizona, until February 1949.
In 1950, Helen attended a Cornell football game while visiting her brother, Porter, and was introduced to Helen Taft, who was the head of System Services at IBM. Helen was offered a job and assigned to IBM headquarters in Manhattan. Helen lived and worked in NYC until 1964. During this time, Helen attended Teacher's College at Columbia, earned her BA and began her teaching career. In 1961, Helen discovered A.A., which became a foundational cornerstone of her long life. In 1964, Helen married her first husband, Frederick N. Latten, and moved to New London, CT, to a house on the Thames river. While her first marriage only lasted two years, Helen's time on the coast of Connecticut reawakened her love of the ocean and she then moved to Saybrook, CT, where she bought a house with water views and continued her teaching career.
In 1974, Helen met and subsequently married her second husband, Charles N. Robinson, and they moved to Beaufort, North Carolina, thence to Thomaston, Maine, in 1982. Charlie and Helen shared a love of the water and boats and spent many years enjoying coastal North Carolina and Maine, and eventually settled in Naples, FL, in 1989. Helen and Charlie were married for 19 years.
In 1996, Richard "Dick" Dutton, Helen's high school sweetheart, who was divorced and widowed learned through mutual friends that Helen was also divorced and widowed. In October of '96, Dick called Helen after attending his 50th high school reunion. Back in 1951, before Dick left for his army posting with the Counter Intelligence Corps in Salzburg, Austria, he had asked Helen to marry him, but Helen said "No", due to her parent's influence and her inability to defy them. When Helen got the call from Dick in '96 she said "my stomach dropped, my heart skipped a beat and I couldn't breathe." Once Helen caught her breath, she said to Dick, "I'm glad you called. I've been In A.A. for 35 years and one of our vital steps is making amends. I owe you an amend." Dick inquired what Helen might be doing in the coming weeks and she replied, "I'm widowed. Not too much. What about you?" Dick replied, "raking leaves and stacking firewood, but it can wait. What if I come down next weekend and take you out to dinner?" Helen replied, "that would be wonderful." After the weekend, Helen travelled to Connecticut for Thanksgiving and stayed through Christmas of 1996. Dick and Helen returned to Naples, FL, in early 1997 to sell Helen's home and begin their next chapter in CT. with Helen's English mastiff, Alabama, and her cats, Pax and Gaudium, joining what Dick referred to as his "menagerie"- an assortment of indoor and outdoor cats. After Alabama passed, Dick and Helen raised a series of Bernese Mountain dogs, including Hans, Lisl, Rudy and Stefan. Upon moving to CT, Helen immediately became involved in the local community.
She volunteered at the library, served as a hospice volunteer, became deeply involved in the recovery community and was an active parishioner with Dick in the Catholic church. Helen seamlessly connected with new family and friends. In 2005, Helen and Dick joyously welcomed the birth of their granddaughter, Juliette Dutton, and spent countless hours babysitting, attending soccer games and relishing their role in her life. Helen instituted "Game night" at their home, and always prepared a fine meal before settling in to a spirited round of Uno, Scrabble, Qwirkle, Sorry or Hedbanz.
Helen once recounted that September 9, 2000, the day she and Dick and were married in a civil ceremony with a large gathering of family and friends in attendance, was one of the happiest days of her life. She also commented that "I didn't know that the 30 years I spent with Dick and his family and friends could be so smooth and rewarding. He was and is the love of my life." Before Dick's passing in January of 2025, he said the same of Helen. Helen commented that Dick's friends, some of more than 60 years at the time they reconnected, and Dick's immediate family "readily and wholeheartedly accepted me into their lives."
Helen was a joy in our lives and a wonderful companion to our Dad. We wish to thank the many nurses and caregivers at Brandywine of Litchfield, Sara G. and Shae for their loving dedication to Helen. There will be a celebration of Helen's life this spring at The Shrine of Lourdes, in Litchfield, CT.