Alice Regina "Lady Slipper" Kirchner

Norwich - Alice Regina Lady Slipper Kirchner, wife of the late Carl Anthony Kirchner and eldest member of the Mashantucket Pequot Langevin family line, passed away on April 20, 2010, at The William W. Backus Hospital after a lengthy illness. She was 85.

Born on Oct. 6, 1924, she was the daughter of the late Joseph Guevremont and the late Alice Guevremont Brend. She lived on the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation in her early years, where she attended the Cider Mill School. She moved to Norwich and graduated from the Norwich Free Academy in 1943. She attended The Backus Hospital School of Nursing, graduating as a registered nurse in 1945, and began her career in nursing at The Backus Hospital and then the Norwich State Hospital until her retirement in the early 1970s.

Regina, as she was fondly called by her friends and relatives, married Carl Anthony Kirchner on Sept. 15, 1946, at the Central Baptist Church in Norwich.

She enjoyed many special pastimes during her life, such as sewing, dancing, and traveling with friends all over the world. She was an accomplished basket maker and gave her baskets to the special people in her life. She was very involved in her church, the Central Baptist Church in Norwich, serving on the women's league and the Diaconate for many years, as well as teaching Sunday school when her children were young.

After moving back to Mashantucket in the early 1980s, Regina was a very committed and caring tribal elder. She served on the Elders Council, Peacemakers, and the Pre-trial Intervention Commission. She also was very active with the first Constitution Review Committee in the early 1990s, spending many years helping to provide recommendations for reform of the Tribe's constitution and by-laws.

Regina moved from the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation to StoneRidge in Mystic in 2006. There she was as involved as possible in the health committee and book club, meeting old friends and making new ones.

Regina Kirchner is survived by her son, Bruce Kirchner and his wife, Sande, of Watch Hill, R.I., and her daughter, Barbara Poirier and her husband, Raymond, of Mystic; a brother, Gary Brend and his wife, Diane, of Tampa, Fla.; her grandchildren, Erin Guyot Thomas, Jason Guyot, Carl Kirchner, and Myles Kirchner; and her great-grandchildren, Chanel Thomas and Quinten Fratus. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins; and her extended Mashantucket Pequot family. Regina loved her family and was a very caring and generous daughter, mother, aunt, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

Her brother, Joseph Guevremont and his wife, Luz, predeceased her.

There will be a memorial service at 11 a.m on Saturday, May 8, 2010, at the Central Baptist Church, 2 Union St., Norwich. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, 110 Pequot Trail, PO Box 3180, Mashantucket CT 06338-3180 or the Smile Train, 41 Madison Ave., 28th Floor, New York NY 10010.

The Cummings-Gagne Funeral Home in Norwich has been entrusted with the funeral arrangements. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.cummings-gagnefh.com