Obituary for Carol Jean Pynchon (Brusie)
Carol Jean Brusie Pynchon, 89, passed away July 23, 2019, in Hampden, MA.
Born July 30, 1929, in Sharon, CT, to Ralph and Wilma (Cook) Brusie. She grew up on the family farm, Webutuck Spring Farm, in Millerton, NY. Upon graduation from Roeliff Jansen School in Hillsdale, NY, Carol moved to Albany where she graduated from Mildred Elley Secretarial School in 1947. She later became employed at U.S. Plywood, where she met her future husband John D. Pynchon.
They married in Millerton on July 20, 1952. Together they raised four children: John B. Pynchon (Rockport, MA), Susan C. Pynchon (Amherst, MA), Thomas R. Pynchon (Canton, NY), and Nancy A. Pynchon (Nashua, NH). Carol worked for many years as Executive Secretary of the United Way of Greater Hartford, CT, prior to retiring and traveling with her beloved husband John. Trips to visit with her husband’s family in Hawaii and on Cape Cod were always special.
Carol fondly shared her childhood experiences on the farm with her children as they grew up, by often visiting family in Millerton, exposing them to a true working farm, and proudly showing off the one-room schoolhouse she and her siblings attended. Carol cherished spending time with her grown children, their families, and experiencing the joys of her ten grandchildren. She was an avid gardener and took pride in her landscaped backyard, which flourished with flowers and plants. She was a past president of The Enfield Women’s Club, and a member of the Enfield Congregational Church. She was a talented knitter and quilter and took pride in making each grandchild a beautiful quilt or blanket upon birth and in making Christmas tree skirts and stockings for all her children’s homes. She filled her home with flow blue China that was displayed alongside the many antique clocks that her husband John had restored.
Carol was preceded in death by husband John, sister Mary and brother-in-law Robert DeGroff, and sister-in-law Louise Brusie. She is survived by her loving four children, daughter-in-law Carol Smith Pynchon (Tom), ten grandchildren (John, Henry, James, Joe, Drew, David, Lindy, JulieAnne, Carrie, and Madilyn) and two great-grandchildren (John and Lillian). She also is survived by siblings Orrin, John, and Kathryn (Brusie) Colclough, and brother-in-law George Colclough.
A private celebration of Carol’s life will be held in Millerton, NY.
She lived. She loved. She laughed. She will be missed.
Donations may be made in Carol’s name to the Northeast-Millerton Library, PO Box 786 Millerton, New York, 12546 or to the GFWC Woman’s Club of Enfield Inc., GFWC of Enfield, PO Box 80, Enfield CT, 06083. Local arrangements are under the direction of the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546. To send an online condolence please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Born July 30, 1929, in Sharon, CT, to Ralph and Wilma (Cook) Brusie. She grew up on the family farm, Webutuck Spring Farm, in Millerton, NY. Upon graduation from Roeliff Jansen School in Hillsdale, NY, Carol moved to Albany where she graduated from Mildred Elley Secretarial School in 1947. She later became employed at U.S. Plywood, where she met her future husband John D. Pynchon.
They married in Millerton on July 20, 1952. Together they raised four children: John B. Pynchon (Rockport, MA), Susan C. Pynchon (Amherst, MA), Thomas R. Pynchon (Canton, NY), and Nancy A. Pynchon (Nashua, NH). Carol worked for many years as Executive Secretary of the United Way of Greater Hartford, CT, prior to retiring and traveling with her beloved husband John. Trips to visit with her husband’s family in Hawaii and on Cape Cod were always special.
Carol fondly shared her childhood experiences on the farm with her children as they grew up, by often visiting family in Millerton, exposing them to a true working farm, and proudly showing off the one-room schoolhouse she and her siblings attended. Carol cherished spending time with her grown children, their families, and experiencing the joys of her ten grandchildren. She was an avid gardener and took pride in her landscaped backyard, which flourished with flowers and plants. She was a past president of The Enfield Women’s Club, and a member of the Enfield Congregational Church. She was a talented knitter and quilter and took pride in making each grandchild a beautiful quilt or blanket upon birth and in making Christmas tree skirts and stockings for all her children’s homes. She filled her home with flow blue China that was displayed alongside the many antique clocks that her husband John had restored.
Carol was preceded in death by husband John, sister Mary and brother-in-law Robert DeGroff, and sister-in-law Louise Brusie. She is survived by her loving four children, daughter-in-law Carol Smith Pynchon (Tom), ten grandchildren (John, Henry, James, Joe, Drew, David, Lindy, JulieAnne, Carrie, and Madilyn) and two great-grandchildren (John and Lillian). She also is survived by siblings Orrin, John, and Kathryn (Brusie) Colclough, and brother-in-law George Colclough.
A private celebration of Carol’s life will be held in Millerton, NY.
She lived. She loved. She laughed. She will be missed.
Donations may be made in Carol’s name to the Northeast-Millerton Library, PO Box 786 Millerton, New York, 12546 or to the GFWC Woman’s Club of Enfield Inc., GFWC of Enfield, PO Box 80, Enfield CT, 06083. Local arrangements are under the direction of the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546. To send an online condolence please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com