Beatrice L. Neill
Beatrice Loretta Neill, who grew up in a house on Louse Point Road in Springs and for many years worked in the Bulova watchcase factory in Sag Harbor, died of breast cancer on July 26 at home in Essex Junction, Vt., her family said. She was 72.
Ms. Neill was born on July 29, 1944, at Southampton Hospital to Tunis Bennett and the former Margaret May Lester. She was a member of the 11th generation of Bennetts in East Hampton.
She graduated from East Hampton High School in 1962 and went to work at Sag Harbor Industries before switching to Bulova. She married Ralph W. Neill at the Springs Presbyterian Church on Sept. 12, 1964.
After moving to Vermont with her family, Ms. Neill was involved in volunteer work, first with Essex Junction’s senior citizens, later at the Vermont Achievement Center in Rutland, where she was a chairwoman for Essex Junction and then its Northwestern Vermont coordinator when it was affiliated with Easter Seals. For 20 years she was a hospice volunteer as well.
She had a lifelong interest in art, her family said, and attended classes at the Community College of Vermont. She and Mr. Neill took swim classes together and enjoyed playing cards with friends.
She loved being a grandmother to her three grandchildren, working on crafts projects with them and making them cakes and treats. She built up an extensive collection of model lighthouses, which she focused on during her first bout with breast cancer, as well as a collection of small outhouses, glass birds, Little Drummer Boy figurines, and angels. She clipped comic strips and saved quotations that she found personally significant. Her favorite singer was the country star Jim Reeves.
She is survived by her husband and their children, Susan Coolidge of South Burlington, Vt., and Karen Shearer of Essex Junction, as well as her sister, Diane Lutz of Winslow, Me.
Three brothers, Harold Bennett, Thomas Bennett, and Wesley Bennett, died before her, as did a grandchild, David Allen Coolidge. Her godmother, Beatrice Beckwith, for whom she was named, also died before her.
Services were held on Friday at the A.W. Rich Funeral Home in Essex Junction. Her family has suggested memorial donations to the Springs Presbyterian Church, 5 Old Stone Highway, East Hampton 11937, or to Hospice of the Champlain Valley, 1110 Prim Road, Colchester, Vt. 05446.