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Patrick McKenna
Lynch Smith
WOODSTOCK — Patrick M. L. Smith was born in Boston on May 2, 1950, and completed the circle of life there on July 2, 2021. Although surprisingly asymptomatic for most of his life, Patrick was diagnosed with a rare genetic heart condition called end-stage non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. After an epic 26-day struggle in the ICU at Tufts, and despite extraordinary support from the medical team, family, and a battalion of well-wishers, he drew his last breath with his adoring wife Bet by his side. He was a good man who lived a good life without regret.
He was also a complex person: private, creative, articulate, pensive, smart, loyal, insightful, valiant, skeptical, whimsical, self-effacing, introverted, funny, grateful, honest, sensitive, handsome, and generous; a jack of all trades, a master of repartee, and an insatiably inquisitive daydreamer.
Patrick grew up in New Canaan and London, England, and then wandered around before settling down in Danielson and Woodstock. On several occasions, he arrived where he started and knew the place for the first time. After attending the Protracted School (eventually graduating from the University of Colorado with a degree in anthropology), Patrick worked at many jobs, and many other jobs, including commercial fishing, construction, and belaboring the point.
Patrick married Claudia Vincenti in 1984, but was widowed in 2008. In 2010, he rescued the widowed Bet Zimmerman of Woodstock. They eloped during the 2013 summer solstice.
Patrick enjoyed the life of the mind, roses, puttering, antiques, photography, good conversation, music, ice skating, grocery shopping, reading the Oxford English Dictionary, dancing in the kitchen, watching sunsets and the stars, and observing wildlife. Patrick and Bet teamed up to conserve 100 acres in Woodstock, working hard to turn 30 of those acres at The Fen into sustainable wildlife habitat. He invented a raccoon and bobcat-resistant nesting box for Wood Ducks. He also ate sour grapes and drank life to the lees.
After shifting commas around for years, the wordSmith published a memoir titled Leaving the Life in 2013, and a thriller Leaving Fire in 2020. He also wrote traditional rhyming poetry which has never been published in The New Yorker.
He leaves his parents Marjorie Lynch and Vincent Robinson Smith Jr. from Greensburg, Penn.; siblings Alexandra Smith Homes and Catharine Turney Stultz of Charlotte, N.C., Marjorie Lowry Maclean (Putnam) of Marshfield, Mass., Richardson Culver Smith of Little Compton, R.I., and Vincent Robinson Smith III (Marty) of Woodruff, S.C.; good friends, 10 nieces and nephews, along with 10 grandnieces and nephews, two of whom came into the world as Patrick fought in the hospital.
Donations: Roseland Park, www.roselandpark.org, 205 Roseland Park Road, Woodstock CT 06281; or to Day Kimball Hospice & Palliative Care @ www.daykimball.org. Gilman Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Church St., Putnam.
An informal celebration of Patrick’s life will be held in Roseland Park at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 14, 2021, followed by a casual repast. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Gilman Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Church St, Putnam, CT. For memorial guestbook, please visit www.GilmanandValade.com.
Dolores Mercik
PUTNAM — Dolores (Marroquin) Mercik, 95, of Grove St., died July 4, 2021, at Matulaitis Nursing Home. She was the wife of the late Joseph Mercik whom she survived by two years.
Born in 1925 in Johnston, R.I., she was the daughter of the late Seraphin and Gertrude (Diggins) Marroquin.
Dolores was a beautiful person inside and out. Growing up in Putnam, she graduated from Putnam High School and Dudley Hall Secretarial School. She worked at Rawley Plumbing until she married Joseph. They were married for 70 years.
Dolores was a volunteer canvasing calls for the Red Cross blood drives. She was also a member of the Day Kimball Hospital Woman’s Board. Her passions were fashion, gourmet cooking, baking, oil and watercolor painting, and antiques. She made laughter the nucleus of her home. Holidays were her happiest.
She leaves her daughter, Deborah Dunn (Kevin Paulhus); grandchildren: Hollis (Kempain) Abram (Adam), and Jordan Kempain (Sarah). She was predeceased by her daughter, Joy Kempain in 1993. Gilman Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Church St, Putnam.
Fisher Service
PUTNAM — Paul A. Fisher, 70, of Sabin Street, died Feb. 10, 2021. Graveside services will be 11 a.m. July 19 in Grove Street Cemetery, Putnam. Smith and Walker Funeral Home, 148 Grove St., Putnam.
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