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Hope Sali
DAYVILLE — Hope Sali, Hopie, “The Benny’s Lady,” 80, of Dayville, died Sept. 27, 2023, in the comfort of her home with loving family.
Born in 1943 in N. Grosvenordale, where she also lived for several years, she was the daughter of the late Estref and Ismet Sali.
Hope was a graduate of Tourtellotte Memorial High School in N. Grosvenordale and later in life got her associate’s degree in business, which many were not aware of.
She worked at the Benny’s Store in Dayville for 20-plus years and became known locally as the Benny’s Lady and everywhere she went people knew who she was.
Customers would wait in her line just to say “Hello” to Hope, even when the other lines had no one — she was that special.
Benny’s honored her at her retirement by mounting her iconic Benny’s Bell that everyone became familiar with “ding, manager please”
She truly made everyone feel special with her kind, loving, caring personally, even a stranger.
Everyone loved Hope.
Hope was a devoted, lifelong Red Sox Fan and never wavered, even during the not-so-winning times.
She loved her annual trips to Fenway Park with her daughter Heather.
In addition to the Red Sox, Hope loved Smokey Robinson and all his Motown hits and would always see him in concert, whenever she got the chance.
But what Hope enjoyed more than all those things was simply spending time with her daughter Heather and her precious granddog Athena.
She leaves her daughter, Heather O’Rourke and her partner Thomas Angelo of N. Grosvenordale; granddaughter Heather; brother James Sali (Jeanne) of N. Grosvenordale; sister, Flora Sadik (James) Woodbury; nieces and nephews.
The Graveside Service will be at 11 a.m. Oct. 19 at West Thompson Cemetery on Riverside Drive, Thompson. Afterwards there will be a Celebration of Life gathering from noon to 3 p.m. at Jessica Tuesday’s, 35 Main St., Putnam.
Donations: TEEG, PO Box 664, North Grosvenordale, CT 06255.
Gilman and Valade Funeral Homes and Crematory, 104 Church St., Putnam.
Walter L. Wilson III
WILLIMANTIC — Walter Leonard Wilson III, 63, of Valley Street, died Sept. 22, 2023, at home. Born in 1960 in Putnam, he was the son of the late Walter and Vivian (Veilleux) Wilson.
Mr. Wilson held several jobs over the years. He worked as an extruder for Putnam Plastics, a supervisor at Franklin Mushrooms and at Steak-Ums.
Mr. Wilson enjoyed sports. He would go play golf and loved watching football, being a fan of the New England Patriots. Mr. Wilson also enjoyed cooking and was fantastic at it. He was famous for his jerk chicken recipe. When he wasn’t at home cooking or watching the Pats, he liked to sit by the campfire.
He leaves two sons, Jonathan Wilson of Central Village, Eric Wilson and his partner April Watson of Moosup; former wife, Deborah Wilson of Tavares, Fla.; four siblings, Jacqueline Audette of N. Grosvenordale, David Wilson of Plainfield, Susan LaCoille of Putnam, and Alice Wilson-Cook of Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Funeral Service was Sept. 29 in Gilman Funeral Home, 104 Church St. Putnam.
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