LUDLOW, Vt. – Bernadette C. McNeill passed away peacefully in her 98th year on the morning of Aug. 17, 2022 with the love of her family around her. The third of six children, she was born on March 22, 1925 in New York City to Cornelius D. Curtin and Edna (Riester) Curtin. Raised on Long Island, she graduated from the Dominican Academy in Manhattan, and soon started to work as a secretary for various companies in New York. She met Donald W. McNeill on a blind date, and they married a few years later in 1950, in Yonkers, N.Y.
Moving up to New England in the late ‘50s, she raised her family, living in Danvers, Mass., Somers, Conn., and Billerica, Mass. She retired after working many years for BASF, Inc. and Dennison/Kybe in Marketing and Office Administration.
After the passing of her husband, she moved up to Ludlow, Vt. where she spent ten years. She loved living in the community of Ludlow, looking out over the mountains. She volunteered at the Ludlow Elementary School Library and the Fletcher Memorial Library, loving the children, the teachers, and always learning. She was presented with a Volunteer Award by Vermont Senior Solutions and the entire Elementary School turned out to celebrate her 90th birthday! She always looked “sharp” wearing one of her many scarves and always with lipstick and her hair “done.”
Bernadette was predeceased by husband, Donald W. McNeill; her siblings, Patricia Bowden, Edward Curtin, Gerald Curtin, Nathalie (Lee) Forster, and John Curtin. She is survived by her children, Donna McNeill-Hudkins (Peter) of Chester, Vt.; Kathy McNeill and Bernadette McNeill of Somerville, Mass.; Michael A. McNeill of Hollywood, Fla., and Maureen Murray (Michael) of Scituate, Mass. She is also survived by her grandchildren, her pride and joys – Lauren Quinn of Dorchester, Mass.; Peyton McNeill of Ft. Collins, Colo., and Maggie Murray of Scituate, Mass., as well as many nieces and nephews whom she loved as if they were her own.
A memorial Mass and gathering will be held in Ludlow at the Church of the Annunciation, on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, Bernadette wanted donations to go to the Ludlow Elementary School Library Fund, c/o TRSU, 609 VT Route 103, Ludlow, VT 05143.
Wear a colorful scarf in her honor!