Obituary of Helen C. Lockhart

Well, my mother, Helen C. (Geremia) Lockhart, died today, May 27, 2016, at 100 years old. What a life she had! Good times and bad times, but through it all she carried herself with class and style. She was born in 1915 in Wallingford, CT, as Helen C. Geremia, into a family of 7 brothers and sisters. She moved to New Haven, CT, when she was 7 years old. Her father died a year later, leaving her mother all alone with 8 children. They struggled, but, as Italian families do, they focused on family, because that is what matters. At 19, she left home with the hope of working as a model or dancer in New York City. But, again, life dealt her a blow when she developed Bell’s palsy in her face. But, with the bad came the good, as she met my father, John “Jack” Lockhart, the love of her life, in New York City. They married and lived in Hartford, CT. When World War II came, my father joined up, and my mother went to work at G. Fox department store. After the war they returned to New Haven where my father worked at the Hotel Taft as a bartender. When I was 6 months old, an accident killed my father, leaving my mother a widow with a young baby. We moved to Waverly Street in New Haven, into my grandmother’s apartment. My mother got a job at the Seven Gables Restaurant as a waitress. After 2 years, she bought a car and moved on to The Weathervane restaurant in Mt. Carmel, CT. She spent many wonderful years there. Also, with her brother, Jerry, they opened a diner in Orange, CT. on the corner of Racebrook Road and Route 1. Even in her 80s, living at Bella Vista Apartments in New Haven, she took care of anyone there who needed help. She was still on the road driving until 92 years old with a sharp mind and, as she would say, beautiful legs. For all the long hours of waitressing, saving her money, and pushing me in the right direction, she lived long enough to see me succeed professionally, marry a wonderful woman, Dr. Roberta Lockhart, and have 2 sons, Benjamin Lockhart, 22, and Spencer Lockhart, 16, whom she adored. She loved being a grandmother! I wish to thank all of the staff at Apple Rehabilitation center in Guilford, Ct for making my mother’s last 5 years so special. They adopted her as one of their family and took great care of her as they do with all their patients. Finally, for those of you who knew her, as a remembrance of and tribute to her, do an act of kindness towards a stranger or someone in need, as she always did. That would make her very happy! Bruce Lockhart Madison, CT Family and friends are invited to meet and attend a Memorial Mass in St. Margaret Catholic Church, 24 Academy Street in Madison on Thursday June 9, 2016 at 10 A.M. Burial will be private in the family plot in Grove Street Cemetery, New Haven. Funeral services are under the care of Clancy-Palumbo Funeral Home (Clancy Funeral Home), 43 Kirkham Ave., East Haven.