Annette Brewer Hamlin Deming

Annette was born at home on April 19, 1921 in the Selden Brewer House in East Hartford to Vincent and Buena (Crawford) Brewer. She was the youngest of five children and graduated from the Oxford School for Girls in West Hartford. Along with helping her mother run a tearoom out of their home during the Great Depression, Annette taught dancing, modeled at G. Fox & Company, and was a candy striper for Hartford Hospital when she met her first husband, Charles H. Hamlin, II, M.D. They were married for 53 wonderful years and were long-time residents of Glastonbury and Avon. Annette thrived at entertaining, was an adept storyteller, world traveler, and avid golfer. She adored animals and had a strong affection in particular for Maine Coon cats. Following the death of her first husband in 1995, Annette moved to Duncaster, in Bloomfield, where she met her neighbor, Richard H. Deming, Jr., also a Maine Coon cat enthusiast. The happy couple married in 2006 and shared six blissful years together, enjoying summers on Squirrel Island, Maine and winters in Barbados. Annette was the longtime matriarch of her family, and reveled in her family’s presence, delighting all of us with her charm, warmth, and grace. In addition to her husbands, Annette was predeceased by her beloved daughter, Buena H. Chilstrom, and siblings, Robert Brewer, Charles Brewer, Sarah Wickham, and Vincent Brewer, and her niece Buena Proskine.

Annette is survived by her son, Charles H. Hamlin, III; her step-children, Skipper and Gretchen Deming; her six grandchildren, Natalie, David, Per, Mikaela, Christopher, and Katherine; her step-granddaughters, Heather and Kate; her twelve great-grandchildren, Jessie, Julia, Jolie, Andrew, Sibylla, Charles, Soren, Matthew, Charlotte, Abigail, Emil, and Lucy; her step-great-grandchildren, Eleanor, Alexander, and Owen; and nieces and nephews, Heartie, Jenness, Caroline, Sally, Joanne, Curtis, Alan and Robert.

A private family burial will be held in April 2021 in Glastonbury. Donations in Annette’s memory may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, the American Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty of Animals (ASPCA), or your local animal shelter. She leaves a great hole in the hearts of those who loved her, but we imagine her once again in the arms of those she loved and lost, dancing across the sky to Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller. The D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, Wethersfield has been entrusted with arrangements. To share a memory of Annette with her family, please visit www.desopofuneralchapel.com.