Estella Ruth Seeley was born May 13, 1928 in Pawling, New York, a Rockwellean-American small town on the border of New York and Connecticut. She preferred the name Estelle but everybody called her Stell.
Her father, James “Levin” Reynolds, and her Mother, Ruth Brill each hailed from families with over 6 generations of New England heritage. Stell was born in the middle of a family of 10 children. Dot, Glad, Georgianna, Roberta, Lida, Stell, Sonny, Isabel, Tommy and Kathy all lived in a modest farmhouse on an estate owned by the Branch Family on Quaker Hill. Her father was the caretaker for the farm. Stell was especially fascinated by the chickens, and she loved her horses. From this, she developed a deep love of animals and she almost always had pets throughout her lifetime. She became a big tennis fan while watching the Branches and their guests playing on the clay court on the estate.
Not long after the big war, she met her mate, Gerry, a sailor from Poughkeepsie. After a short stint of living with her older sisters in Manhattan, they married in the spring of 1949. They began their family in 1950 with Gerry Jr. Their daughter Patricia came a few years later. After 11 years, Stell and Gerry realized they had more love to give and started having children again. They had two more children, Guy and Carrie. The family moved around between homes in Poughkeepsie and Wappingers Falls, New York.
Stell managed the family and all of their various activities. She loved to plan trips and vacations to the many lakes and waterfalls in New York and New England and the beaches up and down the east coast. Later, she planned and executed an epic cross-country camping trip with her husband and the two younger children. Finally, in her 50s, she decided to pursue her career in nursing, first as an LPN and later as an RN. She and Gerry encouraged and assisted all of their children to attend college.
One-by-one, each child moved out to start their own families as they spread throughout the eastern United States. Stell and Gerry remained in New York for a time, expanding their interests and talents in music, art and woodworking. Together they hosted many holidays and other events, usually involving family cruises up and down the Hudson river on their powerboat.
Stell lost her husband Gerry Sr. in 2011. She lived on for another 8 years near to her son Gerry Jr. and she spent many weekends and holidays with her grandchildren and her great grandchildren in Richmond, Virginia. She had a wonderful reunion with many of her nieces for her 90th birthday celebration. She moved on to live in Raleigh, North Carolina to be cared for by her daughters.
We lost Stell at the age of 91, on December 5th, 2019, just one week after spending a very happy Thanksgiving with her family.
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