Gloria V. Trimel

Gloria Ann Trimel, 92, died peacefully Saturday April 15, 2023 at the Groton Regency nursing facility, where she had been a patient for more than a decade. A resident of Old Saybrook, CT for more than 30 years, she was the director of the Westbrook Public Library during the 1970s and was instrumental in the planning and opening of a new library in 1977, replacing the historic library building that had operated on the Town Green since 1905. An avid reader, known for her interest in colonial gardens and buildings, Mrs. Trimel became a librarian in her 40s, after studying at Southern Connecticut State College while raising two children. Her love of books, especially historical subjects, led her to befriend many writers in the community and she organized readings and book signings at the library by literary figures in the area. Active in the community, she was a member of the Old Saybrook Garden Club, a volunteer on town political committees, and worked with developmentally disabled children. In the 1960s, before they became popular, she was gardening with native plants. Born in New York City in 1930, she was a graduate of the Mary Louis Academy in Queens, N.Y. and Farleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, N.J., where she received an associate’s degree. After college, she was a medical secretary at Cornell University Medical College in New York City under Dr. George Nicholas Papanicolaou, who created the Papanicolaou test, commonly known as the Pap smear.

She was married in 1952 to Edward Trimel, who was a marketing and sales representative for corporations that introduced computers in the financial industry. He died in 1978. Mrs. Trimel is survived by two daughters, Suzanne Trimel of Montclair, N.J. and Jeanne-Marie Bellows of Chester, CT; two grandchildren, Brendan Charney of Rhinebeck, N.Y. and Katherine Charney of Los Angeles, and a great grandson.