Leona A. Tabell

Leona Avery Tabell, age 69, passed away Friday August 24, 2012 at Grace Cottage Hospital after a sudden illness. She was born in New York, New York January 9, 1943 the daughter of Arthur E. and Evelyn Avery, the oldest of three sisters.

She attended Hunter College High School in New York City and then attended Hofstra College in Hempstead, NY where she received a degree in mathematics. She student-taught at Uniondale High School in Uniondale, NY and joined the Math Department after she received her degree. She taught there for 32 years and retired in 1996. She was married to William A. Tabell in 1963 at the United Christian Church in Copiague, NY. She and her husband, William, moved to Newfane, Vermont in 1999 to their vacation home built in 1982. She then satisfied a long term goal of becoming a quilter. She discovered that she had a cousin living in Newfane and later found that a long lost half-brother was living in Dummerston. She and her husband were very active in the First Congregational Church of Newfane. She was a member of the Sew Whats quilting group contributing to their donation of one thousand quilts to the Linus organization in the past 5 years. She was a member of the Newfane Garden Club serving as Vice President and President and worked on production of their Yearbook until shortly before her death.

She was predeceased by her parents, her cousin George Clark, and her half-brother Arthur E. Avery, Jr. She is survived by her husband William, her sisters Mary Lindauer and Elizabeth Rodriguez, and her sister-in-law Janet Avery. Also surviving are numerous cousins, nieces and nephews and their families.

Relatives and friends are invited to a Memorial Service at the First Congregational Church of Newfane at 11:00 AM on September 8, 2012. Private interment will be at a later date.

For those who desire, contributions in Leona’s memory may be made to the Grace Cottage Foundation or the Townshend Community Food Shelf.