Obituary: Marie Belcher Bassett, 96, of Madison and Clinton

Obituary courtesy of Guilford Funeral Home:

Marie Belcher Bassett, born October 2, 1924, lifetime resident of Madison and Clinton, CT and resident of Tequesta, FL passed away peacefully Monday, March 8, 2021. She is survived by her loving and devoted husband Adrian E. Bassett. They were married in Clinton April 20, 1943 during Adie’s furlough from World War II. Marie was the daughter of Duncan and Marion Belcher. She was pre-deceased by her daughter Leslie Penna and her brothers Duncan and Henry. She was the mother of Clay Bassett (Joanne), Adrienne Raynor (Skip). Marie is also survived by eight loving grandchildren Clay Bassett Jr. (Joanna), Kim Heller (David), Krista Briano (Juan), Scott Penna (Bina), Laura Walczak (Bob), Jason Raynor (Shannon), Justin Raynor and Jeremy Raynor (Melissa). Marie is also survived by 12 great-grandchildren who were privileged to know and love her: Matthew, Benjamin, Sarah, Charlotte, Oliver, Julian, Jack, Nicolas, Sebastian, Emerson, Bodhi and Mason.

She graduated from Morgan High School in Clinton and McKeown Secretarial School of New Haven. During the war she worked at Ponds, Pratt and Whitney and Pratt Read. In the 1960s she attained her CT realtor’s license.

Marie was a volunteer at the 1860 Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and at the Jupiter Medical Center Auxiliary where she was honored for 20 years of service. She was a member of the Jupiter Historical Society, the Loxahatchee Historical Society and Museum, the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, The Riverbend Golf Club and The Tequesta Country Club.

She loved the beach, Big Band jazz, and her family. She was an enemy airplane-spotter during World War II from a Killingworth tower.

She loved also served as an enemy airplane-spotter during World War II from a tower in Killingworth.

She had a flair for fashion. She loved the beach, sitting on the rocks at West Wharf and rides in her convertibles. Besides raising their three children, she established strong and loving relationships with her grand and great-grandchildren who visited her often in Madison and Tequesta. She had many friends from Madison to Florida, lovingly engaging in whatever it took to foster so many friendships - most especially Angie and Lydia who were lifelong friends.

Marie loved parties – any excuse. And Big Band Jazz was a huge passion for Adie and Marie. They would go anywhere for great music. One of Marie’s favorite times this past year was playing “name that tune” with Adie. It was always a close contest. She also enjoyed buying, renovating and selling houses and cars. Her true avocation was the world of financial investment. She had no formal training, but voraciously sought knowledge through reading and developing relationships with great intuition and decisiveness. It was her passion to her last days.

She grew up in the Great Depression and knew what it meant to get by on very little. But her outlook was always optimistic. Her humor and laugh were infectious. She brought sunshine wherever she was. We have wonderful memories. We love you Re, Mom, Gram, Gigi!

We want to thank Margaret, Roksana, Sigita, Bernadette and Alina for their kindness and loving care. We also want to thank the Guilford VNA Hospice Team for their compassion and guidance.

A graveside service will be held at Indian River Cemetery in Clinton on Saturday March 27 at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations in Marie’s memory may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation, 1359 Broadway, Suite 1509, New York, NY 10018 ; www.parkinson.org or the Children’s Tumor Foundation, Mail Code: 6895, PO Box 7247, Philadelphia, PA 19170 - 0001;www.CTF.org