01/11/2005 JEAN SEELEY - MIDDLEBURY — Jean Seeley, 85, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005, in Helen Porter Nursing Home in Middlebury. She was born in Winthrop, Mass., on June 8, 1919, the daughter of Christopher and Olive (Anderson) Opsahl. Jean was a nurse, working in several mental health care institutions throughout the Boston area, including McClean Hospital, where she helped pioneer the first use of electroconvulsive therapy for depression. On July 4, 1938, she married Joseph B. Hatch. After moving to Vermont, she and Joe operated the Triple J Motel and Restaurant in Putney, and were later employed as houseparents at Kurn Hattin Home in Westminster for many years. Jean's last professional position was as the director of Shard Villa in Salisbury for 15 years. Her husband predeceased her in 1977, and she later married Winston (Wink) Seeley of Middlebury. Surviving her is her son, Jeffrey Hatch and his wife Hilary of Orwell; her sister, Eleanor Aaron, of Santa Monica, Calif.; three grandchildren, Susan Massed and her husband Alfred of Bridport, Terry Robinson and her husband Cecil of Norfolk, Va., and Brian Chadwick and his wife Charlene of Nantucket, Mass. She is also survived by eight great-grandchildren, two step-grandsons, five nieces and one nephew and their families, all of whom she loved dearly. In the last years of her life she received unstinting emotional and physical support from granddaughter Susan, brother-in-law David Seeley, and good friends Ralph Noyes and Barbara Elias. She was predeceased by one sister, Phyllis Ball, formerly of Middlebury. Jean loved spending time with her extended family. In her later years she and Wink spent summers on Lake Dunmore and opened their home and hearts to a throng of summer visitors. She also loved to vacation and walk the Marginal Way each summer in Ogunquit, Maine. She was a talented pianist, and could play a mean rendition of “Tico Tico“ on request. Jean will be missed terribly and remembered with great love and many happy memories. She will be interred in the family cemetery on the Seeley Farm in Middlebury in the spring. A memorial service will also be held in the Salisbury Congregational Church, to be announced at a later date. Contributions in Jean's memory may be made to Kurn Hattin Homes, Westminster, Vt. 05158.
SEELEY, Jean (OPSAHL) [HATCH]; 85; Winthrop MA>Middlebury VT; Burlington F P; 2005-1-11
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