NATICK: Ethel C. “Tish” Bassett, a devoted mother and grandmother and ardent bridge player, died on Monday morning, July 7, 2014, at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester. She was 89.
Born, raised, and educated in Jersey City, New Jersey, she was the daughter of the late George Henry and Emma (Stahl) Cooper. Tish was salutatorian of the William L. Dickinson High School Class of 1942. She married in 1945 and soon thereafter moved to Charleton, MA.
Tish was employed in the offices of Wright Steel and Wire in Worcester until her children came along. The family settled in South Natick where Tish created a warm and loving home for her growing family. Her door was always open, as was her heart, to any and all of her children’s friends. A member of Christ Lutheran Church in Natick, she taught the youngest of the church’s Sunday school classes for over 10 years. During those years she also enjoyed playing golf at Glen Ellen Country Club in Millis and candlepin bowling with leagues in Natick.
As her children grew older, Tish went to work as a buyer for Timex in Ashland. She very much enjoyed the work and stayed until Timex relocated. She was then employed as a secretary with Towers Perrin Forster and Crosby (TPF&C) Actuarial Firm, later Tillinghast/TPF&C, until her retirement in 1987. After retirement she found great pleasure in spending part of her day assisting at a local daycare, once again demonstrating through her readily given love that she was a mother to all.
In her later years her greatest joys were time spent with her children and grandchildren, visiting with friends, or heading off to one of her bridge clubs. A keen player of both contract and duplicate bridge, she had a grand time playing with groups in Natick and Sherborn. She was also a voracious reader and a Boston Red Sox fan.
She is survived by her three children, Douglas C. Bassett of Natick, Pamela B. Maher and her husband Lawrence of Sherborn, and Lee Ann Guilfoil and her husband Paul of Millville; six grandchildren, Jason, Jeffrey, Tyler, Griffin, Laura, and Alexis; her brother, George H. Cooper and his wife Ruth of Marietta, GA; and her nieces and nephews, Gregory, Jeffrey, Cindy, and Amy. Another brother, Ronald Cooper, predeceased her.
Tish’s family is planning a private memorial service. Donations made in Tish’s memory may go to the National Stroke Association, 9707 E Easter Lane Suite B, Centennial, CO 80112.