Catherine M. Hilton, age 103, born February 1, 1902, was the tenth child of thirteen children born to Henry and Margaret Doyle McKillop in Belchertown, MA. She completed her elementary education in Belchertown, MA, moving to Holyoke and graduating from Holyoke High School. Following graduation she moved to New York City to attend New York City School of Nursing at Flower of Fifth Avenue Hospital from which she graduated earning her “cap”: registration and certification. She practiced in the hospital, attaining a supervisory status, for 5 years. In New York City she met Lewis Seymour Hilton, a native of Massachusetts though born in Hartford, CT. They married in “The Little Church Around the Corner” in New York in 1931, later buying their first home in Pelham Woods, NY, bearing two babies, one dying at birth. Later they moved to Springfield, MA, bearing a third child, and then relocated to Longmeadow, MA for 11 years. During WWII, she returned to nursing for four years, driving an ambulance at Pratt and Whitney’s East Longmeadow Division. She was an active Girl Scout Leader, played duplicate bridge which she continued to play avidly till her final days. She thoroughly enjoyed “the farm” which she purchased at the outbreak of WWII. There she made a home for an aging sibling. In 1947, the family moved to West Hartford, CT. Joining the other stay-at-home mothers she took up golf, gardened, and continued playing bridge. Volunteering where needed, she continued to work on “the farm”. Following Mr. Hilton’s retirement, they moved to Florida for five years where they enjoyed golf. Mr. Hilton’s failing health dictated their return to New England where they settled on Cape Cod in 1969. During this period she lovingly took care of four older, aging siblings. Following Mr. Hilton’s death in 1975, she returned to serious studies at St. Joseph College in Maine to complete her BS degree, graduating in 1980 at the age of 80. She then took up residency in Simsbury, CT to be closer to her youngest sister. She was awarded “Miss Keen Age American” by the Simsbury Senior Group, and in 1992 moved to Marion, MA to be closer to her youngest daughter. She enjoyed the Senior Citizen activities in Marion and Wareham, especially bridge, and was awarded the Post Road Cane in 2002 as eldest resident of Marion. She lived briefly with her younger daughter, Kathleen H. Coulson, in West Palm Beach, Florida in the spring of 2005. Kathleen preceded her, passing on May 8, 2005.
She leaves her older daughter Carol H. Reynolds of Framingham, MA; 5 grandchildren Elizabeth R. Olmsted and husband Ned of Westmoreland, NH; Hugh H. Reynolds of Cambridge, MA; Lynn B. Adams and husband Jonathan of Somers, NY; Michael H. and Stephen T. Bucar of West Palm Beach, FL; and four great grandchildren, Zachary, Sarah, Joshua Adams, and Wyeth Olmsted.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend her Funeral Service in the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd. (Rt. 6), Mattapoisett, Monday at 11 AM. Her family will receive guests on Monday from 10 - 11 AM prior to the service. Burial will follow in Evergreen Cemetery, Marion. A reception at the First Congregational Church (ANNEX) will follow the service.