Bev Windatt was President of the Little Garden Club of Rye during 1993-1995, Co-President with Debby Hansen from 1995-1996, and a dear, easy-going friend to many. She was always positive, up-beat and smiling.
Beverley Hill Windatt of Essex, CT, formerly of Rye, NY, passed away peacefully July 2, 2022, after a long and valiant battle with cancer. She was surrounded by her family and her beloved dog.
Beverley was born in Belleville, Ontario February 18, 1939, to Margaret and Alexander Hill. She came to the United States, at the age of 17, to attend Connecticut College where she earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology. At her very first college mixer, she met the man who would be by her side for the next 65 years. Beverley and Richard “Dick” Windatt married Feb, 11, 1960, during their senior year of college, at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Old Lyme.
Following their graduation, Dick and Beverley lived in Jacksonville, Fla., while Dick served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. While he was deployed, Beverley worked as a substitute teacher.
They later moved to Philadelphia, Pa., and while Dick pursued his MBA, Beverley worked in the admissions department at the University of Pennsylvania. Next came moves to Brooklyn Heights, Chappaqua, and Armonk, N.Y., Los Angeles, Calif., and then finally, Rye, NY, where they lived for 20 years and raised their family. She spent the last 25 years of her life back in the Old Lyme and Essex area.
While she eventually became a U.S. citizen, Canada always held a special spot in her heart especially her days spent on Lake Ontario as a child; and she took special pride in her love and endurance of incredibly cold pool water as a result. Fittingly, Beverley passed away on the weekend of both Canada Day and the Fourth of July.
While raising her children Beverley was a passionate and committed volunteer. Besides helping at her children’s schools, she served as the president of the Little Garden Club of Rye. She was especially dedicated to United Hospital in Port Chester, N.Y. serving in a variety of roles and eventually as president of the board. Beverley loved reading, gardening, solving The NY Times Sunday crossword puzzle and gathering with her friends to play mahjong every week. But by far, Beverley’s greatest passion was her family.
Nothing made her happier than spending time with her grandchildren: helping them plant gardens, swimming with them on hot summer days, delighting them with boxes and boxes of sparklers on summer nights and telling them how special they were and how much she loved them, always with a German shepherd dog by her side.
Beverley was predeceased by her parents, as well as her brother Peter B. Hill. She is survived by her husband Richard Windatt of Essex; her children, Richard D. Windatt of Moraga, Calif., and Laura Galante (Charles) of Darien; as well as her grandchildren: Mason, Parker and Will Windatt and Connor, Quinn, Tyler and Eloise Galante.
The family is particularly grateful to the doctors, nurses and staff of both Connecticut Oncology and the Middlesex Hospital Health Hospice Care Program. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests that anyone interested in doing so, consider a donation to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in Norwalk, CT and/or Middlesex Hospital of Middletown, CT. Services will be privately held by Beverly’s family.
