Augusta Robinson Alsop, 90, of Old Lyme, CT, died peacefully in hospice at the Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT on June 4, 2015. She was born in Hartford, CT on December 24, 1924. Known as Gussie, she was the daughter of Augusta McLane and Lucius F. Robinson of Hartford, CT and the wife of John deKoven Alsop of Avon, CT.
Gussie was devoted to her family and to her animals which, through the years, included ducks, geese, goats (who occasionally were invited in to family dinner) dogs, chickens and cats, always cats. Her three children are now firmly chicken, dog and cat people.
Growing up, Gussie spent many summers visiting her grandparents in the Green Spring Valley in Maryland and staying with her parents and sisters at Fulling Mill Farm in East Hampton, Long Island, times she reminisced about often and with happiness. She and John raised their children on a farm in Avon where she found great joy in making the rambling house as well as its outside grounds a beautiful, welcoming place.
Gussie’s sense of humor and interest in other people was unfailing and irresistible and drew family and friends from near and far. She loved traveling with her husband and in later years with her daughters and granddaughters. Gussie was fiercely proud of her children and grandchildren and delighted in family visits.
She is survived by her daughter, Mary Oliver Alsop and partner, Howard Hebel of Guilford, CT and Mary’s children, Mary Oliver Culver, Charles Farnum Culver and Sara Prewitt Culver; her daughter Augusta McLane Alsop and husband Michael David Hoy of Solon, ME, and their sons, Michael John Hoy and Augustus McLane Hoy; and her son John deKoven Alsop and wife Janice Stuver of Cornville, ME, and John’s children, Mary Casey Murphy and husband Micah Ownbey and their daughter Iris Maria Ownbey, Ellen Robinson Alsop, John deKoven Alsop 111, and Corinne Mae Alsop. She is also survived by her sisters, Elinor Robinson Greene of Philadelphia, PA and Anne Robinson Warner and husband Alden Y. Warner Jr. of Farmington, CT. Gussie is predeceased by her husband of 52 years, her sister Amy Robinson Campbell-Harris of Milan, Italy, her infant son, Samuel Alsop, and her great-granddaughter, Virginia Robinson Ownbey of Portland, ME.
The family gives heartfelt thanks to her caregivers at home, Hope Helwig and Delores Morgan, her trusted bookkeeper, Karen Pompea, and the incredible hospice staff who made Gussie comfortable and at peace in her final days.
A memorial service will be held at The First Congregational Church, 2 Ferry Rd, Old Lyme, CT on June 23, 2015 at 11:00AM, followed by a burial at Indian Hill Cemetery, in Middletown. CT.
Rather than flowers, contributions may be made to the Old Lyme Animal Shelter, Pet Connections Inc. of Old Lyme, any local animal shelter, and/or the Connecticut Humane Society.
