Helen B. Talcott, known as Brucie, died peacefully, aged 92, on Jan. 22, 2021, grateful to have lived a long and full life.
Brucie was born in Manhattan on Friday, July 13, 1928, daughter of the late Helen and Donaldson Douglas. Her mother died when she was seven and she was raised by her grandmother, Anne B. Douglas (Grannie) in Queens and Rye, NY. She attended Rye Country Day School and Mount Holyoke College. After a stint as a librarian, she thoroughly enjoyed being a social worker.
Brucie met and married Elmer Talcott (Tal) while he was an assistant pastor for the Rye, NY Presbyterian Church. After Rye, they lived in Brooklyn, of which Brucie had many fond memories. They then lived in Mountainside, Plainfield and Westfield, NJ. Later, as a widow, she lived in Berkeley Heights, NJ and Raleigh, NC.
Brucie was a very organized, loving and supportive wife to Tal, mother to their three children and tireless volunteer. Two of her favorite organizations were Youth and Family Counseling Services of Westfield and Children’s Specialized Hospital (CSH). Among many roles, she served two terms as President of the CSH Auxiliary and was a member of the CSH Board of Trustees.
As a minister’s wife and former social worker, Brucie had her own informal clients who relied on her for advice and counsel. She loved house guests, entertaining, telling and hearing stories and hosting New Year’s Eve parties. The manse in Mountainside always had an open door and unexpected guests were frequent and warmly welcomed. She was a very good baker of cookies, pies and cakes from scratch and had a large cookie jar collection known to all the neighborhood kids. Hosting and providing sustenance was one of the ways she expressed her love for others.
She enjoyed Manhattan, the theater, concerts and especially dance performances. Even though she lived most of her life in New Jersey, she always considered herself a New Yorker. She loved being a grandmother and great grandmother and enjoyed knitting and sewing gifts for those she loved.
Brucie is predeceased by Tal. She is survived by her children, Anne Howe (Allen), Malcolm Talcott (Alice) and Scott Talcott; and her grandchildren and great grandchildren, Andrew Howe (Ana and son Ollie), Katie McDermott (sons Samuel and Tiwan), Rosie Talcott and Will Talcott.
Memorial donations may be made to Children’s Specialized Hospital, the Community Presbyterian Church of Mountainside or an organization of your choice. The date of a memorial service celebrating Brucie’s life has not yet been scheduled.
