Helen Hamilton died on Monday, February 3. She was 87, and though her memory was iffy and her mobility limited, right to the end she was funny and charming and if you asked her how she was doing, you’d always get the same answer: “Tootin’ along!” She died the way she lived, handily, no fuss, no drama. She was just a lovely person.
A child of the Northeast corridor, Helen was born in Columbia, Missouri, where she spent many summers with grandparents and cousins and absorbed a Midwestern ethos of community that she carried with her throughout her life. Growing up in Washington, DC, and Scarsdale, NY, she was a proud alumna of The Masters School and Northwestern University. A lifelong Democrat, she worked on Capitol Hill in the ’60s and ’70s, in the office of Missouri senator Stuart Symington.
After DC she moved to the cutest little house in Princeton, NJ. It was on Jefferson Road and that little joke — a Hamilton on Jefferson! — was her political mic drop. In Princeton, she worked and lived her passions: Professionally, she ran historical societies in New Jersey and then sold real estate, and both careers let her share her deep knowledge and love of her adopted home. A Helen Hamilton station-wagon tour of Mercer County was unforgettable!
History and the Garden State also informed her non-working life. She was a singular member, historian, and past president of the New Jersey chapter of the Colonial Dames; she was a champion needleworker and member of the Embroiderers’ Guild, and in 2018 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Herb Society of America. She loved her “Herbies” and was instrumental in designing, planting, and maintaining the beautiful herb garden at The Windrows, an adult community that was her last Princeton home. She also had what she called her “ipsy-pipsy” side: Helen belonged to the Nassau Club in Princeton and the Cosmopolitan Club in New York City.
Helen moved to Greenwich, Conn., in November to be closer to family. As ever, she jumped into events and life at the Nathaniel Witherell nursing home. She went to every singalong, bingo game, and holiday party, and she was and her family remains very grateful for that community. She was also attended to most extraordinarily by her wonderful aides, Huberline Joseph and Mikerline Romeus.
Helen was predeceased by her parents, Katherine Miller Hamilton and Fowler Hamilton, as well as her sister, Emily Hamilton Puskar. She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Milo and Jan Hamilton of Austin, Tex., nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews in Greenwich and Texas, godchildren in Virginia, her dear friend Clover Johnson in New Jersey, and scores of extended family, friends, and colleagues worldwide. She was the proto–cool aunt, who would take you to interesting places and tell you fascinating things and feed you the best food that she made in her impressive set of copper pans. She was Tante Helen to all, and she is very much missed already.
There will be a Greenwich graveside burial on Sunday, February 16, at 12:00 PM at St. Barnabas Church, 954 Lake Ave., in Greenwich. There will be a memorial reception in her honor Saturday, March 1 2:00-4:00 PM at The Windrows, 2000 Windrow Dr., in Princeton. Donations may be made to the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of New Jersey or the Herb Society of America.
Submitted by
Katherine Pushkar
