Sheila Mary Hartford

NORTH STRATFORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- Mrs. Sheila Mary Hartford, 79, of North Stratford, New Hampshire, passed away early Thursday morning, August 24, 2006, at the Bel Aire Genesis Health Center in Newport, Vermont, after a period of failing health. Mrs. Hartford was born June 29, 1927, in Ilford, Essex, England, daughter of the late William Victor McAuliffe and Florence Annie (Farrow) McAuliffe. Mrs. Hartford attended schools in England. She was a school girl in London during the German blitz in World War II, and she loved to tell stories about wartime England. She was married in 1944 and came to the United States aboard the Queen Mary with 3000 other “war brides” in 1946. Upon settling in North Stratford, Mrs. Hartford became well known in the area as a cook in many of the local restaurants and she also worked in the local plywood mill, and tended bar at many local establishments. She was a wonderful seamstress her entire life and had many customers in the North Country. When Mrs. Hartford was in her 60s, she began to train as a nurse’s aid and she completed the program to become a certified nurse’s aid. After completing that course of study, she worked for a period in Lancaster at McKerley’s Nursing Home. She was known as a wonderful storyteller who excelled at the “gift of gab.” She will be missed by many, and will be remembered as a very loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, cousin and friend. Mrs. Hartford is survived by a daughter, Sharlyn Jordan, and husband, James, of Morgan, VT; three sons, Raymond “Sonny” Curtis, Jr., and wife, Dorothea, of Phoenix, AZ, Bradley Curtis of Bloomfield, VT, and Michael Curtis of North Stratford, NH; a sister, Maureen “Babsy” Ratcliffe, of Clacton-on-Sea, England; ten grandchildren; ten great-grandchildren, a great-aunt, Ella Bassett, age 103, of Canaan, VT; two very special friends, Diane Hall and Sue Garfield; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Mrs. Hartford is preceded in death by her loving husband, Ormand “Jim” Hartford; a daughter, Priscilla Curtis in 1946; and two brothers, John and Dennis McAuliffe. Calling hours will be held on Saturday evening, August 26, 2006, from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home in Colebrook. A funeral service will be conducted on Sunday, August 27th, at 2:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in North Stratford, NH, with The Reverend Larry Clough officiating. An interment service will follow at the Summer Street Cemetery in Lancaster, NH. Expressions of sympathy in Mrs. Hartford’s memory may be made to the Bel Aire Center, 35 Bel Aire Drive, Newport, VT 05855, or to the American Cancer Society, NH Division, Inc. 360 Route 101, Suite #8, Bedford, NH 03110-5032. Condolences may be offered to the family on-line by going to www.jenkinsnewman.com. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Jenkins & Newman Funeral Home, Colebrook.

Sheila Mary Hartford

June 29, 1927 - August 24, 2006