Gentile, Winifred
Winifred Bolles Gentile of Canton died peacefully on February 1. Win was born on April 26, 1930 to Henry and Annie (Hood) Bolles. Win grew up in Newington, and after graduating from Newington High School she attended Teachers College of Connecticut (now Central Connecticut State University). Win married Dr. George G. Gentile in 1952, and they made their home in New Britain until they moved to Canton in 1965 and raised their three daughters there. Win was active in the Cherry Brook Garden Club and Canton Benefit Productions, served on the Canton Conservation Commission, was the first woman elected to the Canton Board of Selectmen, and was active in many other community organizations. Win also was involved in establishing the Canton Land Conservation Trust and in the designation of part of the Farmington River as a Wild and Scenic River and was very proud of these accomplishments. She also served as the president of the Connecticut Yankee Girl Scout Council. In 1994 Win and George moved back to Newington, and Win supported George in his work with the Iwo Jima Survivors Association for many years. For the last few years, Win was glad to be living in Canton again.
Music was an important part of Win's life. She was in choirs from the time she was a girl and enjoyed family and friends gathering around to sing while she played her piano. High spirited and fun loving, Win spent much of her life outdoors, from walking to school, playing field hockey, and being a waterfront director in her youth to establishing and maintaining beautiful gardens at her homes throughout her adult life. For the almost thirty years that she lived in Canton, Win "put up" vegetables and fruits grown in her yard, which her family enjoyed eating all year long. She was renowned throughout her extended family for her "pasta and meatballs" and apple pie (made with a lard crust)!
Win lived a life of service to others, devoting herself to supporting her family and friends and contributing to her community. Even now Win continues to be of service to others as she has willed her body to Yale School of Medicine. Win lives on in the people and places that she has touched.
Win is predeceased by her parents, brother William Bolles who died in World War II, and sisters Elizabeth Bolles and Beatrice Heywood, and by her husband George. She leaves her sister Ruth Bentley (Berlin, CT); daughters Beth Gentile (Griswold, CT), Susan Gentile (Canton, CT), and Julia Morgan and son-in-law Paul Morgan (Madison, NJ); grandsons William Ward (Denver, CO), Bradford Ward (Stanford, CA), and George Morgan and his sisters Anna and Greta Morgan, and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, greatgrandnieces, great-grandnephews, and loving friends.
Win's family extends deepest gratitude to the staffs of McLean Hospice, Cherry Brook Health Center, John Dempsey Hospital, and Middlewoods of Farmington for the attentive care they gave to Win in the final year of her life. A Celebration of Life Service will be held Sunday, February 19 at 12:30pm at Church of Christ Congregational, 1075 Main Street in Newington. Donations in Win's memory may be made to: Canton Land Conservation Trust at https://cantonlandtrust. org/donations/