Lois Poinier

Mystic — Lois “Bun” (Wodell) Poinier, left this world on Sunday, April 29, 2018. She is reunited with her husband, John Poinier.

She was also predeceased by her daughter, Priscilla (Poinier) Bennett; stepson, Jerimiah Poinier; and grandsons, Reid Sanders and Miles Poinier.

She is survived by her brother, W. Page Wodell; daughter, Page P. Sanders; son, Philip C. Poinier; stepson, John Poinier Jr.; 14 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren who will carry on the fiery and irreplaceable spirit that we know as “Bun.”

They don’t make women like Lois anymore. She lived just shy of 102 years, rode her bike and played golf into her 90s, sang in NYC nightclubs in her 20s and at the 1935 presidential birthday ball before the nightclub smoke sent her into a 45-year career in landscape design. Her legacy lives on at The Smithsonian that has slides of her gardens along with slides of gardens designed by her mother, Helen Wodell Halbach. She was a member of The Short Hills and Stonington Garden Clubs and The Garden Club of America.

A lover of environmentalism, sailing, golf and ginger cookies, she was happiest ankle deep in her garden beds. She took pride in attending Miss Porter’s School in Farmington and sharing her knowledge in workshops for all ages at the Greater Newark Conservancy where the herb garden was dedicated in her honor.

In lieu of flowers, “Bun’s” spirit will continue to dance if you send a donation to the Greater Newark Conservancy, www.citybloom.org, 32 Prince St., Newark, NJ 07103 or the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, www.dpnc.org, P.O. Box 122, Mystic, CT 06355.