New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Milford’s ‘Candy Lady,’ Anna Boynton, dies at 91
MILFORD — A woman described as “the quintessential mom of Devon,” lifelong city resident Anna M. Boynton, died Friday. She was 91.
Boynton, whose maiden name was Brienza, was the matriarch of a well-known Milford family and member of two. Her death has caused the community to rally around her her son Ted, a paraprofessional at Jonathan Law High School, said Kathy Bonetti, the school system’s communications coordinator, who grew up near the Boyntons in the Devon section of Milford.
Boynton worked for 25 years at Milford’s Bic Pen manufacturing plant and was a hard worker — she prided herself on her work ethic and took many third shifts. But, her son said, she might have been bestknown for running the candy stand with resident Claudia Watson at the Lou Gehrig baseball and softball complex during Milford Little League games.
“Everybody who knew me and my sister (Patricia), knew her,” Ted Boynton said. “At the end of the game, everybody would get a free soda. She was known as the ‘Candy Lady.’ Everybody knew Mrs. Boynton.”
Born on July 26, 1932 in Tuckahoe, New York, Boynton was the daughter of the late Pasquale and Theresa (Cornacchio) Brienza. The family moved to Milford when she was 7 years old and she attended public schools. Boynton and her husband, 94-yearold Theodore O. Boynton Jr., were married for 68 years, according to her obituary.
“She was a very giving person,” Ted Boynton said. “It was never about her. It was about her family. She was always helping.”
A self-proclaimed beach kid, Boynton spent a lot of time on Myrtle Beach in her youth. That’s where she first met her husband, Theodore Boynton Jr., who was on leave from the U.S. Navy. A fine cook, Boynton’s home lingered with the aroma of Italian food and she cooked all the standards of Italian cuisine, Bonetti said.
“She was the quintessential mom of Devon. Everybody went there (to the Boynton home). She worried about all the kids,” Bonetti said. “She was always making sure that (the Devon kids who visited her home) had what they needed and was making sure that everybody was OK.”
Boynton was well known for being a room mother at John F. Kennedy Elementary School where her children attended school. She also fried dough at the St. Mary Carnival, a summer fundraiser for St. Mary School of Milford, for many years.
The Boyntons raised their children, Ted III and his sister, Patricia Varnum, to be athletic and community-minded. Her children were known to be good athletes during their time in the 1980s at Jonathan Law, where today Boynton is the Key Club advisor and frequent volunteer for school and community activities. Ted Boynton regularly attends city government and school board meetings, Bonetti said.
Besides her children, Boynton leaves behind grandchildren Alyssa, William and Robert Varnum and Theodore IV and Steven Boynton, and many nieces and nephews. She is survived by her sister Carol Reilly and sister-in-law Eleanor Brienza and predeceased by her brother, Charles Brienza, plus sisters and brothers-in-law Jennie (Steve) Voros, Dolores (Thomas) Bova and Daniel Reilly, according to her obituary.
Boynton was waked at Cody-White Funeral Home of Milford on Tuesday and buried after a Mass Wednesday at St. Ann Church. In lieu of flowers, mourners can donate to a charity of choice, according to the obituary.