Maureen Hopkins Sheehan

East Lyme — Maureen Hopkins Sheehan, 95, of East Lyme, passed away peacefully Monday, May 29, 2023, at Crescent Point at Niantic Assisted Living Center. Maureen was born Jan. 9, 1928, in New Britain to William and Ruth Hopkins.

Maureen graduated from the Williams Memorial Institute in 1945 and went on to study nursing at the Joseph Lawrence School of Nursing. She graduated as a nurse in 1948. Maureen met and fell in love with her neighbor John “Jack” Sheehan. They married Sept. 5, 1949, and eventually settled in East Lyme, where they built their dream house on Pattagansett Lake.

Maureen had a variety of interests and became talented in many areas. She was a self-taught seamstress and wedding cake baker. But her favorite things to bake were the nine gingerbread houses her grandchildren would decorate together every year. In her spare time, Maureen loved woodworking and genealogy. One of Maureen’s greatest prides was determining she was related to Mayflower Pilgrims. After Jack’s retirement, he and Maureen spent many winters in Fort Myers, Fla.

Surviving Maureen are her brother Francis Hopkins of Montville; and her children, Kathleen Constantine (Daniel Hamel) of Cape Coral, Fla., John Sheehan Jr. (Diane) of Port St. Lucie,

Fla., Michael Sheehan (Susan) of Niantic and Eileen Doherty (James) of St. Louis, Mo.; nine grandchildren: Kevin, Stacy,

Jack, Stephen, Julia, Mark, Kelly, Sarah and Colleen; and four great-grandchildren: Oliver, Charles, Braxton and Emmy. Maureen was predeceased by her husband, Jack, in 2018; parents; sister Elizabeth Bourget; and brother William Hopkins.

Maureen lived a very long, happy life and will be dearly missed by all who knew her. In the last years of her life, the wonderful caregivers both at home and at Crescent Point were a tremendous source of comfort to her and her family.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave. 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 606017633; or the Diabetes Action & Research Foundation, P.O. Box 34635, Bethesda, MD 20827.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 8, at St. Matthias Church, 317 Chesterfield Road, East Lyme. Interment will be private. The family will receive relatives and friends from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Thomas L. Neilan &

Sons East Lyme Funeral Home, 48 Grand St., Niantic. Please visit www.neilanfuneralhome. com to leave the family an online condolence.