Lillian T. Sampson

Winsted:  Lillian Turgeon Sampson, 78, passed away on Sunday, January 17, 2021, at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington, following a metastatic pancreatic cancer diagnosis in September of last year.  She was the wife of Arthur R. Sampson, who died 13 ½ months earlier.  Born in Winsted,  September 23, 1942, Lil was the daughter of the late Hector Joseph and Marie Valentine (Gouthier) Turgeon. She resided in Winsted her entire life and graduated from The Gilbert School in 1961. 

Lil began working straight away in the payroll department at the insurance company CIGNA, leaving the workplace just shy of ten years to attend to her son's birth. She re-entered the workplace almost seven years later: first in a clerical capacity, then working with a precursor program to early childhood education in town, and later as a special education teaching assistant with the Winchester Public Schools. She retired in 2008 after nearly 30 years of service to education. Lil was among the first staff to monitor the Hinsdale School’s new “detention hall:” a role she executed without prejudice, even when her son was among her subjects. 

Staying close to home was the norm for Lil. Wildwood, NJ, was her favorite travel destination in her early years and the casinos in NJ and CT in her later years. Bringing her parents to visit their birth home in Canada was a travel highlight, as well as the group travel she enjoyed to Jamaica, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico with her employer in the mid-60s. While Lil did not travel to Hong Kong, she was a regular visitor to her son’s New York City residence with her late husband, Art.  At times, Lil independently looked after her son’s dog Pebbles in New York City, who passed in 2015.  Pebbles later enjoyed his visitation rights (including bedroom privileges) at K-5 Nanni Drive.

Her survivors include her son, Darrick Sampson of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the People's Republic of China; two sisters, Jeannette (Robin) Neary of Warren, NJ and Loretta Turgeon of Torrington, CT; two brothers, Hector (Linda) Turgeon of Simsbury, CT, and Raymond Turgeon of Newington, CT.  A brother, Robert Turgeon, his wife Joanne, and Raymond’s husband, Robert Brown, predeceased Lil. 

A funeral mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at 11:00 AM at St. Joseph’s Church, and burial will follow immediately after at their new cemetery.  There are no calling hours.  However, Lil’s family and friends, recognizing her love of snowmen, built her a “virtual snowman” through their contact with her via speakerphone calls, video calls, and in-person visits ahead of her passing.

Correspondence may be sent to her son Darrick at K-5 Nanni Drive in Winsted.  The family is grateful to the Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Litchfield County for managing Lillian’s hospice care and the staff of Charlotte Hungerford Hospital. Memorial contributions may be made to this same organization at 32 Union Street, Winsted, CT 06098. 

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