Dorothy N. West

Dorothy N. West, 103, of Cromwell, went home to be with the Lord on Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2024.

Born in Worcester, MA on July 28, 1920, Dorothy Virginia Nourse was the daughter of the late Leon and Louisa (Johnson) Nourse.  She grew up in Westboro, MA and graduated from Westboro High School in 1938.  She was the first in her family to achieve higher education by graduating from Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Worcester, MA with a 3-year nursing diploma in 1941 followed by certification as a Registered Nurse.  She married Robert F. West on June 27, 1942 and moved with him to Virginia where he was stationed during World War II.  After the war she left nursing practice when their daughter Karen was born in 1947, followed by son Lee in 1953.  The family moved to West Simsbury, CT in 1958 and when her children were older, Dorothy took the nursing refresher course at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford 1964 and served as a part-time RN on a post-surgical ward of St. Francis until her retirement in 1976.  Dorothy and Bob resided in West Simsbury before moving to a continuing care retirement community, Covenant Living of Cromwell, in 2001.

Dorothy’s life was one of service – watching over her younger brothers and later her ailing parents, and tending to the needs of her husband and children, hospital patients, injured neighborhood kids, and their sweet cocker spaniel Bunny.  She believed “you should work hard, so you can contribute.”  Her talents in the home were legendary: hosting fabulous meals and weekend get-togethers for family, bridge parties, and an annual Swedish smörgåsbord.  She shared her creative skills through her floral arrangements for Kensington Baptist Church, hand-painted ceramics, needle crafts of all sorts, and elaborate Christmas decorations (right up to her “early hundreds”).  Though quiet and modest, Dorothy’s talents, keen mind, thoughtfulness and compassion were obvious to all who knew her.

Surviving Dorothy are a son, Lee West and his wife Carol of Wethersfield; a son-in-law Archibald Campbell of South Hamilton, MA; two granddaughters, Jennifer Campbell Boutchie, Meredith Campbell Graham and her husband Jonathan, and great granddaughters Riley Boutchie, Rebecca Graham and Amelia Graham.  She was predeceased by her beloved husband of 64 years Bob in 2006, by her daughter Karen in 2021 and by her three brothers, Wesley, Roland and David Nourse.

Calling hours will be held on Saturday, May 25, 2024 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Erickson-Hansen Funeral Home, 411 South Main St., New Britain, followed by a funeral service at 1:30 p.m. including a brief tribute by the Connecticut Nurses Honor Guard.  Burial will be in Wonx Spring Cemetery, Plantsville immediately after the service.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Covenant Living of Cromwell Benevolent Fund, or to a charity of your choice.