Patricia P. Cornell

CORNELL, Patricia P. Patricia Plummer Cornell, 79, beloved wife of Robert W. Cornell, passed away peacefully at St Francis Hospital on April 14 after a short illness. She was born in New York City on January 11, 1927, the daughter of Edwina W. and Charles A. Plummer, and grew up in Old Greenwich and Stamford, CT. Pat graduated from Low Heywood School in Stamford in 1944 and attended Wellesley College, Class of 1948, but transferred as a senior to Barnard College after serving as Conference Officer to Eleanor Roosevelt for the Human Rights Council at the Special Session of the United Nations in Lake Success, NY in 1948. After graduating from Barnard in 1949, she worked in the private office of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in New York City. In 1976, she started graduate school at Trinity College, receiving her MA in History of Education in 1979. While attending Trinity, she researched and wrote several papers on Noah Webster?s contribution to the Continental Convention while serving on the West Hartford Bicentennial Celebration Committee. After marrying Dr. Robert W. Cornell in the Stamford First Congregational Church on June 24, 1950, the Cornells moved to West Hartford where they lived at 72 Mountain Road for seven years and at 40 Belknap Road for 46 years. In July 2003, they moved to Duncaster, a retirement community in Bloomfield. While in West Hartford, Pat served as president of the Barnard Club and started the Intercollege Forum with several other women?s college alumnae clubs. For the first forum, Pat had Eleanor Roosevelt as the moderator. Pat was an active volunteer in Barnard and Wellesley alumnae affairs for many years, serving as a class agent and fundraiser. After her mother?s passing in 1994, Pat established the Edwina Woodling ?26 and Charles Arnold Plummer Scholarship Fund at Wellesley for English majors. When her children left home, Pat became a substitute teacher in the Bilingual Program of the Hartford School System. Pat was an Elder of Asylum Hill Congregational Church, and a member of the Town & County Club, the Hartford Golf Club, the Wellesley Club, and the Barnard Club.In the 1960s and 1970s, Pat often joined her husband on many business and vacation trips to Europe and visited many countries. After her husband retired, she enjoyed visiting Egypt, Greece, Russia, Israel, China, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and most of the Caribbean islands. In addition to travel, Pat loved to read, swim, play tennis and squash, go to the opera, theater, and concerts.Besides her husband, Pat leaves a brother, Dirk A. Plummer of Sea Bright, NJ, and four children and nine grandchildren: Richard W. Cornell of Groton, CT; Delight C. Dobby of Westmount, Quebec, Canada, and her children, Timothy and Emily; Elizabeth C. Wilkin of Andover, MA and Warren, NH and her children, Ann, Joseph, Henry, Helen, and Thomas; and Shelly C. Wolfe of New York City and her children, Laura and Robert.Burial will be private. A memorial service for Patricia will be held at Duncaster in mid May after her oldest daughter, Delight Dobby, and her husband return home from Australia. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Pat?s memory to Asylum Hill Congregational Church, 1814 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Online messages of sympathy and remembrance may be made at www.molloyfuneralhome.com

Patricia P. Cornell

January 11, 1927 - April 14, 2006