Barbara Bellatty Anne Whitehill Obituary April 30, 2026
Our wonderful mother, Barbara Anne (Bellatty) Whitehill, 96, left this earth and went with God on Thursday, April 30, 2026. She left us peacefully, being simultaneously held by us, her four children.
She was born in Brooklyn, NY on December 29, 1929 to William and Clara (Matz) Bellatty. She and her older brother, Thomas Bellatty, were raised in Brooklyn. She was predeceased by her parents, her beloved husband of 51 years, John Whitehill, and her brother Thomas and his wife Elizabeth Bellatty, who were her lifelong best friends.
Barbara went to college at the University of New Hampshire. One of her great experiences while a student there was to be selected as an assistant to Edwin Scheier, one of the America’s premier potters and ceramics professors of the 20th century. He and his wife, Mary Scheier, personally selected our Mom to be a student assistant for them.
At UNH, Mom earned a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy, which at that time was a brand new field in Allied Health. She returned to NYC and found a rewarding career working with disabled, hospitalized veterans in The Bronx. While there, she invented an adaptive tool to assist veterans with disabling injuries to have increased independence. In later years, she returned to college to study education. She then worked in the East Windsor school system for many years, first as a Kindergarten teacher at the Broad Brook School, and then as a Special Education Aide at East Windsor High School.
Mom met our Dad, John (Jack) during a college summer, when she, her brother Tom, and Jack were all summer camp counselors at Milo Light’s Camp on Gardner Lake in southeastern Connecticut.
They had four children: Amy, Diana, Thomas, and Nancy. They raised us in East Windsor, CT, where we shared many happy years together as a family. They welcomed our spouses, and intensely loved their grandchildren as each arrived. In Mom’s later years, she was thrilled to become a great-grandmother.
Mom told us many times that raising her family was her greatest accomplishment. She taught us so much about family love and generosity, and we have thanked her over the years for her living example to us. We are passing these life lessons along to our offspring as Mom’s heritage. Our Mom will be immensely missed by all of us.
We would like to thank the excellent staff on the West Wing at Manchester Manor for their compassionate care of Barbara during these last weeks. And, also, The Village of Buckland Court, in South Windsor for the happy home that you provided to our Mom for the last two years. We appreciate you all.
