Helene Barton Loveless

High School Librarian
Helene Barton Loveless, 97, of Cromwell, widow of George Gilbert Loveless, passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009 at Middlesex Hospital Hospice Unit after a brief illness. The daughter of the late Edward and Alma Carl Barton, she grew up in Pittsfield, Mass., graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1929 and received her degree in journalism from Boston University in 1933.

Mrs. Loveless had been a resident of Cromwell since 1949. There, she was a PTA president, a board member of Junior Matinees, served on Cromwell’s first Conservation Commission, was a founding member of the Cromwell Historical Society, a member and a past president of the Home Club and a member of Friends of the Library and of the Mattabeseck Audubon Society. Following graduate studies in library science at Southern Connecticut State University, she was the Cromwell High School librarian from 1965-76 and was chosen Cromwell Woman of the year in 1985.

Mrs. Loveless is survived by her daughter, Mara Slatkin and her husband, Dr. Daniel N. Slatkin, of Essex; her son, Christopher Barton and his wife, Dianne Ford, of Higganum; 10 beloved grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Besides her husband and parents, she was predeceased by her son, Donald Carl Loveless, who died in infancy.

Funeral services will be held at Cromwell Funeral Home, 506 Main St., Cromwell, on Monday, Feb. 9 at 9 a.m. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at St. John’s Church, 5 St. John’s Court, Cromwell, at 10 a.m. Burial will be at the convenience of the family in the spring in West Cemetery in Cromwell.

There will be no calling hours. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Cromwell Historical Society, P.O. Box 146, Cromwell, CT 06416, The Mattabeseck Audubon Society, de Koven House, 27 Washington St., Middletown, CT 06457 or to the charity of the donor’s choice.
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Remembrances

from Ted Sekscenski '71

Mrs. Loveless was a true "student's librarian" at Cromwell High. Librarians are supposed to be helpful. But Mrs. Loveless assisted students more by getting to know us and then helped locate books both within and beyond our often narrow ranges of interest. She touched many lives, by going beyond simply doing her job in her personal way. Although I have not seen her in decades, I remember a challenge she asked of me in my senior year to always remain loyal to my convictions while promising to learn about others' perspectives beyond my own. If I could tell you today after nearly four decades -- "thanks for that challenge Mrs. Loveless, and thanks for sowing the seeds of interest in the larger world. I've tried to live up to your challenge."

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