Hazel Lenora (Heidt) Decker

Hazel Lenora Heidt Decker

November 10,1920- October 29,2022

Hazel was a beacon of light and a barrel of laughs. She passed away peacefully on Oct 29, 2022 (just 12 days shy of her 102nd birthday) with her daughter Judy by her side. In her heyday, Hazel was full of life and love, she loved to chat, she was opinionated, she always had her hair and nails done up proper, she wore bright red lipstick and made sure to smooch up all her grand babies leaving that signature red smudge all over their faces. Her jazz music was always blaring, her clocks all set to different times, she had projects and piles everywhere. Hazel was passionate, artistic, a rebel - she didn’t bow to the rigid culture she was born into. She had a mind of her own and was well ahead of her time. She lost a lot because of this, but she never let go of who she was. She was endlessly loving. Her stories and antics will be greatly missed.

Hazel was born in Toledo, Ohio to Jane Catherine Herrmann and Harry August Heidt. As the daughter of a railroader, she loved trains all her life. Hazel was an expert marksman, so much so that her father would show off her skills at county fairs and to his railroad buddies. Hazel graduated from Libby High School, Toledo, OH. She stayed home to care for her mother after graduation, then left for Washington, D.C. where she worked as an elevator operator. She later worked for the Civil Services, where one of her jobs there was to watch for enemy planes flying over the city. In 1946, Hazel married Jack Decker and they had two children together, John and Judy. They lived briefly in Pennsylvania, and eventually settled down in Plainville, CT where she lived until she was almost 100 years old.

Hazel referred to Plainville as “Her Little Town” which she loved immensely. She was devoted to her community and was an avid volunteer. In 1955 Hazel got her driver’s license - she drove for the American Red Cross, delivered library books to shut-ins, picked up Buicks in Boston to drive back to town, and drove kids all over CT to swim meets. She was involved with the Plainville Visiting Nurse Association and was later the president of the Association. Hazel was an active member of the Jr. Women’s Club and the Woman’s Club for over 50 years where she served as president of that club multiple times. She also worked briefly at UConn Health and later at The Avon Country Club.

Hazel’s second family was the Plainville Senior Center where she made wonderful everlasting friendships, and she was once again the dependable volunteer working in the exercise room well into her 90s. She adored staff members Shawn and Rhonda and considered them like family. Hazel spent many of her days at the Senior Center and it’s here that she met Jan and her husband Larry Morse. Larry later became her landlord; he'd bring her a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin daily and later referred to her as a “magnet who lived every moment in rhythm with the world.” Her friends were her lifeline to happiness.

Hazel is predeceased by her parents, her brother Fred Heidt, and her son John Decker, for whom she was an unrelenting caregiver and advocate for throughout the years. She leaves behind her daughter Judy and husband Gee Sirois, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren: André Sirois and Lindsey Shields and son Alphee, Meghan and Michael Littlefield and children Aria and Oliver, Lucien and Shilah Sirois and children Lazarus and Lita, William and Althea Decker and children Nate and Kaye. She loved her family members deeply out in the mid-west; her nephews Randy, Scott and Thom Heidt, her niece Cathy Rose Heidt-Fair, and her cousin CarolynAnn Todd.

The family would like to thank Dexter Littlefield and Joan Stanton for sharing their home with Hazel during the holidays. Thank you also goes out to Compassus Hospice who treated her so tenderly during her last days, as well as the staff at Avita of Wells, Maine for their gentle kindness and the love shared with “Mom”. She would want us to make a special mention of Brandy, Meagan, and Hillary for the laughter and good times, and looking out for her and helping her to maintain her health and dignity. Theirs was a ‘special’ bond.

Cremation has taken place and later we will have a Celebration of Life in her honor at Wild Bevy where her namesake “Still” resides. Any donations may be made to The Plainville Senior Center, Plainville Police or Fire Department or to a Cancer Center of your choice. She would tell you to Smile, Laugh Big, Think Young and Look for the Goodness in All.

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