HARDWICK – Sybil Louise Lanphear Ainsworth, 95, of Hardwick, died Tuesday, Sept. 19, in the comfort of her daughter’s home where she lived more than eight years.
She was born October 18, 1927, in Craftsbury; one of 12 children born to the late Elsie Mae Sheltra Lanphear and Albert Leo Lanphear. Sybil attended Houston Hill School in Walden and later received her GED.
On December 23, 1946, she married Leslie Francis Ainsworth. Together they raised four children.
Sybil worked at the Hardwick Ware Knitters, the Bijou Theater in Morrisville, the Idol Hour Theater in Hardwick, Deronde’s Plastic Factory in Montpelier, the Blue Moon Drive-In in St. Johnsbury, the Vermont State Tax Department in Montpelier, from which she retired on October 1, 1990.
She volunteered at Hardwick Elementary School as an assistant in reading for some students. She was a very active member of the United Church of Hardwick and Circle Seven, as well as a past Sunday School teacher and deacon of that church and a member of the Morrisville VFW No. 7779.
She loved sewing, crocheting, embroidering, and gardening. When she was younger, her hobbies included making most of her two daughters’ clothing and lots of items for her grandchildren. She had a very healthy strawberry bed for years, as well as raspberry and blackberry plants and a vegetable garden.
She was a very good cook, she often made special birthday cakes for all the grandchildren, and she used to take cakes to work for birthdays in her department. She was a faithful letter writer to her children and friends, some of whom didn’t always live close by. She traveled to Colorado, Idaho, Florida, Virginia, New York, and Alabama to visit her children. She loved to go to dances. The whole Lanphear family liked to dance. She loved walking and most days she would walk from her house to the post office and back. Due to a stroke in July of 2015, she had to reside with her daughter, Marsha. She will be deeply missed by all her family and friends.
Survivors include two daughters, Trudy Rublee of East Hardwick and Marsha Harvey of Hardwick and her companion, Kurt Bos; 11 grandchildren, Dianne Parrish and her husband, Bobby and Lane Marberry and her husband, Neal, all of Valley, Ala., Todd Harvey and his wife, Mary of Dundalk, Md., Troy Harvey of East Hardwick and his companion, Lisa Correia of Tiverton, R.I., Tracy Harvey and his wife, Alissa of Walden, Frank Ainsworth and his wife, JoAnne of Wolcott, Bryan Ainsworth, Jonathan Rublee of Palmyra, Pa., Shane Rublee and Melanie Gates, both of East Hardwick, and Lesley Nelson and her husband, Spencer of Hardwick; 21 great-grandchildren; nine great-great- grandchildren, a sister, Dorothy Spaulding of Morrisville, and a daughter-in-law, Norma Ainsworth of Valley, Ala., as well as many nieces and nephews.
Sybil was predeceased by her husband, Leslie, two sons, Larry Ainsworth and David Ainsworth; two grandchildren, Bryan Ainsworth and Frank Ainsworth; 10 siblings, Richard “Bud” Lanphear, Wayne Lanphear, Alfred Lanphear, Dale Lanphear, Francese Cochran, Gloria Godfrey, Ruth Lamell, Verlie Tillotson, Jeanette Neis and Marion Houghton; she was also predeceased by two sons-in-law, Stuart Harvey and Michael Rublee and a daughter-in-law, Betty Ainsworth.
Funeral services were held at 11 a.m., on Monday, September 25, at the United Church of Hardwick, with Pastor Ed Sunday-Winters, officiating. Burial followed in the family lot in the Fairview Cemetery in Hardwick.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to the United Church of Hardwick, P.O. Box 396, Hardwick, VT 05843 or to Caledonia Home Health and Hospice, 161 Sherman Drive, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819.
Arrangements are in the care of Dian R. Holcomb of Northern Vermont Funeral Service, 60 Elm Street, Hardwick. Online condolences are welcomed at northernvermontfuneralservice.com
