Pauline Pickett, 97

Pauline Ferguson Pickett (Polly) died Feb. 19, 2017, at 97 years of age. At her request, there will be no memorial service. Memorial donations may be made to Special Olympics.
Polly, the first of three children (Pauline Anne, John Lord, and Mary Louise Ferguson) of Mary Lord and Paul Everett Ferguson, was born on Jan. 11, 1920, in Monmouth, Illinois. Her husband Larry, parents and siblings John and Mary Louise, predeceased her. She is survived by four children Lawrence K. Pickett, Jr. (Carolyn), Nancie P. Arnold (Terry), Paul F. Pickett (Lisa), and Steven B. Pickett (Eugenia), eight grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, a sister-in-law and nine nieces and nephews.
Polly’s life centered on her family and service to her community and while always a lady in her behavior, Polly had a cheerful fun loving spirit. She valued her family and friends above all else.
She raised four lively and energetic children along with regularly volunteering in hospitals and other local organizations. She was a warm, caring, generous person who was accepting and supportive of most everyone she knew.
Polly was a lifetime member of P.E.O (as was her mother and grandmother) and served as a P.E.O. local and state officer. The values held by this organization were always central to the open and loving manner that Polly showed in her relations with others.
After Polly’s first two years at Monmouth High School, the Fergusons moved back to Loveland, CO. One of the great joys of Polly’s life was the friendship of five of her Monmouth, IL classmates who began a tradition after their 1937 High School graduation. They drove to Loveland, CO, to reunite with Polly, the first of many gatherings over their lifetimes. Polly was the last of the six.
After graduating from Duke University, class of 1941, Polly attended Katherine Gibbs School in New York City, class of 1942. She then moved to New Haven, CT, where her brother John was an undergraduate at Yale University, for a job as a secretary in the Yale Dean of Freshmen office. One Sunday, a friend from Loveland, David G. Colwell, introduced her to Larry Pickett, a medical school student. Though interested in Polly, Larry failed to get her phone number, but the following Monday was surprised to see Polly behind a desk in the dean’s office where he was a dorm counselor. They began their 60-year marriage on Dec. 17, 1943.
Polly and Larry lived in Boston, Syracuse, New Haven, CT, Skaneateles and retired to Ithaca, N.Y.,x in 1997, where they lived at the Kendal retirement community until their passing.