Helen Tappan Hine

OLD LYME – Helen Tappan Hine, 99, of Old Lyme, passed away from COVID-19 Thursday, May 21, 2020, at Bride Brook Health & Rehabilitation Center, Niantic. Helen was born Feb. 24, 1921, in Baltimore, Md. to Benjamin and Elise (Gail) Tappan. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1943, with a Bachelor of Arts in fine art, and earned her RN from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in 1946.

Helen was an exchange student in Switzerland in 1939, and was in Paris when France went to war. She planned to use her nursing degree to return and help rebuild Europe, but, in the spring of 1947, she met a dashing naval aviator, Thomas Hine. They were married that December and spent 53 years together, until Tom’s death in 2010. Along the way, they raised three children; and she worked as a nurse, including ten years at Connecticut Hospice, when it was new. She loved nature, especially flowers, knitted enough sweaters to circle the earth, and had an irrepressible sense of humor.

Helen is survived by her daughters, Pamela Hine, of Old Lyme and Nancy Hine Juliano (spouse Frank) of Morganton, N.C. Helen, Tom and Pam shared a home for many years and she was a vital and much loved part of her grandsons, Alexander and Peter T. Hine’s lives. Helen’s son, Peter L. Hine, predeceased her, but she will be missed by his widow, Candis Hine, and their children, Thomas Hine, Katherine Hine Smith (spouse Corey) and Theodore Hine (spouse Gwyneth); as well as her great-grandchildren: Kate’s Madeline and Ian Smith and Ted’s Luther, Calliope and Vivian Hine.

A celebration of Helen’s life is being planned for after the pandemic, when all the many people whose lives she touched can gather and throw a party as joyful as the legacy she leaves us all.