Obituary: Brenda Belle Degreenia
July 4, 1942 – March 9, 2025
March 18, 2025
Brenda Belle Degreenia, 1942-2025
Our quiet, gentle mother, Brenda Belle (Perry) Degreenia, surrounded by her family, passed peacefully on March 9, 2025. She was born on July 4, 1942, to Azro and Anita (Reynolds) Perry in Waterbury, Vermont.
Brenda graduated from Waterbury High School in 1960. She attended the Fanny Allen School of Nursing and received her degree in nursing in 1961 as an LPN. She worked for a few years at Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Vermont. In 1964, she met and married Forrest H. Degreenia and resided in Cabot, Vermont. They had four children: Forrest Mark, Richard, Julia and Jennifer. In 1982, Brenda completed a refresher course in nursing and continued her career at Greensboro Nursing Home and then retired from Woodridge Nursing Home around the age of 65.
Brenda spent a lot of her spare time reading and crocheting blankets and tablecloths, stuffed toys, and doilies. She was very talented in crochet and did beautiful work, which she mostly gave away, but also sold some of her creations at craft shows in her younger years.
Brenda will be remembered for her kindness and caring for people and animals, her love of Christmas and tradition, and for teaching her children to be self-sufficient, hard-working, and to have integrity. She taught us to appreciate the little things in life, like flowers and bees, looking at the stars, watching the geese fly overhead every spring and fall, listening and watching until they were out of sight; enjoying watching the snow drift slowly down, listening to a babbling brook on a hot day; savoring eating strawberry ice cream after working hard to pick the berries and make the ice cream by hand. These are the things we will remember and cherish the most. We were so lucky to call her mom.
She is survived by two sons, Forrest and Cathy (Pittsley) of Graniteville, Vermont, Richard and Becky (Stone) of Walden, Vermont; two daughters, Julia and Brian Frigon of Vancouver, Washington, and Jennifer Degreenia of Watertown, Connecticut. She also had seven grandchildren and step-grandchildren: Joshua Frigon, Garret Frigon, and Brandi Frigon of Vancouver; Meghan Kezer of Warrensburg, Missouri, Alyssa Nelson of Berlin, Vermont, Edythe Degreenia of Salt Lake City, Utah, Miranda Degreenia of Walden, Jasmine Hubbard of Lyndonville, Vermont, and Jessica Hubbard of West Burke, Vermont, along with four beautiful great-grandchildren.
Survivors also include Brenda's brother Bernard Perry of Waterbury, her favorite cousin Maggie Prevost of Wallingford, Connecticut, and a very special niece Rhonda Larrabee of Waterbury, as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was predeceased by her sister Eleanor Graham of Marshfield, Vermont, and brother Donald Perry of Northfield, Vermont.
Friends and family are invited to attend a graveside service on June 28 at the Maple Street Cemetery in Waterbury at 11 a.m. There will be a gathering afterward at the Hope Davey Memorial Park on Maple Street to visit and enjoy a refreshment.
Online condolences may be made at PerkinsParker.com.