Christine Lytle

Thomaston - Christine Lytle, 73, of Thomaston and Plymouth passed away peacefully in her sleep on Thursday morning, March 24 at Cook Willow in Plymouth of acute kidney failure.

She was born July 18, 1948 in Torrington at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, daughter of Clifford and Betty Lytle of Thomaston. She was the third of eight children: Helen(#1), Frank(#2), Cynthia(#4), Carolyn(#5), Robert(#6), Elizabeth(#7) and Jean (#8).

Christine (Chris) graduated from Thomaston High School in 1966 where she was in the Future Teachers Club, Future Nurses Club and the National Honor Society. After her senior year she went to Helsinki, Finland as an American Field Service exchange student. She then went on to Plymouth State College in Plymouth, New Hampshire where she majored in English and became Editor of the Poetry Club publication which she titled "Black on White" and graduated with honors.

Back in Connecticut after college she worked various jobs including positions as legal secretary and teacher. In 1977 Chris moved back home to Thomaston to help our father care for our mother who died in 1980. Shortly thereafter Chris moved back to Stamford where she was a customer service representative at Xerox Corporation in Stamford, CT until her retirement.

In 2000, shortly after our father passed away, Chris moved back to Thomaston upon purchasing the family homestead on High Street. She kept busy with various jobs and trained to become a Certified Nurses Assistant and subsequently worked providing homecare to seniors along with dog-sitting.

In 2007 she was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease. Following a minor stroke in December 2014 which affected her short term memory, it became evident that she needed less house to take care of and more help taking care of herself. Thus in 2016 she moved to an apartment in Green Manor Thomaston, where, with assistance from homecare helpers, she lived happily until April 2021 when she moved to Cook Willow to have help available to her round the clock.

Living in Thomaston Chris was blessed to have an exceptional team of doctors nearby caring for her including Dr. George Barchini, Dr. Sina Raissi, Dr. Anthony Kim, Dr. Tai Nguyen, Dr. Anita Salerno, Dr. D. Deminicus along with the exceptional doctors and nurses and aides at Waterbury Hospital.

Chris was special! She was a loving and helpful daughter, sister, aunt, great aunt and friend. With a big family like ours, everyone was expected to pitch in with the chores, especially the older siblings. Chris was choosy about how she wanted to contribute. She wasn't keen on mundane chores like food prep or cleanup. She chose more creative tasks like playing school or creating scavenger hunts for her younger siblings and in later years for her nephews and nieces. She offered encouragement when her younger siblings struggled or were discouraged. She was blessed with artistic ability such as painting, writing poetry and creating beautiful flower arrangements. When the youngest sister was married at home she became the photographer and beautifully captured the excitement and activity prior to and throughout the wedding day.

She had a strong faith in God and believed in life after death. Her favorite Psalms were The Lord is my Shepherd and Love is Patient and Kind.

The Lytle family would like to thank all of the wonderful homecare aides and nurses, too numerous to mention by name here, who enriched Chris' life with their patience and kindness and care. Some were hired directly by us and others were provided through Northwest Homecare in Litchfield, Help Unlimited in Watertown, and New England Homecare, Waterbury, her friendly Green Manor neighbors, Evie Platt Director of Green Manor, and Barry who delivered Meals on Wheels twice a week always with a wonderful smile and kind words, the Thomaston Police and Thomaston Ambulance staff, and most recently the entire staff at Cook Willow who provided Chris with her new home-away-from-home and last but not least her many exceptional doctors who kept her going all these years.

Chris is survived by her siblings, Helen(Paul)Huyffer, Frank Lytle(Joanne), Cynthia Lytle(Gerry Eichner), Carolyn Coleman, Robert Lytle(Donna) and Elizabeth Lytle(David Frazier) and Jean(Tom)Kurien; her cousin Judy Hutchinson Hodges; her nieces and nephews Amy Huyffer(Ransom), KJ Oppenheimer, Eric Huyffer, Seth and Craig Lylte, Dawn Thompson, Zoe and Alec Graboski, Hannah and Danny Coleman, Jessie, Mike, Charlie, and Hans Lytle, Binoy and Joe Kurien; grand nieces and nephews Clifford Ransom, Jackson Ransom, Harley Ransom, Oliver Ransom, Miranda and Amelia Oppenheimer, Carter Lytle, Aurora Bragg, Phoebe and Louis Graboski, Vivienne Coleman Touhey, Ayaan and Rohan Kurien; cousin Judy Hutchinson Hodges.

Besides her parents Chris was predeceased by Uncle Richard and Aunt Maryellen Hutchinson, Uncle Robert and Mary Lytle, nephew Mark Lytle and cousins Bunny Lytle Stokes and Robin Lytle and brother-in-law Paul Coleman.

A Memorial service will be held Saturday, April 9, 2022 at the Plymouth Congregational Church at noon. Masks are strongly requested.