An Asnuntuck Legend Permanently Memorialized on Campus

ENFIELD, CT — At Asnuntuck Community College, the information center is the hub of the campus, with all activities seemingly revolving around that station in the building's front hallway. On Thursday, that work area was dedicated in memory of an incredible woman who became an institution in that office for two decades.

College administrators, current and former faculty members and the three children of Connie Beckstead were present at a ceremony in which the center was renamed the Connie Beckstead Information Center.

Beckstead worked as evening coordinator at the info center for 20 years, beginning at the former warehouse building on Phoenix Avenue in 1977, then moving to the former Kosciuszko Junior High School building on Elm Street in 1983, where she stayed until retiring in 1997.

Prior to coming to Enfield and being hired at Asnuntuck, Beckstead was a well-known radio personality in the Midwest, hosting a midnight-to-6 a.m. show in Gary, Indiana where she was known as the "Sleepy Time Gal."

After she and her husband, Brenton, relocated to Connecticut with three small children, she worked for many years at WHYN-FM in Springfield, Mass., then briefly moved to WAQY.

"She didn't stay long at WAQY, because one day they told her that everyone pitches in with all the jobs there, and they wanted her to clean the toilets," her first daughter, Tracey Buchholz, said with a laugh.

Beckstead became the public relations director at the former Chateau de Ville in East Windsor, dealing with stars like Jerry Lewis and Wayne Newton, before a family crisis necessitated she find full-time work.

"My dad was in charge of the food service program for the Hartford public schools, but he had a heart attack and she needed to get a job with benefits," her son, Craig Beckstead, said.

Working daily from 3-10 p.m., Beckstead fell in love with her job at the college, having her finger on the pulse of everything going on at the campus.

In the early 1980s, her husband suffered two more heart attacks, rendering him unable to work. Beckstead handled the crisis by signing on as a substitute teacher at Enfield High School, working there almost daily until the early 1990s. She taught from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., then worked her usual 3-10 p.m. shift at the college.

She retired in 1997 after 20 years of service to Asnuntuck, but unfortunately passed away in April 2001 at age 68.

The dedication ceremony was a complete surprise to Beckstead's children, as Peter Picknelly, husband of her middle child, Melissa, handled all the arrangements without his wife or in-laws knowing about it.

"This would have meant the world to her and my dad," Tracey Buchholz said. "We couldn't have thought of a better way to honor her. She was the heart and soul of Asnuntuck."

Photos courtesy of the Beckstead children