Female Farmington Veteran, 102, Honored For World War II Service

Middlewoods of Farmington

FARMINGTON, CT — Friends and family of a very special centenarian gathered at a local senior living facility recently to honor a heroic woman for her exploits serving during World War II.

Longtime Middlewoods of Farmington resident Leomonia “Lee” Pappas, 102, was recently presented with a Quilt of Valor (QOV) in recognition and appreciation of her military service with the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs) during World War II.

The presentation took place at the Farmington-based senior living community on Tuesday, March 21, in the presence of fellow residents, staff, family members and special guests, including Quilts of Valor Foundation representative and Connecticut volunteer, Cindy Guendert.

Middlewoods of Farmington Independent and Assisted Living Community is affiliated with UConn Health and located at 509 Middle Road in Farmington.

Guendert visited Middlewoods to assist with the award presentation and share in the traditional “wrapping” of the quilt around Pappas, which is customary for service members and veterans receiving this unique honor.

The whimsical red, white and blue Americana-themed quilt was crafted for Pappas by a group of volunteer quilters and friends at Middlewoods, who undertook the project with her in mind.

Middlewoods of Farmington Activities Director Debbie Astrom, an experienced quilter, organized the effort and recruited the help of interested quilters from Middlewoods to assist in the creation of the quilt.

Resident volunteers included: Vicki DiMaio, Dorothy Graves, Lydia Mangini and Maria Petru.

Members of the Quilts of Valor group designed the quilt and packaged pieces of it for the Middlewoods volunteers, who then assembled within a few months before sending it back to Quilts of Valor member, Jane Dougherty, for final sewing on the “Longarm” machine.

Lastly, Astrom and a Middlewoods family member, Jeanne Charbonneau, attached the finishing touches.

“It was truly a labor of love,” said Astrom. “When we first learned about Quilts of Valor, we were so excited. Many of our residents are veterans and we wanted our efforts to go towards spreading comfort – as only a quilt can do.

"We knew that partnering with the Quilts of Valor group would be just the right fit for us. They were instantly willing to allow our first quilt to be earmarked for Lee – after all, how many more 102-year-old female veterans of World War II could there possibly be?”

Pappas joined the WAACs during the early 1940s, serving as a laboratory technician with the Chemical Warfare Service department at Camp Detrick, Md., and in 1946 was presented with the Army Commendation Ribbon for her courage, performance and devotion to duty in this role.

“Words are impossible to express my feelings at this time,” said Pappas. “I thank you. I thank all of you for making this possible. I will cherish it for many years.”

The Mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans who have been touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor.

Quilts of Valor must be a specific size, must have a label with required information, it must be awarded (it is not a gift) and it must be recorded.

To date for 2023, there have been 4,345 quilts presented which have contributed to the 340,406 quilts distributed since Quilts of Valor’s founding in 2003.

For more information about the Quilts of Valor Foundation, visit https://www.qovf.org.

Middlewoods is owned and operated by United Methodist Homes, a non-profit, mission-based organization in Shelton. For more information about senior living at Middlewoods, contact Ginny Brown at 860-284-5700 or visit www.middlewoodsoffarmington.org.