Obituary: Veronica M. Berrill, 91, of Southbury

Information via Carpino Funeral Home

Southbury - Veronica M. Berrill (née Dawson), 91, of Pomperaug Woods Senior Living Community, South¬bury, Conn., died peacefully on Saturday, June 24, 2017, at Pomperaug’s nursing facility after a short illness. She was a longtime English teacher in Brookfield, Conn., and the widow of cartoonist Jack Berrill, the creator of the award-winning “Gil Thorp” daily comic strip, which has been carried in scores of newspapers both locally and nationally since 1958. Veronica was born on Jan. 9, 1926, in Brooklyn, New York, the daugh¬ter of Thomas W. and Anne V. Dawson.

She was the mother of seven children, six of whom survive her: four sons, David (Patricia) of Glastonbury, Conn., Thomas (Deborah) of Bristol, Conn., Kevin T. (Chuck Jones) of Southbury, and Stephen (Laura) Berrill of Bethpage, New York; and two daughters, Anne Berrill Carroll (John) of Southbury, and Bonnie Kirkpatrick (Lee) of San Rafael, Calif. Veronica’s son Christopher predeceased her. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Shannon Berrill Mastropoalo (Domi¬nick), Kevin J. Berrill (Elizabeth), Hope Berrill Monroe (Nicoli), and Claire and Jack Kirkpatrick, as well as six great-grand¬children.

Veronica graduated from Bishop McDonnell High School in Brooklyn and attended St. Joseph’s College there for two years. During that time she did volunteer work with Dorothy Day at Catholic Worker houses on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She then enrolled for a year in The Grail School at Grailville in Loveland, Ohio. The Grail is an international movement of women, built on Catholic spiritual values, which in those days focused on preparing young women to become apostolic lay leaders in the Church as well as wives and mothers, all within a context of worship and liturgy.

On Jan. 25, 1947, she married Jack, a returned combat veteran of the Eighth Army Air Force stationed in England during World War II, whom she had known since she was 14. The young couple moved first to Brookfield as part of a back-to-the-land movement then flourishing among some activist young Catholics, then to rural New Mil¬ford, where she and Jack were active for many years in St. Francis Xavier Church, the Christian Family Move¬ment of the Catholic Arch¬diocese and Danbury Care¬givers.

The family moved back to Brook¬field in 1968. Veronica enrolled at Western Connecticut State University, where she earned a BA in Education and an MA in English Literature. She taught English at Brookfield High School from 1974 until her retirement in 1996 after Jack’s death. As her children grew, Veronica’s intellect and heart led her to become a committed feminist, a political progressive, and an ardent supporter of the rights of gay and lesbian students.

She moved to Pomperaug Woods in 2011. While there, she was a member of the Residents’ Council, an active participant in the community’s current events group and a valued friend to many of her fellow residents. She was also a member of the Transfiguration Zendo community of Heritage Village, from which she drew spiritual sustenance and comfort. From youth to old age, Veronica’s life and work were animated by and infused with her love for her family, her dedication to teaching, her deep spirituality, and her com¬mitment to social justice.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Sacred Heart Church, 910 Main Street South, Southbury at 10:00 a.m., on Wednesday, June 28, to be followed by interment at St. Francis Xavier Cemetery, 86 Fort Hill Road in New Milford. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Regional Hospice in Danbury, Dorothy Day House, also in Danbury, or GLSEN, the national advocacy group for LGBT issues in K-12 education. Condolences may be sent to Anne Carroll at 908A Heritage Village, Southbury. A memorial reception at Pomperaug Woods in Veronica’s honor is planned. Arrangements by Carpino Funeral Home, Southbury. For online condolences, please visit www.carpinofuneralhome.com