Olive Mae Beresford, 93; Expert Candy Maker Who Operated The Corner Cupboard Shop in Suffield

From Heritage Funeral Home.

Olive Mae Beresford, of West Suffield and most recently, Granby, passed away on the evening of Sept. 22, 2014. She was 93.

She was born May 20, 1921 in Springfield, MA, to Alexander Neill and Harriet LaFleur.

She lived through the great floods of 1936 and 1938, and later in life moving to Connecticut to become an expert candy dipper at Brigham’s Candy in Suffield. She married Winfield A. Beresford in 1944, and settled in West Suffield where she farmed, made candy, and was active in church teaching children.

Known to young and old alike as “Mrs. B,” Olive had no surviving children but spent her entire life teaching young people in West Suffield Congregational Church, Windsor Locks Calvary Baptist Church and East Windsor Bethany Baptist Church, sharing her love of her Lord and Savior with all she met.

In addition to her renown candy making ability, which drew locals and corporate executives alike from as far away as Boston to her little shop by her barn, Olive ran “The Corner Cupboard” shop in Suffield for many years with her sister, Lillian. Her “Our Very Own” label became synonymous with the quality woven into everything she made, and many brides celebrated their weddings with cakes lovingly baked, decorated, and delivered by Olive herself.

She leaves behind her sisters, Lillian Haidemenos and husband, Nicholas, of Agawam, MA, Ila Yates of Radford, VA, and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by two brothers, Chester and James, and in 1999 by her husband Winfield, and an unborn daughter, Kathleen.

Olive’s extended family will receive visitors at the Heritage Funeral Home, 1240 Mountain Rd., West Suffield, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, with the funeral service immediately following there at 11 a.m., with Pastor Ken McNally, officiating. Burial will be in West Suffield Cemetery.

In lieu of gifts or flowers, donations in Olive’s memory may be made to the Bethany Baptist Church, 278 North Rd., East Windsor, CT 06016.