Helen E Hogel

Mrs. Helen E. Hogel, a resident of Bennington, Vermont, died September 2, 2021, at Brookdale Fillmore Pond, Bennington. Born in Bennington, September 29, 1924, she was the wife of the former Frank Hogel, and the daughter of the late Edward Norton Emmons and Helen White Emmons. She graduated from the East Hoosick, NY, one-room school in 1938, from Northfield Seminary (now Northfield/Mt. Herman School) in 1942, and from Syracuse University in 1946 with a BA degree. On August 17, 1946, she married Frank Hogel at the First Baptist Church, Bennington, VT. She was employed part-time at the Bennington Library for several years, then was a homemaker, and was later employed at the County National Bank, which merged with the Chittenden Bank, and later became People’s United. While at the bank, she held many positions: bookkeeper, teller, Head of the Savings Department, and Auditor, retiring in October, 1979. She volunteered with the Red Cross, working with the Junior Red Cross. As a member of the First Baptist Church, she taught Sunday school for a number of years. She was also a member of the Bennington Chapter of the American Association of University Women, while living full time in Bennington. At the time of retirement, Helen and Frank began spending winters in Sanibel Island, Florida, and summers in Ocean Park, Maine, and enjoyed their home in Bennington, during the spring and fall, playing bridge and visiting friends and family,. They did this for twenty-eight years. While in Florida, Helen was a charter member of the Sanibel Shell Museum, and a member of Audubon and CROW (Care and Rehabilitation of Wildlife). She and her husband enjoyed birding and walking in the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge. Helen especially enjoyed reading and doing crossword puzzles. Survivors include her two daughters and sons-in-law, Susan H. and Gary J. Serra of Buena Vista, Virginia, and Elizabeth H. (Betsy) and James E. Zimmerman of Merrimack, New Hampshire; three grandsons, Patrick M. Davis, Valentine R. (Val) Erb and wife Katherine Rebecca (Becca), and Robert G. Erb, Jr., and a granddaughter, Amanda A. Fertile, and a step-granddaughter Ashley R. Serra; six great-grandchildren, Parker Boone and Jett Quinn Fertile, Addison Loralei Davis, Arthur Valentine and Ginger Clementine Erb, Katherine Elizabeth Erb, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. Helen was predeceased by her husband, Frank, her sister Harriet E. Gaines, brothers-in-law Arthur and Carl Hogel, and Osborne (Doc) Gaines, and sister-in-law Phyllis W. Hogel. A funeral service will be held at Hanson-Walbridge & Shea Funeral Home 213 West Main Street Bennington, VT on September 9, 2021 at 1PM. Calling hours will be on September 9, 2021 from Noon to 1PM at the Hanson Walbridge & Shea Funeral Home, 213 West Main Street, Bennington, VT, 05201. If friends desire memorial gifts in Helen’s memory may be made to the First Baptist Church in Bennington or to the charity of one’s choice, c/o of Hanson-Walbridge & Shea Funeral Home P.O. Box 957 Bennington, VT 05201.