Betty Brand

Betty (Cichon) Brand of Columbia, CT was born in 1913, the second child born to John Cichon and Sophie (Baran) Cichon, who immigrated to America in the early 20th century from Poland. She grew up in Willimantic, CT with her sister Steffa and brothers Joseph, Stanley "Sam", Edward and Walter. Betty was an employee at the American Thread Company in Willimantic beginning in high school and through her twenties and thirties in operations and sales. She also worked at the W.T.Grant Company (Five and Dime Store) for a period of time in her early twenties. Betty was an avid golfer at Willimantic Country Club and was Woman's Club Champion in 1946, 1948, and 1949. In 1949 her win retired the Tubridy Cup after those three years of winning the championship. There she met, would fall in love with and eventually marry Alfred W. Brand, who moved to Columbia, CT from NYC to help establish the William Brand Company in Willimantic. She moved to his farm, Breezy Ridge Farm, where she and her husband raised their two children, Martie and Bill. Betty enjoyed community affairs involving the Windham Community Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and the gracious fundraising coffee parties she would organize in her lovely country home. She would be an Assistant Girl Scout Leader for several years, involved in camping trips, badge-earning activities, holiday parades and all the civic events related to scouting. She helped manage the farm with all the chickens, rabbits, turkeys, horse, several cats and dogs, the corn and alfalfa fields, the extensive vegetable garden, huge raspberry patch, and apple, peach and pear orchard. Lots of harvesting, cooking and baking was enjoyed by her and her husband over the years. This, in turn, helped create wonderfully fun childhoods for their two children. Betty also loved going with her husband on yearly cruises on the QE2 (Queen Elizabeth II) ocean liner to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. She and her husband opened Brand Travel Agency in 1966 in Willimantic, which they successfully managed into the early 1980's. Betty always had a perpetual inner and outward smile towards life. She never exhibited discouragement in her dealings with life, but always saw "the glass half full". Her unfailing, optimistic, practical wisdom and example in approaching life has imparted an indelible mark on everyone who knew her. Living into very older years in life presents its own set of inevitable challenges. She endured these later years with enviable grace, dignity and an inner beauty which our family will always remember and carry with us forever. Betty was loved dearly by her daughter, Martie Brand Krohn, of Windham, CT and her husband, Dennis Flanagan; Martie's children, Corey, Kris and his wife Natalie, Holly and Leah Krohn; her son, Alfred "Bill" Brand of Sebastopol, CA and his wife Kim; and Bill's children, Chelsea and her husband Nick Lyon, Eric, and Skyler Brand. She was blessed by many loving nieces and nephews, step grandchildren and her four great grandchildren. Betty's family will receive relatives and friends on Tuesday Nov. 24, 2015 between 10:30 and 11:30am at Potter Funeral Home 456 Jackson St. (Rt. 195) Willimantic followed by her Funeral Mass at 12:00pm at St. Joseph Church, 99 Jackson St. Willimantic. Interment will then follow in St. Joseph Cemetery, Windham. Memorial donations may be made in her memory to Windham Hospital Foundation, 112 Mansfield Ave., Willimantic, CT. 06226. For an online memorial guestbook, please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com .