Vivian A. Putnam

Vivian A. Putnam of Storrs, born February 2, 1919, died peacefully Wednesday April 3, 2013 of natural causes, aged 94. Vivian was born in East Saint Louis and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri the daughter of John and Ethel Anderson, a successful hardware store owner and a teacher. Vivian attended Kansas State University as a textile and clothing major and received a Master's degree from Iowa State University in textiles. She worked for the U.S. Census Bureau and then took a faculty position at the University of Connecticut teaching textiles and historic costumes, her lifelong interest. At the annual faculty ball, Vivian met her husband, Paul Lee Putnam, head of the department of Agriculture, Economics, and Farm Management. They married in June of 1947, and were happily married until Paul's death in 1964. Vivian took a position as Foreign Student Advisor also at the University of Connecticut. She was active in 4-H, the Mansfield Historical Society, and the Storrs Congregational Church. She supported the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, as well the UConn Foundation. Her avid love of UConn sports, and especially basketball, was well known to everyone in the community and her family. She enjoyed her summers at the cottage that Paul built on Damariscotta Lake, Maine. She travelled extensively with a focus on educating herself about peoples and cultures that were not well known at the time, and she collected many artifacts along the way. Vivian is survived by her daughter, Lynn and her husband Toivo Kask, of Monterey California and their daughter Kara of Los Angeles, California. Also surviving Vivian are her stepdaughters Judy Green of Waldoboro, Maine and Elizabeth Retterbush of Brookville, Ohio, as well as eleven grandchildren, many great-grandchildren, and great great grandchildren. Vivian is also survived by her brother John Anderson Kernersville, North Carolina, his wife Hazel and their children. The family would like to thank the staff of the Harbor Unit of The Village of Buckland Court in South Windsor for their excellent care and support. Her funeral service will be held on Monday, April 8th at one o'clock at the Storrs Congregational Church prior to the graveside ceremony at the Storrs Cemetery, followed by a reception at the Parish House. Funeral arrangements are being made by Potter Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers donations can be made in memory of Vivian to the Vivian A. Putnam Endowment for the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry or the Paul L. Putnam Professional Development Endowment for the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, both held by the UConn Foundation, Inc. indicating preferred fund and forward to the following address: 2390 Alumni Drive Unit 3206, Storrs, Connecticut 06269. For an online memorial guestbook, please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com .