SOUTH PARIS – Elsie Spielman Bancroft, of Paris Hill, died on Thursday, Aug. 26, at Market Square Health Care Center. On Aug. 20, she celebrated her 98th birthday surrounded by family.

She was born in Ellington, Conn., in 1906, where she and six siblings grew up on a dairy farm. They were the children of John and Lydia Spielman who had immigrated to this country from Switzerland. Her family’s farm became well-known for producing, bottling and delivering milk throughout Ellington and Rockville where she also attended school.

She graduated as an R.N. from the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing in 1927, and married Winfield Ernest Bancroft in 1930. They made their home in West Hartford, Conn., until 1985, when they relocated to Paris to be nearer to family.

She loved newborn babies and was well suited to her role as the head of the newborn nursery during her many years of employment at Hartford Hospital.

Later in her career she became well-known as a caregiver for terminally ill friends and relatives.

She was happiest when she was working.

She was often heard singing while she was preparing a meal, weeding the garden, or hanging the family wash to dry.

She was fond of knitting, loved to bowl and was an accomplished golfer.

As a member of the Hartford Knitting Club she produced countless sweaters, and pairs of socks and mittens, many of which became gifts for her grandchildren. She also belonged to the Stephens Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and knit caps for the infants of the hospital. She was a member of the Avon Country Club for many years.

Her favorite place in the world was the cottage that she and her husband shared on Lake Champlain in Charlotte, Vt. She thoroughly enjoyed the sunsets, sailboats, whitecaps, swimming, fishing, and the many friends she made there.

She was always ready with a kind word or a helping hand for anyone facing adversity. She is fondly remembered for the many scrapes that she got her young grandchildren out of over the years, her outstanding fruit cocktail and other delicious recipes, her excellent underpushes which were tirelessly given to her grandchildren on the swing in their West Hartford yard, and countless other qualities that made “Grammie City” who she was. She will be missed by many.

She is survived by her son, Allen and his wife, Mary Alice, of Paris; five grandchildren, Brenda Leighton and her husband, Rick, of Enfield, Leslie Krichko, of Ridgefield, Conn., Kristi Boucher and her husband, Rick, of West Paris, Holly Brown and her husband, Mike, of Paris, and Mark Bancroft and his wife, Angela, of Paris; and her grandchildren’s families which include 12 great-grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her husband in 1994.

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