Obituary of Regina Elizabeth Winn

Regina Elizabeth Winn, a woman who embraced life and family, passed away surrounded by her loving family, at the Lahey Hospital & Medical Center on Monday afternoon, January 23, 2017. She was 86 years old. Regina was born, raised and educated in Cambridge. She was a graduate of Lesley College. She went on to pursue a career in education which she loved. She worked in the Medford school system starting out as a Kindergarten Teacher and ending her career as both a Kindergarten Teacher and an Assistant Principal. Regina had a passion for golf. She was a longtime member of the Oakley Country Club in Watertown where she belonged to many golf leagues over the years. She had one of the longest standing memberships of the country club. Regina took great pride in her golfing ability competing in tournaments and even scoring a “hole in one”! She was also in a bowling league with her friends from the country club. She made many friendships at the Oakley Country Club that she treasured throughout the years. Regina loved to travel and had visited many exciting destinations such as Egypt, Paris, Hawaii and Aruba. Regina was a wonderful, fun and generous Aunt. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for her nieces and nephews. She was affectionately known as “GiGi” by them. She doted on her nieces and nephews taking then on trips locally to New York and Cape Cod as well as to destinations such as Bermuda and Europe. As young children they delighted in having “sleep overs” at her home with Regina spoiling them and making sure the night was memorable. Her nieces and nephews brought great joy to her life. They loved her deeply and made sure that she was always involved in their lives as they had their children and grandchildren. Regina was the beloved daughter of the late Joseph & Josephine Winn of Cambridge. Loving sister of the late Nancy J. Brine & husband James W. of Burlington, the late Joseph Winn & his wife Alicia of Belmont and the late John & his late wife Betty of Cambridge. Regina is also survived by 30 nieces & nephews, 62 great nieces & nephews and 12 great great nieces & nephews. A visitation will be held at the Edward V Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (Exit 34 off Rt., 128, Woburn side) on Sat. Jan. 28 from 9 – 10:30 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at 11 a.m. Interment to follow in Cambridge Cemetery. In lieu of flowers memorials in Regina’s name may be made be made to the JWBrineIII Foundation. PO Box 255, Burlington, MA 01803 www. jwbrineiiifoundation.org Family Remembrance by Jeff We have a lot of family here today, but for those who don’t know me, (and since we have such a large family, I’m sure many in the family don’t know me)... my name is Jeff Brine. I am one of Regina’s many nephews. As a matter of fact, she has 30 nieces and nephews. And we all know her as Aunt Gigi, or just ‘Gigi’. I’ve received a lot of condolence messages from family and friends regarding Gigi’s passing. I’ve even heard a few people say ‘how sad!’ But I want you all to know that just 2 days before Gigi passed away, she said to me: tell everyone NOT to be sad for me – I had a great life. She went on to ask that we ‘CELEBRATE’ her life. And that is what I want to do today during this Remembrance… that is what we should all do today. I asked each of the families… The Brines, Uncle John’s kids, and Uncle Joe’s kids, to send me some fond memories of their time with Gigi. I’d like to read those memories now… to celebrate Gigi’s life: The Brine Family fondly remembers and cherishes the following: We all remember Gigi as having a caring, giving, and kind personality. For someone who did not have children of her own, she loved children… as seen from all the pictures of her holding babies, and offering to have sleep overs at her house. Just about everybody mentioned the fond and vivid memory of ‘milkshakes’ with Nana Jo and Regina. And BTW, we have a little surprise for everyone at the luncheon regarding this topic. And who could forget the many visits to Emma’s Pizza when visiting with Gigi?! Jim (God rest his soul), Joe, and I had the honor of playing golf a few times at Oakley Country Club. Maura says: I think Regina will be remembered by all of us as a great care giver. Uncle Joe, Uncle John and Mom never had to worry about Nana Jo because Regina was there and appeared to easily handle her care as she aged. She cared for the kids in her many classrooms, and she cared for us through mom's pregnancies and into our adult years. Wendy wrote: I always enjoyed my times with Aunt Regina where we moved at a slower pace. I enjoyed her calm, easy pace whenever we visited. I loved her drawer of paper and crayons, and playing cards… I remember that those crayons were wide and fat, and the paper was huge (she used to go to a factory in Somerville to get scraps of paper). These were things I never did at my own house. My children looked forward to their luncheons at the country club, and never complained about how long the food was taking. They loved how fancy and big the country club is. Specifically, what I will always remember about Gigi, is that she was the kind of person that thought about others before herself. A perfect example of this was just last week while she was in the hospital… she was shoo’ing us to go home because she was more worried about us driving home in the coming snow storm than having us stay with her at the hospital to comfort her in her dying days. Heidi expressed: We looked forward to going to Oakley with aunt Regina for lunch. Gayle stated: My fondest memory of Regina is when my brother, Mark, was born. I spent a few days with Nana Jo and Regina. My favorite part was spending a few days with Regina in her classroom and even making a few friends. I was so happy to be going to school just like my older siblings. And Mark Recalled the wonderful trip they had together in England. The 108 LEXINGTON AVENUE Winn Family (uncle John’s kids) fondly remembers and cherishes the following: Debbie, I think speaking on behalf of most of her family, says: I will miss Aunt Regina. I was lucky enough to visit with Uncle Jimmy Brine and her at Atria Longmeadow the day before Christmas 2016 and had a lovely visit. As always, her home décor included many family photos and familiar furniture. Although she seemed frail to me, she gave Allan and me a tour of her building and talked about the great activities and social opportunities that Atria offered her. Jimmy, Regina, and I have for many years enjoyed some lovely lunches at local restaurants during my visits up to Boston. Often we were joined by some of my other siblings I think we all appreciated her genuine interest in how we were doing and what we were up to. I remember when Regina would take some of us 108 Lexington Avenue Winns to the Oakley Country Club. I was always impressed by her being a golfer, having a country club to go to, and being invited to dine with her at her club. Very cool!! I’m glad she had golfing as an important part of her life for so long and was surprised and sad when I learned she could no longer play. I guess I had envisioned her swinging a golf club until she was 100. I was also always impressed at her elegant bearing and by her always looking great in her clothes. She was quite inspirational in that regard. I even had a lovely party dress of hers that I wore to a dance way back when I was about 15 years old! Regina took wonderful care of Nana-Jo at 102 Lexington Avenue for many years. It meant many sacrifices on Regina’s part and a lot of commitment and work, but Regina’s dedication enabled Nana-Jo to maintain her health and quality of life for a very long time, and I am grateful to Regina for that. I am very saddened by her passing, but glad for the reminder of old memories of her and other close family members who have passed away and have a renewed sense of the importance of families and how lucky I am to have the very special one I have. Susan communicated Whenever I think of Regina two things always pop in my head. She always had that square ring on!!! I never knew what stone it was but as far back as my memories go she wore it Lisa and I texted back and forth about Regina's chair at 102 Lexington Ave. She enjoyed many a TV show there! Nana Jo was always in Pops old Chair on the right and Regina was on the left! It's funny how weird memories like that stick with you. We used to love it on holidays when all we had to do was go next door to visit Nana Jo and Regina!!!! The BELMONT WINN Family (uncle Joe’s kids) fondly remembers and cherishes the following: Kerry Has great memories of going to Montreal with Regina, Nana Joe, Candy and Laurie and underground shopping and the horse drawn buggy ride. Also, we will never forget dancing around the May pole at her retirement party. Candy recalled Regina wore Burberry before anyone knew what Burberry was. She was a great dresser and always had a classy look. Mike stated: I remember how strong she was (on the outside) when John and Joe passed away. She held it together for Nana Jo and the rest of us. We all remember the Coffee Time shakes with Nana Jo and Regina Mike, Jay and Laurie had a great lunch with Regina and Uncle Jim at the Escadrille right before Christmas. Mike brought his CCD class to sing Christmas Carols for Jim and Regina and Regina brought them around to all of her friends at the facility to show them off. A lot of my friend’s parents were members of Oakley Country Club. They all thought she was the nicest woman. They thought that she must be the wife of a millionaire and didn’t believe me when I said that she was a kindergarten teacher. Ok, so maybe the Brine’s and the 2 Winn families are a little biased when it comes to our aunt. But the respect for Gigi wasn’t limited to just the family. She had a positive impact on just about everyone she met. Here’s an example: after serving as a Kindergarten Teacher for 40+ years as well as an Assistant Principal, the school threw Regina a retirement party. Of course there was a cake. And on the cake was written some words… the words that came from the students, the parents, her co-workers, as well as the community as a whole. Those words read as follows: Regina: Rock solid Royal Reliable Regal Reverent Remarkable Refreshing Reserved Refined Remembered RESPECTED Rest in peace Regina… aunt Gigi. May you rest in peace, and may we always celebrate the amazing person that you were… and may we celebrate your wonderful life.