Mary (Peyton) Verdick, 99, of Cromwell and formerly of Middletown, wife of the late Frederick A. Verdick, passed away peacefully on July 27, 2022 at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown. Born on November 15, 1922 in Charleston, SC, she was the daughter of the late Benjamin and Nell (Pender) Peyton.
Mary grew up in Evergreen, Colorado, moving to Connecticut in 1945 when she met and married her husband during WWII. In CT, they bought Elliott’s Jewelers in Meriden. Mary attended the University of Colorado and Southern CT State University and earned a bachelor and master’s degrees in English and Science.
A free-lance writer, Mary was the author of numerous short stories for the popular magazines such as Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan among others, in the days when magazines published fiction. She taught school at Lincoln Junior High in Meriden for five years and then went to work as a writer/editor at Weekly Reader, when it was located in Middletown. While there, among other things, she wrote and edited a whole series of young adult novels called Pal Paperbacks. Mary left Weekly Reader, after many years, to care for her husband, who was suffering from Parkinson. After his death, she started writing again and published eight romantic-suspense novels throughout the next twelve years.
Mary is survived by a granddaughter, Jennifer Vitello and her children Andrea and Joseph; a grandson Christian Verdick and his daughter, Iszabella.
Along with her parents and husband, Mary was predeceased by her son, Frederick P. Verdick.
A graveside service will be held on Thursday, August 4th at 10:00 am at the CT State Veteran Cemetery, 317 Bow Lane, Middletown. There will be no calling hours. Messages of condolence may be sent to the family at www.doolittlefuneralservice.com .
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