MERRIMAC, MA: Constance Ann Hoyt, 77, longtime Merrimac resident, passed away Monday, March 27, at the Brigham Health and Rehabilitation Center in Newburyport after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer.
Connie was born April 1, 1939 and was one of four children of the late George R. Hoyt and Ruby E. (Stuart) Hoyt. She was the first of the third generation of her family to be born at the farm on Birch Meadow Road purchased by her great-grandfather in 1875. Educated in the public schools of Merrimac, Connie graduated from Merrimac High School in 1956. She enrolled at Burbank Hospital School of Nursing in Fitchburg, MA and graduated in 1960 with a Diploma in Nursing along with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Fitchburg State College.
After a few years of local employment as a staff nurse and nursing instructor she moved to the west coast to earn a Master of Science degree in Nursing at the University of California at San Francisco. For the next twenty years, she taught several specialized areas of nursing and held supervisory positions for implementing new nurse training procedures. Over the years she provided these services at Beth Israel Hospital, New England Deaconess Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Northern Essex Community College, the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and several other academic institutions within the greater Boston area.
During the last twenty years Connie has devoted much of her professional career to working in the emerging field of forensic nursing. Her colleagues credit her with being a pioneer in forensic nursing and cite her for being a charter member of the International Association of Forensic Nurses. She has achieved the rank of “Fellow” within the American Academy of Forensic Sciences for her participation and contributions over two decades. As a talented and prolific writer, she has written journal articles, book chapters and newsletter columns associated with forensic nursing science. Admirably, she has served on the Editorial Board of the Critical Care Nursing Quarterly for over 25 years where she has performed the roles of Issue Editor, peer reviewer, and contributor.
Throughout her life Connie has been an active and involved citizen in her hometown of Merrimac, MA. In youth she was the first girl in Merrimac to earn the honor of receiving the “Curved Bar”, the highest award in Girl Scouting at that time. She has been elected to six terms on the Merrimac Board of Health and frequently served as chairman during those 18 years. She has been the Radiological Officer for the Merrimac Emergency Management Department from 1995 to the present, a member of the Merrimac Town Improvement Society Board of Directors, a member and Secretary of the Friends of the Council on Aging, and member of the Stewardship Committee and Deaconess at Pilgrim Congregational Church.
She was predeceased by her older brother, Charles K. Annon, Jr., three uncles: Arthur W. Hoyt , Walter L. Stuart , and Clyde L. Brown, Sr. and two nephews ; Thomas E. Annon and William Bentley.
Connie is survived by two brothers, George W. Hoyt and wife Cynthia, and Jeffrey W. Hoyt, all of Merrimac. She also leaves behind two cousins with whom she was close; Daniel W. Hoyt and Douglas R. Hoyt, several nieces, nephews, many good friends and colleagues. The family wishes to thank the professional staff of Care Dimensions of Danvers (formerly Hospice of the North Shore) and the kind personnel of Brigham Health and Rehabilitation Center for the quality care administered to Connie during her final days.
We also thank her nephew, George R. Hoyt II, for his role as primary care provider for Connie while she was at home.
A memorial service will be held at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Merrimac, at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made in Connie’s memory to the Living Memorial Fund of Pilgrim Congregational Church, 27 Church Street, Merrimac, MA 01860 or to Care Dimensions at 75 Sylvan Street, Suite B-102, Danvers, MA 01923. Arrangements are in the care of The Grondin-Carnevale Funeral Home, 129 Kenoza Avenue, Haverhill, MA 01830.