Sheilah Faith Putnam Sproul, 95, of Londonderry, NH, passed away Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at Frisbee Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NH. Sheilah was born May 18, 1924 and was a daughter of the late Gordon A. and Marjorie D. (Dyke) Putnam. She was raised and educated in Goffstown and Manchester, NH having attended Webster Street School and Central High School. She was one of the first female cheerleaders for Central. During High School, she worked in her mother’s gift shop “The Fireside”, once located just off Elm Street in Manchester. In the summers, she also helped manage the souvenir shop in Twin Mountain NH.
During WWII, she was a member of the Aircraft Warning Service in San Diego CA. Her mother’s transfer by the navy, towards the end of the war sent the family to Jacksonville FL. After the war she lived in Maine, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts before settling in Derry, NH in 1986 where she was involved with local and national political campaigns and advocated for a promised Senior Center and other services. Throughout her life, Sheilah traveled throughout North America visiting Canada, Mexico and all the United States except Hawaii. She cruised aboard the Queen Elizabeth II out of New York.
Sheilah received her Associates degree in Business Administration from Newbury Junior College, where she was recognized as the “Top Commuting Student” in 1979 at the age of 55. She had been a bookkeeper and office manager most of her working life and after retirement, spent over 10 years as the bookkeeper at her daughter’s law firm, Hastings Law Office, in Nashua, NH. She was a 65+ year member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and past Regent of the Molly Reid Chapter. She was a Senior Companion in Derry and Londonderry, providing help and companionship to seniors in need. For twenty-five years, she could be found playing Uno every Wednesday morning at the Merrion Gerrish Community Center in Derry (Most of the Uno Gang predeceased her). An avid reader and poet, Sheilah could often be found reading books by her favorite authors Robert Parker or Robert Frost. Sheilah will be forever remembered for her quick wit, giving spirit, and as a loving Nana and Great Nana who cherished time spent with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She is survived by her three children, Honey C. Hastings and her partner Charles Eggert, Jr. of Temple, NH, James Sproul, IV and his wife Marilyn of Mansfield, TX, and her daughter, Jan S. McLaughlin and her husband John of Londonderry. Other members of her family include seven grandchildren: D.J. (Krista) McLaughlin, James (Crystal) Sproul V, Jeremiah (Hope) Lowe, Katie McLaughlin, Jessica Lowe, Alison (Justin) Carrol, and Marjorie (Taylor) Sproul, five great grandchildren, Vivienne Sproul, Malcolm McLaughlin, Thomas Lowe, Willa Faith McLaughlin, and Nora Carrol. Sheilah was predeceased by her brother Dyke E. A. Putnam and her sister Edyth Putnam Smart.
After cremation, a liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated Monday 10/07/2019 at 10:30am at St. Mark the Evangelist Church, 1 South Rd, Londonderry, followed by a celebration of Sheilah’s life in the church hall. The burial followed at 2:00pm in Pine Grove Cemetery, 765 Brown Ave., Manchester. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of the following service organizations: Rockingham Nutrition Meals on Wheels or Community Caregivers of Greater Derry.