Patricia Gauvain, 93, an 18-year resident of Newtown, died on April 20.

Mrs Gauvain participated in a number of community activities in town, including the Newtown Woman's Club, GFWC; she received first prize in the state for her short story, "Three-Love," in May 2009 and a state award for a poem, "The Healing" in 2010. She also appeared in a one-act play, "Is Everything Alright, Ladies?," a Woman's Club production at the Rock Ridge Country Club Theater.

Mrs Gauvain was often a subject of The Newtown Bee; interviewed in 2006 as a Scrabble player at the Newtown Library, the subject of a longer personal interview in June 2005, and a short note when she created a bocce league at The Pleasance. She also was co-secretary of the charitable organization, Just Friends.

She was a former member of St Rose of Lima Church and, at the time of her death, Mrs Gauvain was a member of Newtown Methodist Church in Sandy Hook. She was an avid Bible study leader for many years. She lived in Sandy Hook for most of her time in Newtown.

Her children, Richard Gauvain of Ridgefield, Ellen Dinneen of Chatham, N.J., and Barbara Summo of Southbury; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren survive her. Her husband of 50 years, Howard, died in 1994 and her son Stephen died in 1996.