Carolyn "Bunny" Hazelton

Earlier today was Bunny Hazelton's funeral at the Dummerston Church. Ellen and I sang in the choir and I gave a brief tribute. Bunny and Don were next-door neighbors 62 years ago when I became the minister in Dummerston and moved into the parsonage. Ellen and I joined with our pastor, Shawn, last Sunday and went down to Thompson House, a local nursing home, and sang for Bunny. She died later than night. My tribute will tell the story:


"My relationship with Bunny goes back 62 years. It has been one in which a great deal of love and affection has flowed back and forth. I have always been fond of Bunny, grounded in a respect for her positive attitude toward life and the way she dealt with adversity. And every time I would see her, no matter how many months or even years might have lapsed between visits, I always felt so much love and affection coming from her.

It all went back to the summer of 1957 when Shirley and I moved into the parsonage and we became  next-door neighbors to. the Hazeltons. Not long after we had moved in, their little son, Michael, was in a playpen between the two houses one day and he caught his head between the slats and died. When I learned what had happened I went to the house, but I was at a total loss for words. I was twenty-four years old, freshly minted as a minister, and nothing in my seminary training had prepared me for this.

Bunny never tired of reminding me of the time. "Larry didn't know what to do,"  she would say, "so he just sat there in the living room with us and cried".  This was my first experience with death as a minister. I had not even had a course on how to prepare a funeral service - my seminary education was strong on theology but weak on the how-to's. Somehow we got through it together. That was the beginning of a deep bond. And in some wonderful way, I think it made me a better minister.

Many years have gone by since. I have not always been very good about keeping in touch but after I became choir director here I tried to make sure we went by before Christmas to sing carols for Bunny and her family. Bunny was very musical, sometimes she played the piano with us, and she always beamed with pleasure at our being there. And she always told that story of how it all began, how we all just cried together. 

Ellen, Shawn and I sang for Bunny just hours before she died. She was no longer able to tell the story but I knew it was in her heart as it was in mine. I love this family. They have all been so caring and kind and loving. I thank God for Bunny, for gift of grace to me, and I will carry her smlle and her love in my heart forever."

Bunny Hazelton (1930-2019)