Obituary of Emily G. Hinchliffe

Emily Gertrude (Black) Hinchliffe, 94, of Kensington passed away peacefully Sunday, April 6^th , 2025.  She was predeceased by her beloved husband of 59 years Joseph S. Hinchliffe Sr.

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 3, 1930 Emily was the daughter of the late Donald W. and Margaret L. (MacArthur) Black. She grew up in Melrose, Massachusetts and was a graduate of Melrose High School.  Emily had wonderful memories of her summer vacations in Searsport, and Vinalhaven, Maine.  She met her husband Joseph (Joe) while he was completing his Business Administration degree at Boston University and while she was working as a secretary at the Leahy Clinic, Boston.  

Emily was devoted to her family. She felt her greatest purpose in life was to be a wife to Joe, caring daughter to her parents and to her sister Linda Mae, mother to her children, and Nana to her grandchildren and great grandchildren. While raising their family, Emily and Joe moved from Massachusetts to California.  The pull of family and the rain in San Francisco, brought them back east first to Buffalo, New York, and finally to Kensington, Connecticut. 

Family summer vacations were spent at “the shore” in Clinton, CT. Travel, golf, and watching their grandchildren grow and participate in sports and music defined their retirement years. They worked at the Berlin Lion’s Club fair in the premium booth for many years and were members of the Fafnir Bowling League.  She was a member of St. Paul’s Rosary Ministry and knitting ministry.  In retirement, Emily and Joe enjoyed winters in Florida, summer days in Old Saybrook, and vacations on the Maine Coast. Emily was a devoted caregiver to Joe in his later years.  

Emily is survived by their son, Joseph Stephen Jr. and his wife, Sharon, of Kensington; their daughters, Sharon and her husband James Klotz, of West Chester, Pa; Darlene and her husband, Roy Gurnon, of Tolland, and Jo-Ellen and her husband Gabriel James Vendetti, of Rocky Hill. She leaves eight grandchildren, Carla (Hinchliffe) Berg, Leah (Hinchliffe) Melius, Michelle (Klotz) Miller, Lindsey (Klotz) Sofranko, Amanda Kate (Gurnon) Honda, Karen (Gurnon) Perron, Chelsea (Vendetti) Szivak, and Michael Vendetti and 13 loving great grandchildren.  She is also survived by her sister, Linda Mae Roy of Milford, NH and numerous nieces and nephews.  She will be dearly missed by her family and friends.

Friends and family are invited to a Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday April 12, 2025 at 11:30 a.m. directly at St. Paul’s Church, 485 Alling Street Kensington.  Burial will follow in South Burying Ground, 87 Southington Road Berlin. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 [www.stjude.org] or an organization of the donor’s choice.