Audrey (Tillotson) Bishop

North Brookfield/Holden – Audrey (Tillotson) Bishop, 93, died peacefully on Friday, June 23, 2023, at Dodge Park Rest Home in Worcester.

Audrey was born in Johnson, Vermont, in the area known as the Northeast Kingdom. During the Depression, her family moved to Massachusetts and settled in North Brookfield, first on School Street and later in “The Round House” on Rufus Putnam Road. After graduating from North Brookfield High, Audrey was accepted into the school of nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She received her RN diploma in 1950, the same year she married Warren Bishop. Their sons John and Mark were born in the next few years.

Audrey worked as a nurse in the many places her family lived while her children were young, including Massachusetts, Maryland, upstate New York, and Connecticut. In the late 1960s, the family moved to Hamden, Connecticut, where Audrey went to work for the West Haven Veterans Hospital, helping to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and rising to the position of head nurse. She worked at the VA for more than two decades, retiring in 1996.

In 1998, Audrey moved to Holden, Massachusetts to be closer to family and friends. She enjoyed decorating her home, gardening, and going to Pemaquid, Maine and on many cruises. She also enjoyed spending time with her siblings and children, and in her later years enjoyed activities at the Holden Senior Center.

Audrey was pre-deceased by her parents, Harold and Bernice (Paronto) Tillotson, and by her siblings Robert, Lloyd, and Jane. She is survived by her brother Howard Tillotson and his wife Marcia, son John and his wife Christianne, son Mark and his wife Claudette, granddaughter Jennifer Bishop (Andrew Schannen), her great-grandchildren Avery and Charlie, and many nieces and nephews.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend calling hours from 9 to 11 a.m. on Friday, June 30, 2023, at Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main St., Holden. Burial will follow at Walnut Grove Cemetery, North Brookfield, MA.