Agnes (“Aggie”) Abigail Harvey Wilkos, 96, of South Glastonbury, passed away peacefully in the presence of her family on July 26, 2020. Born on Applehurst Farm in Epping, New Hampshire to Matthew and Alice (Koewing) Harvey, Aggie grew to become a leader in her school community. She was captain of the basketball team and softball team, head of the debate club, class president, and class valedictorian. While she attended the University of New Hampshire, she and 18 other female UNH students were recruited by Pratt and Whitney Aircraft to come to Hartford, Connecticut, to train as engineers – Pratt paying their college expenses. She graduated UNH a year early in 1944 with a degree in applied science and worked at Pratt designing and testing jet engines while the men were at war during World War II. It was in Hartford that she meet her husband, Casimer (“Cos”) Wilkos at the Polish National Home. They shared a love of dancing, various sports and the great outdoors. She introduced Cos to tennis and he introduced Aggie to golf. They married in 1946 and a year later bought a sheep field off of New London Turnpike in South Glastonbury where Aggie drafted the design of their home. From her blueprints, they built the house from wood milled on her family farm in New Hampshire. Years later, they were saddened when the front two landscaped acres of the property were taken for the building of Route 2. Many large family and social picnics were held on the property every Memorial and Labor Day for over 30 years. As the family grew, vacations consisted of camping and visiting family. Together, they had five children, seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren. They were married for 56 years until his passing in 2002. Money was tight in the early years of their marriage, but when they had saved enough, Aggie bought a second-hand piano. Once Aggie’s children were of school age, she walked three miles to work as a lunch lady in the school cafeteria to help pay for the children’s weekly piano lessons. She felt music was an important part of a good education. Friday evenings were joyously spent with her children singing around the piano. Eventually, Aggie returned to full time work as an engineering aid at United Technologies – retiring in 1985. Aggie read and studied the Bible daily. Her deep Christian faith was an inspiration to others. She was a member of the Glastonbury United Methodist Church and volunteered over the years as a Sunday school teacher, a Sunday School Superintendent, President of the WSCS, Vacation Bible School coordinator, sang in the choir, hulled and served berries at the annual Strawberry Supper, and led many Bible study groups. Aggie remained physically active throughout her life. Her husband was amused (and secretly proud) when she joined the company basketball team. He got a kick out of watching his fifty year old, gray-haired wife run down the court with the twenty-somethings. Golfing into her eighties, she often refused to take a cart because she wanted the exercise. She only slightly slowed down after surviving double breast cancer in 2006 and a stroke in 2018. She enjoyed going for walks through the woods, planting trees, playing golf, dancing, tobogganing, skiing, gardening, canning, quilting, braiding rugs, baking pies (“Northern Spy apples make the best pies”), and raising chickens. She was never idle and didn’t let time go to waste. She often said if children (and adults) were kept busy and productive, they wouldn’t have the time or inclination to “cause trouble”. She loved learning new things and even took classes in calculus and FORTRAN when she was in her 60s - because the subjects interested her. In her later years, she was never seen without her knitting bag - knitting numerous pairs of warm, intricately patterned mittens. Not only did she make mittens for her immediate and extended family, she also made mittens for people she hardly knew. She contributed children-sized mittens to area shelters. Her mittens (and braided rugs) would be some of the first items to sell out at the church Christmas fair every year. Aggie kept up with the news and politics of the day and liked to discuss current events. She often surprised people with her vast knowledge and quiet wit. She was a wise woman with a patient, gentle spirit. It deeply bothered her when people assumed that because she was “old,” she didn’t have a brain or something worthwhile to say. “You have to take what comes” she’d say when facing challenges or disappointments. She was proud of her New Hampshire roots and never gave up her “accent” even though she lived in CT for 76 years. Always faithful, always encouraging, always supportive, always interested in others. She didn’t get angry or hold a grudge and she believed in the power of prayer, love, and forgiveness. She lived a full life and died in her own home – just as she wanted. Aggie is predeceased by half-brothers Edward and Milton Webster; husband, Cos; sister, Edna (Harvey) Woodward and brother, Daniel Webster Harvey. She leaves behind her children, Marilyn (Wilkos) Sullivan, who devotedly watched over her in her later years; Diana (Wilkos) Thurston and her husband, Stephen; Lillian (Wilkos) Glatz; Charles Wilkos and his wife Stevanie and Eileen (Wilkos) Crawford and her husband Kevin; her grandchildren, Erica (Thurston) Larade and her husband, Kevin; Andrew Thurston; John Wilkos and his wife Alicia; Melanie Wilkos; Carolyn (Glatz) McDowell and her husband, Patrick; Matthew Glatz; Jacob Crawford; and her great grandchildren, Autumn, Scarlett, Willow and James McDowell. She also leaves behind her wonderful caregivers, many friends and relatives, and her beloved cat, Winnie. Due to COVID-19, condolences can be offered to the family in a “drive through” fashion at the D’Esopo Funeral Home in East Hartford CT on Thursday, August 13, 2020 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. An outdoor memorial service will be held (rain or shine) on Friday, August 14th at 11:00 in South Windsor, CT. Mask wearing and social distancing will be expected of all participants. A private burial will take place in Epping, New Hampshire at the discretion of the family. In Lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to either the American Farmland Trust (farmland.org/renew or call 1-800-431-1499) OR Pioneer Bible Translators, PO Box 380820, Duncanville, TX 75138-0820. (Checks should be made payable to “Pioneer Bible Translators” with “In memory of Agnes Wilkos” written on the memo line or an enclosed note.) To extend online condolences or share a memory, please visit Aggie’s webpage at glastonburyfuneral.com.
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