Yarmouth Port:  Bessie Marion (Woodard) Tirrell of Harwich, was born on August 7, 1925 and died on March 3, 2018.  She graced our lives with her loving kindness.  Bessie was preceded in death by her husband, Hartley Linscot Tirrell.

 Born in Brockton in 1925 she was the daughter of Horace and Hannah (Whittemore) Woodard.  She attended the East Bridgewater schools and took classes at Bridgewater State Teachers College. Following school Bessie worked in Boston at MIT in bookkeeping for several years.  Then she worked for B. Peck and Co. in Boston until she married.
 
Bessie married Hartley Tirrell, who was the love of her life, in 1953, at her grandmother’s B & B, The Whittemore House, and that brought her to the Cape.  She and her husband started Tirrell Radiator in Hyannis in 1954 and they worked side-by-side for many years.  They retired  planning to move to Florida but Harley had a heart attack and died several days later.  Bessie chose to remain in Harwich.
 
She worked many years for Continental Cablevision.  When she retired they sent her on a trip to the Platte River to see the Sand Hill Cranes, then off to the Rose Bowl Parade in California. Eventually she went to work at Stagg Chevrolet, then volunteered at the Museum of Natural History and became the store manager. She loved her home away from home.
 
 She gave freely of her time to all who knew her. She worked into her 70’s driving people to Boston and back to Cape Cod in her little car called “ Bessie’s Buggies”.    She was an avid cribbage player and if you were riding with her she would see what a good hand she could have from license plates.  She loved her family, birding, The Red Hatters and her Walkie Talkies, a group that walked collecting money for dues: all proceeds went to the Senior Meals at Harwich.
 
Many thanks to the firefighters from Harwich who picked her up off the floor many times, thanks to her Lifeline, and to her home health aides, Melissa and Terry, who went above and beyond for her, to all at Overlook and VNA who took wonderful care of her and to Beacon Hospice, especially Effie and Esther, who were very caring people.  She spent time in many nursing homes, but her favorite was Pleasant Bay where everyone treated her with kindness and love.
 
Bessie is survived by Sarah Winchester and her husband, Larry, of Concord, NH,
Nancy Bacon of Dummerston, VT and cousins, David and Norma Green of Wales, UK and many nieces and nephews.
 
She was predeceased by her siblings: Mary (Woodard) Woodbridge, Norman Woodard, Edward “Red” Woodard, Donald Woodard, and Daniel Woodard.
 
She will be missed by David and Dale Whittemore and their family: Sonya and Dana MacDonald, Andrea and Timothy McGuiness, Jennifer and Matt Bunnell and Jeffrey and Aimee Whittemore, cousins: Dana and Janette Whittemore, Dianne and Jim Roderick and  many  grand nieces and nephews.
 
There will be a celebration of her life when the bluebirds come to Cape Cod.
 
Contributions in her memory may be made to Overlook VNA, Elder Services of Cape Cod (which enabled her to stay home for a very long time), or to Beacon Hospice.
 
 
  
 

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