Helen Tasker Doxsee

Helen Tasker Doxsee, 106, daughter of John Tasker and Helen Rohde Tasker, passed away peacefully on March 17th at Brookdale Fillmore Pond Senior Living in Bennington, Vermont. Born on January 4, 1918, in Brattleboro, Vermont, she was the third of four children. She graduated from Brattleboro High School in 1936. After graduation, she worked at the Holstein cow registry. In January 1943, Helen was among the first group of women inducted into the US Coast Guard at a ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts. During WWII, she served her country as a clerk, stationed in Seattle, Washington. Her duties included recruiting women to join the Coast Guard and helping to train those new recruits. In November 1945, she was discharged with the rank of Chief Yeoman. After the war, Helen returned to Brattleboro, where she met her future husband. Arthur Burl Doxsee and Helen Tasker married on September 20, 1947. Four years later they moved to Bennington, opening Monument Roofing & Sheet Metal, Inc. Helen later accepted a position as an assistant clerk in the Bennington County Clerk’s office. The couple retired to Florida in 1979, returning to Vermont for the summer until Arthur’s death in 1987. Helen remained actively involved in several organizations, participating in the Southern Vermont chapter of WAVES National and volunteering at the American Cancer Society and the Manchester Community Library. In her leisure time, she pursued her passion for golfing, reading non-fiction, watching NASCAR racing, and knitting blankets and baby caps for local charities. Helen is survived by three children, Laurie Doxsee Slobody of West Brookfield, Massachusetts; A. Brian Doxsee of Bennington, Vermont; and Heidi Doxsee Johnson of Poughkeepsie, New York. She had eight grandchildren, Travis Doxsee, Kati Doxsee McCord, Evan Doxsee, Drew Johnson, Devin Johnson-Nieporent, Kristina Slobody, Wesley Slobody, and the late Roger L. Slobody, as well as five great grandchildren, Ava and Everett Doxsee, Morgan Jury, and Everly and Nolan McCord. A celebration of life will be held at the First Congregational Church, Manchester, VT on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, 10:00AM. Helen will be buried, with military honors, beside her husband in Grandview Cemetery, North Bennington, Vermont. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to VNA and Hospice of the Southeast Region c/o Hanson- Walbridge Shea Funeral Home.