Hanna Lee Stokes
COOPERSTOWN — Hannah Lee Sherman Stokes, died Thursday, Dec. 6, 2001, at her home, after a long illness.
She was the widow of the late New York state Sen. Walter W. Stokes and a longtime resident of Cooperstown, and was a woman of astonishing accomplishments and a cancer survivor.
The grand-niece of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, she was born into a family of wealth and privilege, but after being educated at private and finishing schools, what she wanted most was to work. Her job in the circulation department at Vogue Magazine did not last long, however. Spotted by a photographer, she was gracing the magazine's pages as a glamorous and highly paid model. Ironically, her most famous work was as Miss Chesterfield, although she never smoked.
After six or seven years of modeling in ads for many different companies and products, Hannah Lee met and married a young handsome New York senator. For years, the couple divided their time among homes in Albany, New York City and Cooperstown, but they settled in Cooperstown after Sen. Stokes retired.
As a permanent resident of the village, Mrs. Stokes became an active supporter of several area organizations, including the Friends of the Library, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown Concert Series and Glimmerglass Opera.
Hannah Lee Stokes became a cancer patient about 10 years ago and was successfully treated by Dr. John Olson, then an attending surgeon and chief of surgical oncology at Bassett.
To express her gratitude, she told him that she wanted to do something for the hospital, not through a bequest, but while he was alive. Dr. Olson suggested the idea of a facility where patients could stay while undergoing treatment. Hannah Lee embraced it with the full force of her dedication and will. She ended up donating close to $600,000 to make it a reality.
At the dedication of Hannah Lee House, Dr. Olson characterized Mrs. Stokes as, "a woman ahead of her time. As a famous model, she set an example for young women in her cycle to follow in her footsteps and have a career before it was popular, or even acceptable."
Dr. Olson also paid tribute to Hannah Lee as "an inspiring person whose goal has been to make this world a better place to live in. I believe she has done more than her share."
Mrs. Stokes is survived by her nephew, John Sherman of London, England, and three nieces, Mary Hoyt of Chevy Chase, Md., and Cooperstown, Catherine Sherman Lodge of Nantucket, R.I., and Anne C. Logan of Cooperstown; and her granddaughter, Polly Stokes Pierson of Malibu, Calif., and Cooperstown.
A funeral service will be held on Monday, Dec. 10, 2001, at 11 a.m. at the Christ Church in Cooperstown with the Rev. Douglas Smith, pastor, officiating.
Burial will follow at a later date in the family plot in Lakewood Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Tillapaugh funeral service, Cooperstown and Milford.
Published in The Daily Star at Dec. 8, 2001.
COOPERSTOWN — Hannah Lee Sherman Stokes, died Thursday, Dec. 6, 2001, at her home, after a long illness.
She was the widow of the late New York state Sen. Walter W. Stokes and a longtime resident of Cooperstown, and was a woman of astonishing accomplishments and a cancer survivor.
The grand-niece of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, she was born into a family of wealth and privilege, but after being educated at private and finishing schools, what she wanted most was to work. Her job in the circulation department at Vogue Magazine did not last long, however. Spotted by a photographer, she was gracing the magazine's pages as a glamorous and highly paid model. Ironically, her most famous work was as Miss Chesterfield, although she never smoked.
After six or seven years of modeling in ads for many different companies and products, Hannah Lee met and married a young handsome New York senator. For years, the couple divided their time among homes in Albany, New York City and Cooperstown, but they settled in Cooperstown after Sen. Stokes retired.
As a permanent resident of the village, Mrs. Stokes became an active supporter of several area organizations, including the Friends of the Library, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown Concert Series and Glimmerglass Opera.
Hannah Lee Stokes became a cancer patient about 10 years ago and was successfully treated by Dr. John Olson, then an attending surgeon and chief of surgical oncology at Bassett.
To express her gratitude, she told him that she wanted to do something for the hospital, not through a bequest, but while he was alive. Dr. Olson suggested the idea of a facility where patients could stay while undergoing treatment. Hannah Lee embraced it with the full force of her dedication and will. She ended up donating close to $600,000 to make it a reality.
At the dedication of Hannah Lee House, Dr. Olson characterized Mrs. Stokes as, "a woman ahead of her time. As a famous model, she set an example for young women in her cycle to follow in her footsteps and have a career before it was popular, or even acceptable."
Dr. Olson also paid tribute to Hannah Lee as "an inspiring person whose goal has been to make this world a better place to live in. I believe she has done more than her share."
Mrs. Stokes is survived by her nephew, John Sherman of London, England, and three nieces, Mary Hoyt of Chevy Chase, Md., and Cooperstown, Catherine Sherman Lodge of Nantucket, R.I., and Anne C. Logan of Cooperstown; and her granddaughter, Polly Stokes Pierson of Malibu, Calif., and Cooperstown.
A funeral service will be held on Monday, Dec. 10, 2001, at 11 a.m. at the Christ Church in Cooperstown with the Rev. Douglas Smith, pastor, officiating.
Burial will follow at a later date in the family plot in Lakewood Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Tillapaugh funeral service, Cooperstown and Milford.
Published in The Daily Star at Dec. 8, 2001.
Hanna Lee Stokes
COOPERSTOWN — Hannah Lee Sherman Stokes, died Thursday, Dec. 6, 2001, at her home, after a long illness.
She was the widow of the late New York state Sen. Walter W. Stokes and a longtime resident of Cooperstown, and was a woman of astonishing accomplishments and a cancer survivor.
The grand-niece of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, she was born into a family of wealth and privilege, but after being educated at private and finishing schools, what she wanted most was to work. Her job in the circulation department at Vogue Magazine did not last long, however. Spotted by a photographer, she was gracing the magazine's pages as a glamorous and highly paid model. Ironically, her most famous work was as Miss Chesterfield, although she never smoked.
After six or seven years of modeling in ads for many different companies and products, Hannah Lee met and married a young handsome New York senator. For years, the couple divided their time among homes in Albany, New York City and Cooperstown, but they settled in Cooperstown after Sen. Stokes retired.
As a permanent resident of the village, Mrs. Stokes became an active supporter of several area organizations, including the Friends of the Library, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown Concert Series and Glimmerglass Opera.
Hannah Lee Stokes became a cancer patient about 10 years ago and was successfully treated by Dr. John Olson, then an attending surgeon and chief of surgical oncology at Bassett.
To express her gratitude, she told him that she wanted to do something for the hospital, not through a bequest, but while he was alive. Dr. Olson suggested the idea of a facility where patients could stay while undergoing treatment. Hannah Lee embraced it with the full force of her dedication and will. She ended up donating close to $600,000 to make it a reality.
At the dedication of Hannah Lee House, Dr. Olson characterized Mrs. Stokes as, "a woman ahead of her time. As a famous model, she set an example for young women in her cycle to follow in her footsteps and have a career before it was popular, or even acceptable."
Dr. Olson also paid tribute to Hannah Lee as "an inspiring person whose goal has been to make this world a better place to live in. I believe she has done more than her share."
Mrs. Stokes is survived by her nephew, John Sherman of London, England, and three nieces, Mary Hoyt of Chevy Chase, Md., and Cooperstown, Catherine Sherman Lodge of Nantucket, R.I., and Anne C. Logan of Cooperstown; and her granddaughter, Polly Stokes Pierson of Malibu, Calif., and Cooperstown.
A funeral service will be held on Monday, Dec. 10, 2001, at 11 a.m. at the Christ Church in Cooperstown with the Rev. Douglas Smith, pastor, officiating.
Burial will follow at a later date in the family plot in Lakewood Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Tillapaugh funeral service, Cooperstown and Milford.
Published in The Daily Star at Dec. 8, 2001.
COOPERSTOWN — Hannah Lee Sherman Stokes, died Thursday, Dec. 6, 2001, at her home, after a long illness.
She was the widow of the late New York state Sen. Walter W. Stokes and a longtime resident of Cooperstown, and was a woman of astonishing accomplishments and a cancer survivor.
The grand-niece of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, she was born into a family of wealth and privilege, but after being educated at private and finishing schools, what she wanted most was to work. Her job in the circulation department at Vogue Magazine did not last long, however. Spotted by a photographer, she was gracing the magazine's pages as a glamorous and highly paid model. Ironically, her most famous work was as Miss Chesterfield, although she never smoked.
After six or seven years of modeling in ads for many different companies and products, Hannah Lee met and married a young handsome New York senator. For years, the couple divided their time among homes in Albany, New York City and Cooperstown, but they settled in Cooperstown after Sen. Stokes retired.
As a permanent resident of the village, Mrs. Stokes became an active supporter of several area organizations, including the Friends of the Library, Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown Concert Series and Glimmerglass Opera.
Hannah Lee Stokes became a cancer patient about 10 years ago and was successfully treated by Dr. John Olson, then an attending surgeon and chief of surgical oncology at Bassett.
To express her gratitude, she told him that she wanted to do something for the hospital, not through a bequest, but while he was alive. Dr. Olson suggested the idea of a facility where patients could stay while undergoing treatment. Hannah Lee embraced it with the full force of her dedication and will. She ended up donating close to $600,000 to make it a reality.
At the dedication of Hannah Lee House, Dr. Olson characterized Mrs. Stokes as, "a woman ahead of her time. As a famous model, she set an example for young women in her cycle to follow in her footsteps and have a career before it was popular, or even acceptable."
Dr. Olson also paid tribute to Hannah Lee as "an inspiring person whose goal has been to make this world a better place to live in. I believe she has done more than her share."
Mrs. Stokes is survived by her nephew, John Sherman of London, England, and three nieces, Mary Hoyt of Chevy Chase, Md., and Cooperstown, Catherine Sherman Lodge of Nantucket, R.I., and Anne C. Logan of Cooperstown; and her granddaughter, Polly Stokes Pierson of Malibu, Calif., and Cooperstown.
A funeral service will be held on Monday, Dec. 10, 2001, at 11 a.m. at the Christ Church in Cooperstown with the Rev. Douglas Smith, pastor, officiating.
Burial will follow at a later date in the family plot in Lakewood Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Tillapaugh funeral service, Cooperstown and Milford.
Published in The Daily Star at Dec. 8, 2001.
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