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In memory of

Regina Catherine Lennox

Ithaca, NY, USA

January 25, 1947 - October 5, 2018

Jan 25, 1947 - Oct 5, 2018

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Regina Lennox died on October 5, 2018. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 25, 1947. Her parents were David A. Lennox Jr. (1920–1995) and Catherine Moon Lennox (1916–2004). She has a brother, David A. Lennox III (m. Susan). Regina graduated from Oglethorpe and Interamerican University. She was lucky enough to marry Cortland Bassett in 1969. He was with her until the end, supporting her in any way needed. They have one daughter, Kerry Bassett (m. Michael Stenke) and two marvelous and fun grandkids, Willa and Klaus. Cort’s sister Melissa Bassett and her partner Lorimer Fauntleroy were very supportive and always there.

Genie lived in Atlanta for her first 22 years in the same house before marrying. She worked for the Northside Family YMCA for six years there. Cort and she lived for short periods of time in Columbus, MS, Orlando, FL, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, New London, NH, Sunapee, NH, Charleston, SC, and finally in 1977 moved to Ithaca. Her husband ran Cornell’s Sports Medicine Clinic here for 23 years before retiring in 2000 and then began to spend time and work in Maine. They then divided their time between Mount Desert Island in Maine and Ithaca.

Many years ago she was looking at Harvard yearbooks from the alumni of the 40s. Every ten years they reported on their lives. She saw how alumni talked about their accomplishments in the early years but as years passed they focused on the people in their lives and their adventures. Regina was always a people person and enjoyed her family, friends, and acquaintances. She was a problem solver and organizer who looked to the future and anticipated potential problems and solutions. She loved chocolate, Mexican food, fresh tomatoes, salads, and lime sherbet. Some of the best advice she was given was by Jean Robinson, who told her that she and Ken had made a deal years ago: when they made a decision they never looked back. This is hard to do but she tried to live by this.

Her biggest contribution to Ithaca was as a result of becoming involved with Friends of the Library on Dey Street in the early 1980s. She was Book Sale chair nine years, President for two years, Treasurer for one year, and took other board positions as well. She managed the purchase of the present 11,000 square foot Book Sale building in 1991 on Esty Street and designed the layout of the interior. With many volunteers, they physically built new shelving and retrofitted some of the old shelving while staying on budget. The second contribution was to start an endowment to provide help to other libraries within the Finger Lakes Library System.

During the time they spent in Ithaca she also became involved in Cops, Kids, and Toys (http://copskidsandtoys.org) CKT furnishes gifts to more than 1,300 children in need. She used many of the skills she had learned with Friends of the Library.

She spent five months a year on the island of Mount Desert, home of Acadia National Park. From 2001 to 2016, she ran the Northeast Harbor Library Book Sale during the summers in Maine. There she also built shelving from old shelves. It was not nearly as large as the Ithaca Book Sale (300,000 items), with only 6,000 to 7,000 books. There she served as the Sorter, Publicity Chair, and Cashier. Occasionally Friends of the Library volunteers from Ithaca would drop in on the Book Sale in Northeast Harbor. Some would be surprised to hear her voice, which, after all the years up north, still had a little Southern twang.

In 2008 she started part-time work at Mount Desert Campground on Somes Sound after they called her and said, "I think you would like to work with us." While Cort worked at Mount Desert Hospital in the emergency room, she kept busy as an IT specialist, check-in person, errand runner, and problem solver at the campground. When not working or volunteering, she hiked the great mountains, walked the Carriage Roads, or kayaked on Somes Sound. Donna Beals and Owen Craighead's friendship and kindness were cherished; they kept her working until the end, and this made her very happy. She was not happy without work—she was her Mother’s daughter, as she always said.

Many thanks to the Bar Harbor chemo lab with Joyce and Melanie and Dr. Brooks. Thanks to the medical staff in Ithaca with Dr. Bael and the chemo lab staff including Jo, Kate, Michelle, Kara, Joleen, and others...

She felt she had a great life with a great husband, daughter, brother, and sister-in-law who were always there for her. She also had the support of Monte and Ellie May (her best friends in Ithaca), Frances Fawcett, Linda Kilar, and all her friends at the Book Sale, the Campground, Cops, Kids, and Toys (including Kelly Daley and Bill Apgar), and the Northeast Harbor Library.

She would like a donation made to Friends of the Tompkins County Library Restricted Fund or Friends of Acadia (https://friendsofacadia.org/d…)

A small gathering will be held at her home on Sunday, October 14 from 1:30 to 4:30pm.

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In lieu of flowers, consider a gift to Friends of Acadia.

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