Tai Henderson Preston of Winooski, Vermont, passed away peacefully at her home in the evening of July 4, 2017. She was born on August 9, 1922, in Te Araroa, New Zealand.

Tai was a frugal, hard working woman with an enormous strength of character. Self educated, she was known to speak and write with poetic finesse. Never forgetting her own spare beginnings, Tai was always ready to help others in need. She was a generous and benevolent person who not only found satisfaction in benefiting local and state educational platforms, but donated much time and resources to the local food bank and church rummages. She was also a seamstress by profession who sewed and knitted clothing for her family as they were growing and, in later years, kept her immediate and extended family supplied with pot holders, tote bags and dish clothes. Furthermore, she was a master organic gardener who not only taught her children the benefits of healthy living, but kept her neighborhood supplied with the fruits and veggies of her labor, as well.

Tai leaves behind three daughters: Louise Nisbet and her husband, Conrad, of South Portland, Maine; Hez Boudreau and her husband, Gary, of Virginia Beach, Virginia; Elizabeth Preston of Greenville, South Carolina; and one son, Nathan Preston of Winooski, Vermont. She also leaves seven grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, her brother-in-law, Gerald Brocher and his wife, Carole, of Alfred, Maine; a very special niece, Emma Chaplin and her husband, Jim, of Highgate Falls, Vermont; and, many close friends and relatives that include her lovely New Zealand family. She is predeceased by her husband, Davis Orin Preston, two sons, Arthur and Irwin Preston, and very recently, her 102-year-old sister-in-law, Enid Prebor of Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Memorial contributions in Tai's memory may be made to the Shriners Hospital for Children-Springfield: 516 Carew Street, Springfield, MA 01104. The family also invites you to share your memories and condolences by visiting www.awrfh.com.