February 19 2020
Virginia T. Palmer February 19, 2020 Share this obituary Sign Guestbook| View Guestbook Entries Woodstock, Vermont Virginia Susan (Toth) Palmer, 80, died peacefully on Wednesday evening, February 19, 2020 at the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care in Lebanon, NH surrounded by her family. Virginia was born in Hackensack, NJ, the daughter of Stephen and Beatrice Elizabeth (Dodd) Toth, and spent her childhood in Garfield, NJ, with life centered around family, the neighborhood, the Slovak community, and church. She enjoyed being outside, playing sports, riding horses and spending summers at camp in the Adirondacks. She played the piano extremely well and loved school and being with her friends and sisters. She attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree and was a member of the National Senior Women’s Society, the Student Judiciary Board, and active in her sorority. She studied in Heidelberg, Germany for a semester and it instilled in her a lifelong interest in travel and other cultures. After college, she began work as an English teacher, first at Framingham High School and then at Framingham North High School in Framingham, MA, where she met guidance counselor, trouble-maker and love of her life Dennis King Palmer, in 1964. Following a whirlwind courtship, they married and began the first years of their 45-year marriage in Framingham, MA. After the birth of the youngest of their three children, Virginia and Dennis took the opportunity to move their family to Vermont in 1976 with a job transfer for Dennis. For a short time, the family lived in a vacation ski chalet in Killington that Virginia and Dennis had built years earlier, while they designed and built their home in Woodstock. The move to Vermont gave their young children the wonderful experience of growing up and growing together in the green and snow-covered mountains and close-knit communities of Killington and Woodstock. Virginia was the warm heart (and stern eye) of the family. As her children grew, she began substitute teaching at the Woodstock Elementary School, where she was known and loved by many for her kind and no-nonsense style. She volunteered at countless school and sporting events for her children and was almost always on the sidelines supporting her children and their friends. She drove all over the New England with Dennis to various ski races and freestyle ski events, always with Lipton soup packets, her homemade oatmeal cookies and her trusty thermos packed in her leather-trimmed burgundy backpack that she got in Austria. She would bring that same pack with her when she would later do the same for all of her grandchildren. Virginia always had a passion for education and encouraging children to excel, so she returned to school and received her Master of Arts in Educational Psychology in 1992 from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. After graduation, she worked as an Enrichment Coordinator in schools in Charlestown, NH and Pomfret, Vermont, ensuring that children were able to pursue their interests and connecting them to mentors. She then worked as a gifted education consultant throughout the state, serving for several years as the President of the Vermont Council for Gifted Education, and was instrumental in the development and passage of a state law supporting gifted education. Virginia also served as a board member of the Ottauquechee Health Center in Woodstock, President of the Woodstock Nursery School, President of the Church Council at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Hanover, member of the Board of Advisors of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, member of the Upper Valley Interfaith Coalition Against Homelessness, and member of the local chapter of Bread for the World. In addition to joining her friends in philanthropic activities, she filled her calendar with time at her family’s camp in Speculator, NY, travel, Dartmouth Osher courses, the New Century Club, outdoor activities, and her grandchildren’s activities. She was especially dedicated to her church, her dear book group and P.E.O, the Philanthropic Educational Organization. Virginia is survived by her daughter Susan and her husband Denny Wetherald of Annapolis, MD; her son Stephen and his wife Maria of Derry, NH; her daughter Rebecca Lewandoski of Norwich, VT, and six beautiful, spirited and much-loved grandchildren. She is also survived by two sisters: Dorothy Toth Beasley of Atlanta, GA and Stephanie Toth Wells of Gainesville, GA; and a number of nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Dennis, in 2009. A memorial visitation will take place at Cabot Funeral Home in Woodstock, VT on Friday, February 28th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, February 29th at 11 a.m. at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Hanover, NH, followed by a reception at the church. Burial will take place at a later date in Woodstock. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Our Savior Lutheran Church, 5 Summer Street, Hanover, NH 03755, and to the Upper Valley Haven, 713 Hartford Avenue, White River Junction, VT 05001. 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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Virginia T Palmer February 19 2020.
Cabot Funeral Home – Woodstock
Death notice for the town of: Woodstock, state: Vermont