Barbara Elliott, 79, passed away peacefully at her home in Ryegate, VT on Saturday, December 14, 2024, following several weeks of comforting care from Caledonia County Home Health and Hospice. She was born in Orange, New Jersey on September 4, 1945, and lived in North Jersey until her father died in 1950 when she moved to the Jersey Shore. She attended elementary school in Spring Lake and graduated from Manasquan High School class of 1963 where she was a member of the cheerleading squad. She started her working career at age 13 babysitting for the owners of the Spring Lake Chateau. From 1964-1967 she was a full-time service representative for NJ Bell Telephone Company, attending college in the evenings. She attended college full-time starting in 1967 while waitressing 45 hours a week. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Monmouth University in June of 1970. She started her teaching career in the Lakewood, New Jersey school system teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades in her 11 years there. She continued her education receiving a reading specialist certificate and master's degree in Guidance. She also initiated and instructed the Spruce Street Dramatic Arts and Dance Club. During this time, through determination and frugality, she managed to purchase a small home for herself and her mother—a significant achievement for a young woman at the time.
She met her husband on a blind date in Haverhill, NH in the Fall of 1979. They were married in June of 1981, and she moved to Ryegate where she continued her teaching career in the Blue Mountain District until retiring in 2010. She had exceptional skills as an educator and was admired for that talent by her peers. She was proud of her class plays which were remembered long after they were performed. She loved and was loved by her students and always welcomed them to her home for an end-of-the-year party. A 4th-grade student captured her essence in the classroom writing "The ABCs of Mrs. Elliott." Barbara was found to be always happy, beautiful, caring, delightful, everybody's friend, friendly, great, helpful, interesting, jolly, knowledgeable, lively, merry, nice, oldish, polite, quizzical, really funny, smiley, terrific, unique, very mystical, and wonderful. She was all of those things and more. She was also a yucky bully stopper and zap perfect.
She was a fixture with her breakfast club at the P and H Truck Stop prior to and after her retirement and also at the lunch counter at Tuttle's Family Diner. She volunteered at the Wells River Welcome Center for 25 years and was a docent at her beloved state capitol in Montpelier where she had taken her classes for many years. She spent a couple of months in Florida for several years, taking 2 years off when her daughter gifted her another grandchild. She loved to ride her bike, take long evening strolls, and sit by the pool. Growing up at the Jersey Shore she never learned to swim, but she knew how to bask in the sun. She was always on the back deck whenever the sun made its occasional visit to Vermont.
Barbara made beautiful award-winning quilts. She liked Jumbles, dogs and cats, French toast and coffee, Nancy Griffith, Judy Collins, ladybugs, and the beach. She liked to dance, going to the post office, John Denver, VW Beetles (hers was blue), shrimp scampi, and strawberry crepes with whipped cream. She liked Casablanca, Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders, Polly's Pancake Parlor, and soft vanilla ice cream. But most of all, she loved people. Special people are those who never step out of character. Barbara was special. She was the same day in and day out, year in and year out. Whenever she went, wherever she went, she treated everybody the same, with a warm smile and a kind word. She made people feel happy. Whoever is in charge of angels, we thank you for Barbara. We only wish you could have left her with us longer.
She was predeceased by her parents and infant daughter Stephanie. She is survived by her husband Stephan Elliott; daughter Clarissa Kendall and her husband Nicholas and grandchildren Ainsley, Casey, Elliott, Bailey, and Corey; stepdaughter Trish Griswold and her husband Gerald and step-granddaughter Mackenzie; brother-in-law Garry Elliott and his wife Elaine and their children Ben, Carol, and Hannah; and hundreds of students who gave her so much joy that she had to pass it on to others.
Calling hours will be held at Ricker Funeral Home & Cremation Care of Woodsville on Friday, December 27th from 5:00 - 7:00 PM. A service will follow on Saturday, December 28th at 12:00 PM at the Woodsville United Methodist Church. A burial will be held on Thursday, May 15, 2025, at 10:00 AM at the Ladd Street Cemetery in Haverhill.
Donations in Barbara's memory may be made to the Woodsville United Methodist Church, Kathy Hatch, Treasurer, 45 Melody Lane, Woodsville, NH 03785.