Vera Pomponio, 92, of Jaffrey, NH died peacefully on Monday, November 26, 2018 at Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough after a brief period of failing health. Vera was born on October 16, 1926 in Peterborough NH, the daughter of the late Mark and Elvira (Smith) Stratton. She was educated in Jaffrey schools, graduating in 1944 from Conant High School, where she focused on commercial courses.
As a child of the Great Depression and then World War II, Vera began to work early… Read More » as did most of her contemporaries. She did chores at home and at her grandfather’s dairy farm, babysat, and while in high school, worked at D.D. Bean and Sons. Vera married Albert Pomponio on January 31, 1947 and moved to the house next to Conant on Stratton Road which became her home and identity until her death.
She raised her children and her house became a magnet for friends young and old. She did bookkeeping at home for Ray Moore Motors where her husband was manager. When her children reached their teenage years, she went out to work again in town doing the books and payroll at Goodnow’s Store.
After the store closed in 1967, she worked at the Public Service of NH offices in both locations on Main Street, and when the office closed in town, she became the bookkeeper for Kustom Valley Auto Body both in Jaffrey and in Peterborough. Vera was devoted to her church, the United Church in Jaffrey, which she served in many capacities. She knew everybody in town and everyone knew and liked her.
She was devoted to crafts. Vera was an expert knitter all her life and she taught many people how to knit. She crocheted, too, and made afghans, doilies, placemats and tablecloths.
She embroidered, did needlepoint, made rugs. Most of what she made, she gave as gifts, predominantly socks. A born storyteller herself, she was also a steady reader, and she loved mysteries.
She loved popular music and singing and dancing. She enjoyed television and old movies, and she always followed the Boston Red Sox. Summers, she loved swimming and sunbathing.
And she loved a succession of cats: Napoleon, Olga, Kosmo, Maudie and Maudie Two, who survives her. Vera was preceded in death by her husband, Albert J. “Chink” Pomponio in 1993, her sister Elinor “Poppy” in 1997, her brother Albert in 2011, her brother Fred in 2016, and by a brother Clarence who died when he was just under a year old. Vera is survived by her daughter, Nina and her husband, Robert Phelps of Hudson, NH; her son, Jay Pomponio and his husband, Larry Earle of Brattleboro, VT; her sister, Betty and her husband, Edward Affolter of Troy, Ohio; many nieces, nephews, and cousins and close friends, including her lifelong friend, Elsie Elliot and her long-time caregivers, Mary Gilson of Hinsdale and Joann and Bill Gustavs of Jaffrey.
Vera also leaves behind an extended family: Tina O’Neil, whom she loved as a daughter and her husband Mike, their children Patrick and Nikki and six grandchildren who called Vera their Nana. Family and friends are invited to calling hours on Thursday, November 29, 2018 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Cournoyer Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 33 River Street, (Rte. 202) Jaffrey NH 03452.
A funeral service will be held on Friday, November 30, 2018 at 1:00 PM at the United Church of Jaffrey, 54 Main Street, Jaffrey, NH 03452. Rev. Mark Koyama, Pastor, will be the officiant.
Burial will take place in the Spring next to her husband in Saint Patrick Cemetery in Jaffrey, In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are requested to be made in Vera’s name to the Jaffrey-Rindge Memorial Ambulance, PO Box 107, Jaffrey, NH 03452.
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