Joanna Campbell Crocker

With a sense of both peace and sadness, the family of Joanna Campbell Crocker announces her death on March 21, 2024 at Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend, Vermont.  She was fondly known all her life as “Jo”.  She was 95 years old and died after a courageous struggle congestive heart failure.  

Jo was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts in 1929. Her parents, Anne and Richard Campbell, raised Jo and her older brothers Richard Jr. and John in their happy home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.   

During World War II, Jo’s father re-enlisted in the Army, so Jo attended boarding school and graduated from Abbot Academy, now Phillips Academy.  After high school, Jo attended one year of college at Bouve College, now part of Northeastern University in Boston, majoring in physical education.

On New Years Eve in 1947, Jo was reacquainted with Weyman “Stumpy” Crocker at her parents’ farm, Sidelands Sugarbush, in Westminster West, Vermont.  As children, they played together in Fitchburg, and often Stumpy and her brothers shooed her away, as they thought she was too young to play with the big boys.   Jo and Stumpy were engaged six months after the New Year’s Eve party and married in Fitchburg in July of 1948.  Between 1950 and 1959, five children were born.  The family moved several times to support Stumpy’s career, first as a math teacher and then as an engineer.  They eventually moved to Springfield, Vermont in 1967 where they lived for the next 15 years.

Jo lived off and on at the farm in Westminster West since she was 12 years old. During the summers, she brought all five children where they camped, first in a tent and then in a cabin, on the hill.  Camping out at the farm was something enjoyed by the whole family.  

Jo’s life focused on her family, but over the years she worked as a bookkeeper and a farmer.  In 1979, Jo and Stumpy moved from Springfield, Vermont to the farm in Westminster West to care for her parents.  Jo lived there until she died in March of 2024.  Her co-leadership of the farm in Westminster West helped to move it from a tiny bucket operation to a full-fledged producer of the most maple syrup per tap in Southern Vermont.

Jo loved animals and over the years gave loving care to a line of dogs, cats, horses, goats, ducks, and chickens.  Her first dog was an English Setter named Benny, and she is survived by her much-adored cat, Quinny.  Jo was passionate about crafts and homemaking. She was an excellent bookkeeper.    She could sew, knit, cane chairs, paint, garden, and cook.  She loved hiking, swimming, canoeing, and skiing and passed on the love of those sports to all five of her children.   She was active until the very last days of her life walking as far as she could to keep strong and healthy.  

All her life, Jo was active in her local churches.  Since 1979, she was a member of the Congregational Church in Westminster West where she sometimes attended services since she was 12 years old.  

Survivors include her children: Joanna “Jan” Crocker, Sheila Patinkin, Richard Crocker, Daniel Crocker, and Nathalie “Lee” (David Mulholland) Crocker.  She has 11 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Jo was the last survivor of her generation – the “Greatest Generation”.  She was predeceased by her parents, brothers, husband, and son-in law Hugh Patinkin.

A memorial service will be held at the Congregational Church of Westminster West, 44 Church St., Westminster West, Vermont on June 21, 2024 at 3:00 PM in the afternoon.  Her ashes will be interred at the Westminster West Cemetery immediately before the memorial service.  

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Westminster West Congregational Church or the Westminster Volunteer Fire Department.

Special thanks go to: Caregivers Rachael Shaw and Becky Trevarrow, Grace Cottage Family Health and Hospital, Bayada Hospice, Westminster Cares, Meals on Wheels, the Westminster Volunteer Fire Department, and many others for all that they did to help us care for Jo at home until the end.  

In closing, Jo was our best friend.  She was amazing, loving, fierce, feisty, rugged, beautiful, and wise.  She will be missed.  We are grateful for a life well-lived.