WOODSTOCK — To some people around Woodstock, Jean Nelson Conklin was known as “The Mayor,” not because she held political office, but because she was so engrained in the fabric of the community.
“She always wanted to be more involved than she physically could be,” said the Rev. Amanda Swoyer, pastor at North Pomfret Congregational Church, where Conklin was a devoted member of the congregation.
Conklin, who died on Nov. 5 at 97, may be best known in Woodstock for teaching home economics at the high school from the early 1960s until the early 1980s. She also served as a town lister, justice of the peace and on the boards of the Norman Williams Public Library, the Homestead, the Mertens House Nursing Facility and the Woodstock Historical Society.
She even found time to volunteer at the information booth on the town green, amid her other community commitments.
“She was service minded,” said Conklin’s son, Daniel Conklin, who now lives in Milford, N.Y.
Born in the Northeast Kingdom in 1922, Jean Nelson was raised in a farming family. In 1929, she moved with her parents to Meadow View Farm on Pomfret Road in Woodstock. She would live there for almost all of her life.
In 1946, Jean married Albert Conklin, and together they took over Meadow View Farm, a dairy operation, in 1952. They lived and farmed there together for 60 years, until they moved to Woodstock Terrace, a senior living facility, where her husband died in 2014.
Silos Roberts, of Rockingham, Vt., worked for the Conklins on the farm in the 1970s and became a lifelong friend. He remembers Jean cooking elaborate meals, which were served to the farm crew at noontime.
“The meals were big-time there,” he said.
Feeding a team of hungry dairy workers was no small feat. “I think I ate 7,000 or 8,000 calories,” Roberts said.
One day, Conklin made Roberts a birthday cake, using butternuts from trees on the farm and maple frosting.
“I’ve never had anything like it since,” he said.
Roberts still uses Conklin’s recipes when he wants to impress someone. Conklin was especially well known for her baked beans and her pies.
“My wife has been trying to compare to those forever,” Roberts said.
Recently, Roberts visited Conklin and told her that he would be volunteering with the National Park Service in Death Valley, Calif. He would be erecting fencing, and planned to use a technique that he had learned on Meadow View Farm: the Conklin tight twist.
“We were thinking of her, and were going to bring a picture back to share with her,” Roberts said.
Unfortunately, Conklin died before he could share the photo. “Hopefully she knows and Albert knows that we used that Conklin tight twist.”
Betty Heselton, of Hartland, was a student of Conklin’s at Woodstock High School in the 1960s.
Heselton got married while still in school, and was touched when Conklin threw her a bridal shower in class.
“That was a special thing for me and I never forgot it,” Heselton said.
She left school and moved on, but reconnected with Conklin last year after reading a story about her in the newspaper. She made Conklin a quilt in Conklin’s favorite color, orange, as a way to repay her teacher’s kindness after many decades.
“I had to explain who I was, but as soon as I (did) she was right on top if it,” Heselton said. The two enjoyed about a half-dozen visits throughout the last year of Conklin’s life, and Heselton found a renewed appreciation for her former teacher.
“She was the kind of lady who wanted to do something nice for somebody,” she said.
Conklin’s son Miles Conklin, of Haverhill, said that his mother was genuinely interested in helping people.
“She was very quiet and unassuming in the things she did. She never looked for praise. She just did things because they were the right thing to do,” he said.
After the Conklins sold their farm and moved into assisted living, that kindness was returned with a steady stream of visitors keeping in touch.
“There were a lot of people who were very, very kind to her after they moved,” Miles Conklin said.
Swoyer, the pastor, said that Conklin remained busy until she died. She even pushed Swoyer to raise money for a lift project that would make the church more accessible to people with mobility challenges. She knew she might not be around to use the lift herself, but advocated for the project as a way to strengthen the church community.
“She didn’t agree that we should just leave it,” Swoyer said. “She insisted we should do it, and do it right.”
The campaign to raise $75,000 for the lift is still ongoing, and Conklin regularly checked on its progress, even offering to match donations with her own money.
During the final three months of her life, Conklin was less able to leave home, but she remained sharp. She kept up to date with current events, and when Swoyer asked what she was reading she would pull out three books at a time.
“I think she felt she had more living to do,” Swoyer said.
Conklin died at Mt. Ascutney Hospital in November after a brief illness. She was 97.
Swoyer said that Conklin’s commitment to her community will be her legacy.
A memorial service for Conklin will be held on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 1:30 p.m. at the North Pomfret Congregational Church, 7767 Pomfret Road, North Pomfret.
Kelly Burch can be reached at burchcreative@gmail.com.