POMFRET — As a Selectboard member, Marge Wakefield was organized and enthusiastic.
After she was elected to the board in March, Wakefield “came to her first meeting having spent the better part of a week studying our budgets, policies and meeting minutes,” Selectboard Chairman Ben Brickner said in an email.
“That was Marge — prepared, careful, and committed,” he wrote.
Wakefield, of South Pomfret, died after her Subaru Outback crashed through a fence on Pomfret Road in Woodstock in a single-vehicle accident on May 12. She was 69.
The Selectboard is now seeking to fill the position left open in the wake of her death. At the same time, friends and co-workers are remembering Wakefield for her sense of commitment to her community.
Two weeks ago, the Selectboard issued a Notice of Vacancy on the town website to fill her position, and the board is accepting letters of interest from eligible Pomfret voters, Brickner said.
Serving on the Selectboard was just one of the ways Wakefield contributed to Pomfret’s town government. At the time of her death, she was also a trustee of public funds and a justice of the peace.
Town Clerk Becky Fielder recalls Wakefield staying up late with her to count votes after an election and working diligently to learn the town’s various procedures.
“She knew her stuff,” Fielder said. “She’s going to be very hard to replace.”
A Woodstock Union High School graduate, Wakefield worked 21 years at Billings Farm and Museum, during which she served as public relations and community relations coordinator, among other roles.
Her most recent job was at M&T Bank in Woodstock, where she worked her way up to relationship banker, an assistant manager position.
Wakefield was an “old school kind of worker,” Denel McIntire, the branch’s manager, said in a phone interview.
He’d often have to remind Wakefield to take a break during her shift.
“She didn’t care about time (or) taking lunch; she just was always busy trying to get stuff done,” he said.
She was scrupulous with her work and “she really wanted to help customers do a thorough job,” McIntire said.
He estimates some 80% of the bank’s customers came in just to speak with Wakefield.
“She is deeply missed in the branch and in the community,” he said.
Wakefield left work early on May 12 because she wasn’t feeling well, her partner Kevin Rice said in an interview.
While she was driving northbound on Pomfret Road, Wakefield’s car exited the road, ran through a fence and came to rest in a field, according to a Woodstock Police Department news release.
Woodstock Police responded to the scene at approximately 4:08 p.m., the release said. Woodstock Fire and Ambulance provided assistance. Emergency personnel found Wakefield unconscious, with the airbags in her car deployed.
Emergency services transported Wakefield to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
She died of a heart attack, according to her death certificate, Rice said.
Interim Police Chief Chris O’Keefe did not respond to requests for comment by deadline on Friday.
Both WUHS graduates, Rice and Wakefield had known each other since their youth. They reconnected decades later after running into each other at Teago General Store in 2015. Rice invited Wakefield for a glass of wine, which turned into another evening together, and another.
Rice was drawn to Wakefield’s smile, which “melted everybody,” and her dedication to community service.
“She just cared,” he said.
Wakefield’s death came just a couple months after she was elected to the Selectboard in an uncontested race.
Letters of interest in the position are due by noon on Monday, June 15. The remaining four Selectboard members plans to interview candidates and potentially make a decision on Wednesday, June 17.
The appointee would serve until Town Meeting in March 2027, when voters would elect a replacement to carry out the remainder of Wakefield’s two-year term.
A celebration of life for Wakefield was scheduled for Saturday, May 30 at Pomfret Town Hall.
