BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – We lost a wonderful woman and God received an angel on June 9, 2022. Having a strong belief in God, Cora Alice Perry Fletcher was able to die peacefully at home comforted by her children Elaine and Joe.
She was born Sept. 5, 1924 in Bellows Falls, Vt. Her parents were Joseph Martin and Alice Annie Butson-Howe Perry. She was the first of nine children, she had four brothers and four sisters.
She is survived by her daughter Elaine and her husband Elmer Davis, son Joseph Fletcher, 3 sisters: Shirley Peel of Geneva, Ala., Elizabeth Tuttle of Sherburne, N.Y., and Leola Ramsey of Hinsdale, N.H.
On Feb. 2, 1944 she married Robert Clark Fletcher of Grafton, Vt. He passed away Christmas Day in 1984.
She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, four brothers, Henry, Robert, Gordon, and Bernard, one sister Betha Fernette, and a granddaughter Jacqueline Cora Garrow.
She was the matriarch of five generations. Along with her two children, Elaine and Joe, she had nine grandchildren, several step-grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great grandchildren. One of her greatest excitements was having one of her great great-grandchildren born on her birthday. She also leaves behind numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.
She once said, “No one can ever say I was lazy.” She worked hard and took care of many people throughout her lifetime. She did housework, house cleaning for others, including Vermont Academy, and she gave home perms, as well as helping slaughter holiday turkeys with her Uncle John. She also worked as a nurse’s aide at Grace Cottage Hospital in Townshend.
In her younger years, being the eldest of nine children, she helped with her siblings, could harness the horses, mow hay with the horse-drawn mowing machine, milk cows, and work in the woods with her dad logging and cutting fire wood. She gardened, canning her own fruits and vegetables, and raised her own meat. She did all of her cooking, baking, and canning on a wood stove.
She was a talented lady who like to crochet and knit, creating lovely things for others.
She loved watching the wild birds at her feeders and was not afraid to use her BB gun to scare the squirrels away. She enjoyed watching all of her flowers and shrubs come to life with beautiful, colorful blooms.
She dearly loved her family and friends. No one could leave without a hug!
She will be missed tremendously by all those who loved and knew her. She was the glue that held many lives together.
She will be buried in Houghtonville cemetery with her husband Robert at a date to be determined by her children.