KEENE, N.H. – Jean Louise Chatfield, 78, formerly of Seymour, Conn., and Chester, Vt., passed away in Keene, N.H., on Dec. 28, 2023, after recent age-related health setbacks. She had been a resident at Covenant Living retirement community in Keene since 2019, and was just one month shy of her 79th birthday.
Jean was raised in Seymour, Conn., and spent summers in Weston, Vt., with her family. After graduating from Seymour High School in 1962, she went on to Lake Erie College in Ohio, where she received a degree in education and enjoyed perfecting her musical skills, taking lessons on the college organ.
Following graduation in 1966, she returned to Seymour to teach high school math for three years, and then moved to the family home in Weston after securing a teaching position in Springfield, Vt. While in Weston, she enjoyed riding and caring for her horses, Tasha and baby Tanya. She also served as organist for Weston’s Old Parish Church, and in later years played for several churches and weddings in southern Vermont.
In 1987 the family home in Weston was sold to the owners of the Vermont Country Store, and Jean relocated to Chester to be closer to work and to shorten the driving distance in the snowy winters. She made many friends in Chester, where she retired from teaching after 30 years.
Jean then spent several years working for the Vermont Country Store in Weston, and volunteered annually as an usher at the Weston Playhouse summer theater, where she donated many hours of her time in coordinating the schedule of ushers for the weekly performances.
Jean and her mother both enjoyed quilting, and they attended summer classes together at the Fletcher Farm School for the Arts and Crafts in Ludlow. Jean joined local quilting groups and continued to develop her skills, learning new techniques in a variety of classes. Always a giving person, she shared many of her beautiful quilts and projects as presents for friends.
Leaving her home in Chester in 2019 when it became harder to maintain, especially in winter, Jean moved to a retirement community in Keene, N.H., where she continued her quilting, sharing her expertise with others and gifting many of the beautiful products of her skills.
Jean is survived by her two sisters Carol Ann Chatfield also of Keene, and Betty Chatfield Brosius of Downingtown, Pa.; and sisters-in-law Marcia Chatfield of Hingham, Mass., and Judy Chatfield of Southington, Conn. She is also survived by five nieces and their families. She was predeceased by her parents Henry Treat Chatfield and Beryl Burmaster Chatfield of Seymour, and two half-brothers George Allan Chatfield of Seymour, and Henry Oliver Chatfield of Bethany, Conn.
Sisters Carol and Betty would like to thank the residents and friends of Covenant Living in Keene for their help and assistance in finding uses for Jean’s vast supply of quilting materials and supplies, which have been donated to quilting and sewing groups who will carry on the gifting of handmade products made with love for seniors, children, and others.
A private ceremony for burial of the ashes will be held for the family at the Pines Bridge Cemetery in Beacon Falls, Conn., in the spring.