Charlotte Elizabeth Gilbert Verdery Lightfoot

Charlotte (Gilbert, Verdery) Lightfoot, beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and great great grandmother, died Saturday, May 28, 2022 at the home of her daughter, Mary Jane Verdery, in Arlington, VT. She was 101. Charlotte Elizabeth Gilbert was born March 15, 1921. Her mother was Ruth Aileen Gilbert, né Warner (Buddy) of Granville and Pawlet; and her father was Frederick Field Gilbert, Jr. of Dorset. Charlotte was born at her grandmother's home in Pawlet and attended grade school in the one room schoolhouse next to her family home in Dorset. In 1937, at 16, she graduated high school from Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester. She attended Middlebury College and graduated in the class of 1941 with a degree in chemistry, purportedly getting an “A” in physics, though the professor had told her “women aren't smart enough to understand physics.” After Middlebury, Charlotte attended Connecticut College and earned a Masters in Chemistry. During World War II, she worked for General Aniline and Film (GAF) where she worked on dyes and color film. At GAF she met her husband, Roy Verdery, Jr. and they married in 1944. After the war, Charlotte and Roy had a family and raised four children: Roy (Terry), Jim, Bill, and Mary Jane. While raising their kids, they lived in New Canaan, CT, Creve Coeur, MO, and in 1960 finally settled in La Habra Heights, CA. Growing up in Dorset, she was a member of the Dorset Congregational Church from childhood. In La Habra Heights, Charlotte and Roy were among the first members of Hillcrest Congregational Church (UCC) where she was a member for more than 60 years. At Hillcrest she was an early and devoted supporter of the Art Festival and Senior Care. She enjoyed discussing religion and its role in modern life with ministers in both La Habra Heights and Dorset. Charlotte was an avid reader and her bookshelves, overloaded with books and magazines, reflected this. She lamented having studied science in college to the exclusion of literature and humanities. She made up for this by reading subjects ranging from physics and ecology to science fiction and historical fiction. Among her favorite books was Science and Human Values by the nuclear physicist Bronowski. During the 1960s and ‘70s she actively participated in a Great Books of the Western World discussion group in Whittier. In recent years she often read mysteries and detective stories. Following family tradition, she had memorized poetry, and she inspired a love of poetry and recitation in her children. She encouraged her children to play musical instruments and pursue their creative and intellectual interests. Teaching was a big part of Charlotte's life. She started substitute teaching in 1966 and received her teaching credential in 1969. She taught both chemistry and math at Lowell High School in Whittier for almost 20 years. Although she lived almost 60 years in California, she maintained a lifelong love of Vermont, which she instilled in her children. Dorset summers Charlotte presided over the family Beanhole gathering for many years as “Queen Bean,” supervising the beans and ice cream. Though Roy started the Christmas Tree farm following the maxim, “Don't plant more trees than your wife can prune,” Charlotte continued the farm and pruned trees until she was 95. Roy died in 1983 and in 1987 Charlotte married Ed Lightfoot, acquiring a large second family in the “Lightfoot Gang,” to augment her “Verdery Clan.” She and Ed traveled to Europe and spent summers in Dorset. She said when she was young she had raised her children with her husband Roy, and she had grown old with her husband Ed. Ed died in 2004 and Charlotte lived in Dorset and on her hilltop in La Habra Heights with just her birds and fruit trees until Bill moved in with her in 2008. After that, Charlotte and Bill drove across the US 14 times (seven round trips) so that her beloved dog, Duncan, could travel with her. In 2008, at 87, she sailed in Belize with Terry and Marlene. In 2018, at 97, she traveled on a cruise up the Amazon, and in 2019, at 98, she cruised up the Nile. Bill looked after his Mom until 2019 when she moved to Mary Jane's home in Arlington. Among the Verderys, Charlotte leaves three surviving children: Roy (Terry) with wife Marlene in Tucson, AZ and their two children, Lori and David; Bill with partner Annette in Sedona, AZ and his three children, Suzie, Jennifer, and Will; and Mary Jane with husband Rheo in Arlington and their three children, April, Perry, and Skylar. Jim died in 2007 and his widow, Cam, lives in Seattle, WA. Among the Lightfoots, she leaves Ed's son, John and his wife, Joanie, and three grandchildren: Debbie, David, and Doug and their spouses. Charlotte has many great grandchildren and great great grandchildren from both her Verdery and Lightfoot families who considered her “Grandma Charlotte.” A Memorial service will be held at 4 PM on Saturday, August 6 at the Maple Hill Cemetery in Dorset, VT. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Dorset Church in Dorset VT c/o Brewster-Shea Funeral Service PO Box 885 Manchester Center, VT 05255.