Burial Date
Obituaries » PRISCILLA M. JESTES
JESTES, PRISCILLA MAE BREWSTER, of Northfield, mother of four, grandmother of five, great-grandmother of five, and friend to many, shed this earthly coil on November 11. Her four children were at her bedside, no doubt giving her something to fuss about until the end. She was born Aug. 25, 1929, in Bennington, to Robert and Cecile (Tetreault) Brewster. She attended Burr and Burton Seminary and Fisher College in Boston. While working in Manhattan, she met a dashing Columbia University graduate student from Tennessee who swept her off her feet. On Dec. 20, 1951, she married Dallas Alden Jestes. They lived in Virginia and Massachusetts but spent the balance of their years in Northfield, where Dallas taught English for 37 years at Norwich University, and Priscilla worked for 28 years as a secretary in the math and engineering departments at Norwich. Her husband, parents and sisters, Virginia Coy and Roberta Brewster, predeceased Priscilla. She is survived by her four children: Mark Jestes, West Pawlet; Melissa Jestes (Ron) Cosser, Syracuse, N.Y.; Amy Jestes (Leon) Graves, Marcellus, N.Y.; and Seth Jestes, Northfield. She is additionally survived by her brother, Charles (Barbara) Brewster, Manchester Center, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and countless friends. Priscilla loved her vegetable garden. She wore her Birkenstocks all through the Vermont winter, was a mythical Rockette, fearless cook and the paragon of frugality. She loved her cats, a good bargain and a dry martini. Mostly, she tried to make her family and friends comfortable and comforted. She was polite to a fault and did her best to raise her children to have a strong work ethic and kind hearts.
