EAST MIDDLEBURY —Audrey Mary (Bodette) Newton, 88, of East Middlebury, passed away peacefully on October 20, 2022, at Porter Medical Center in Middlebury.
She was born in Middlebury on August 28, 1934, the daughter of Charles “Lee” and Katherine (Davis) Bodette. Audrey grew up in East Middlebury, where she received her early education and graduated from Middlebury High School, class of 1952.
She married Bernard Newton soon after, with whom she enjoyed 64 years of marriage until his passing in 2016. Audrey worked for many years as a Sales Clerk at the Ben Franklin Five and Dime store in Middlebury and also owned and operated a small convenience store, Newton’s Market, in East Middlebury alongside her husband for several years.
Audrey will mostly be remembered as a loving, loyal, and devoted caregiver not only to her husband and family but to many other children in her younger years and the elderly in her older years as a private caregiver and as a staff person at the Addison House, a community care home for the elderly. She will be largely remembered for her kindness, compassion, and warmth, particularly to young children, the elderly, and those with special needs.
When Audrey went grocery shopping in town, it was never a short trip—but one where she smiled and stopped for chats with other shoppers, offered encouragement to staff, and collected shopping carts from the parking lot.
Her sense of loyalty, commitment, respect for others, empathy, and sense of obligation for those in need served as a pillar of her family, and provided her children with a strong role model to “do unto others…” and also instilled a strong value of the importance of community.
In her younger years, Audrey enjoyed attending high school class reunions and enjoyed bringing home all of her classmate’s updates to her children at home. Audrey was an avid reader who frequented the Sarah Partridge Library in East Middlebury, where she also enjoyed leading the children’s story time for several years.
Audrey instilled a love of nature in her children and taught them to identify a wide variety of birds and local plants in the woods of Vermont. Audrey and her children enjoyed searching for running pine in the woods every fall to make their yearly Christmas wreaths by hand and even discovered a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree one year on one of their excursions.
Audrey also had a penchant for animals, particularly dogs and cats, and enjoyed leaving treats on her back porch for the neighborhood cats.
Although her friends and family will greatly miss her, she leaves behind a lasting legacy of thoughtfulness, generosity, love, and kindness that will continue to serve as an inspiration and one that will never be forgotten.
Audrey was predeceased by her loving husband of 64 years, Bernard E. Newton.
She is the loving mother of Michael Newton and his wife Elaine of East Middlebury, Dennis Newton and his wife Jolene of East Middlebury, Cory Newton and his wife Mystie of Leicester, and Lisa Newton and her husband Albert Solomon of Lexington, Ma.
Audrey is survived by six grandchildren; Joshua Newton (Stepheni), Jennifer Larocque (Tim), Reed and Rachel Solomon, and Brian and Maeve Newton; and five great-grandchildren; Christopher Ewell, Aisling and Finley Newton, and Caroline and David Larocque.
She is also survived by her brothers, Davis Bodette and Bruce Bodette (Jeannine); brother-in-law, William Newton (Carolyn Pallescki); and many nieces and nephews.
Audrey was predeceased by her parents, Katherine and Charles “Lee” Bodette; sister-in-law, Eileen Bodette; half-sister Jackie (Bodette) Severance and brother-in-law, Nelson Severance; and half-brother Chet Bodette and sister-in-law, Rhea (Larocque) Bodette.
The family would like to thank the staff of the Memory Care Unit at Helen Porter Healthcare and Rehabilitation, who provided loving care to Audrey for the last several years of her life.
Visiting hours will be held on Friday, October 28, from 4-6 at the Miller & Ketcham Funeral Home in Brandon.
The funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 29, at 10 a.m. at the Miller & Ketcham Funeral Home in Brandon. The graveside committal service and burial will follow at the family lot at Prospect Cemetery in East Middlebury.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made in her memory to Homeward Bound, Addison County’s Humane Society, 236 Boardman St., Middlebury, Vt. 05753.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Miller & Ketcham Funeral Home in Brandon. www.millerandketchamfuneralhome.com.
