1925
Joseph
2015
Joseph Zabrosky
August 1, 1925 — April 17, 2015
Joe Zabrosky of St. Johnsbury passed away Friday, April 17, 2015 at the age of 89. He received wonderful care while at the St. Johnsbury Health and Rehab Center for the past month.
Joe was born to Stanley and Stella (Patla) Zabrosky in Boston, Mass. on Aug. 1, 1925. Upon the death of his father as a young boy, his mother raised her three boys in South Boston during the Great Depression. He was known to take the quarter he was given to go get a haircut and instead buy a bleacher seat at Fenway Park!
Joe enlisted in the Army radio corps in 1946 and was stationed in Italy. He was able to travel throughout Europe and even met Ernest Hemingway in the Italian Alps. After being honorably discharged in April of 1948, he was employed at Raytheon Corp. as a quality control magnetron inspector of the first microwave tubes. There he met Mary Thatcher Milligan and they married Sept. 13, 1953. They decided they wanted to raise their two daughters in a more wholesome environment and escape the hectic pace of suburban Boston. So they purchased a 150 hill farm in Passumpsic in the fall of 1956.
The first winter Joe and Mary shared the farmhouse with the Holbrooks from whom they purchased the property and learned the basics of dairy farming. Joe found a co-career as a candy maker at Maple Grove Farms where he was employed over 30 years. Joe learned many lessons about farming and rural life, many the hard way, but they managed to succeed and thrive on Keyser Hill Farm. He particularly enjoyed haying, cutting firewood, taking dips in the wooden barrel (continually filled from a stream adjacent to the farm house with near freezing water!), and filling the two woodstoves to keep the house as hot as possible in the winter.
Joe always enjoyed a joke. A memorable one was when his daughter Jayne and longtime neighbor and friend Armando Bona put several spiny hornpout into the soaking barrel. Joe found a big surprise on that hot afternoon! Joe and Mary enjoyed 35 years together until she lost her battle with cancer July 28, 1988.
Joe retired from Maple Grove in 1990 and found comfort and companionship with Celia Lamontagne of St. Johnsbury. Joe and Celia were married May 25, 1991. They enjoyed traveling throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe during their retirement years. Joe was predeceased last year by his older daughter, Beth Cesare, and earlier by his brothers Stanley and Frank.
He is survived by his wife Celia Zabrosky, daughter Jayne Phelps and husband Keith of Passumpsic; three grandchildren: Forrest Cesare and wife Dianna of Wolcott, Connecticut, Rebecca Washburn of Duluth, Georgia, and Ethan Phelps of Stockbridge, Vermont; three great-grandchildren: Tyler Winslow and Alexa Washburn both of Duluth, Georgia, and Alice Mae Phelps of Stockbridge, Vermont; Celia's brother Paul Lamontagne and wife Lorraine of Colchester, Celia's sister Alice Goyette and her husband Francis of St. Johnsbury; nieces and nephews.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Johnsbury next week, Thursday, April 30, at 11 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church. Burial will follow at the Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Visiting hours will be held the evening before from 6-8 p.m.
Memorial contributions Good Shepherd School, 121 Maple St., St. Johnsbury VT 05819; or marked for 'Hospice,' payable to 'Caledonia Home Health', 161 Sherman Dr., St. Johnsbury VT 05819.
Joe was born to Stanley and Stella (Patla) Zabrosky in Boston, Mass. on Aug. 1, 1925. Upon the death of his father as a young boy, his mother raised her three boys in South Boston during the Great Depression. He was known to take the quarter he was given to go get a haircut and instead buy a bleacher seat at Fenway Park!
Joe enlisted in the Army radio corps in 1946 and was stationed in Italy. He was able to travel throughout Europe and even met Ernest Hemingway in the Italian Alps. After being honorably discharged in April of 1948, he was employed at Raytheon Corp. as a quality control magnetron inspector of the first microwave tubes. There he met Mary Thatcher Milligan and they married Sept. 13, 1953. They decided they wanted to raise their two daughters in a more wholesome environment and escape the hectic pace of suburban Boston. So they purchased a 150 hill farm in Passumpsic in the fall of 1956.
The first winter Joe and Mary shared the farmhouse with the Holbrooks from whom they purchased the property and learned the basics of dairy farming. Joe found a co-career as a candy maker at Maple Grove Farms where he was employed over 30 years. Joe learned many lessons about farming and rural life, many the hard way, but they managed to succeed and thrive on Keyser Hill Farm. He particularly enjoyed haying, cutting firewood, taking dips in the wooden barrel (continually filled from a stream adjacent to the farm house with near freezing water!), and filling the two woodstoves to keep the house as hot as possible in the winter.
Joe always enjoyed a joke. A memorable one was when his daughter Jayne and longtime neighbor and friend Armando Bona put several spiny hornpout into the soaking barrel. Joe found a big surprise on that hot afternoon! Joe and Mary enjoyed 35 years together until she lost her battle with cancer July 28, 1988.
Joe retired from Maple Grove in 1990 and found comfort and companionship with Celia Lamontagne of St. Johnsbury. Joe and Celia were married May 25, 1991. They enjoyed traveling throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Europe during their retirement years. Joe was predeceased last year by his older daughter, Beth Cesare, and earlier by his brothers Stanley and Frank.
He is survived by his wife Celia Zabrosky, daughter Jayne Phelps and husband Keith of Passumpsic; three grandchildren: Forrest Cesare and wife Dianna of Wolcott, Connecticut, Rebecca Washburn of Duluth, Georgia, and Ethan Phelps of Stockbridge, Vermont; three great-grandchildren: Tyler Winslow and Alexa Washburn both of Duluth, Georgia, and Alice Mae Phelps of Stockbridge, Vermont; Celia's brother Paul Lamontagne and wife Lorraine of Colchester, Celia's sister Alice Goyette and her husband Francis of St. Johnsbury; nieces and nephews.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Johnsbury next week, Thursday, April 30, at 11 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church. Burial will follow at the Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Visiting hours will be held the evening before from 6-8 p.m.
Memorial contributions Good Shepherd School, 121 Maple St., St. Johnsbury VT 05819; or marked for 'Hospice,' payable to 'Caledonia Home Health', 161 Sherman Dr., St. Johnsbury VT 05819.
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