Emma B Sherwin

WINTER HAVEN - Emma Gibson Sherwin, age 99, died Nov. 6, 2011 due to natural causes.

She was born April 4, 1912 in Plainfield, VT, daughter of John Scott and Alice Badger Gibson. After living in Danville, VT, the family moved to Newbury Center, VT, where she attended grade school. She was a graduate of Newbury High School, class of 1930, where she was recently recognized as its oldest living graduate.

Emma married Herbert C. Sherwin, principal of Newbury High School, in 1935 and remained in Newbury until 1944, when the family moved to Montpelier, VT for one year. In 1945, they moved to Wells River, VT, taking over a family business which had been established in 1867. Emma was a partner in F. Sherwin and Son until the death of her husband in 1968. At that time, she became the sole proprietor until she sold the business in 1977. She lived in North Haverhill, NH until 1985 when she moved to Winter Haven, FL.

Throughout her life, she was interested in antiques and participated in many yard sales, creating quilts and other decorative objects. In Winter Haven, she was known as "The Pickle Lady", due to the large volume of pickles she canned during her lifetime.

She was predeceased by her parents, four brothers and sisters (Orville Gibson, Scott Gibson, Eva McClintock, and Elsie Church), two husbands (Herbert C. Sherwin and Clarence F. Henderson), and a son, Herbert Gibson Sherwin. Survivors include a son, Richard R. Sherwin of Tallahassee, FL; a daughter, Carolyn Ann Thompson and her husband John of Winter Haven, FL; three grandsons, Michael, David and Jay Sherwin; ten great-grandchildren; and several nephews and nieces.

Visitation is Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011 from 3 to 4 p.m. at Ott-Laughlin Funeral Home, Winter Haven, with memorial services at 4 p.m. Burial will be in Oxbow Cemetery, Newbury, VT, at a later date. The family requests that donations in her memory be made to charities of one's choice.