Ms Holcombe’s Memory Has Old Friends Smiling At Garden Dedication

By Kendra Bobowick

With laughter and warm memories, Josephine Holcombe was remembered and celebrated on September 22 while shadows fell on the land that was once her home. Part of that property is now home to the recently planted Holcombe Memorial Garden.

Gathering on the land that Ms Holcombe left to Newtown Forest Association (NFA) at 55 Great Hill Road, association members and guests celebrated the new garden and the ten-year anniversary of Ms Holcombe’s legacy.

Native species speckled the small beds bordering the former home that now serves as the forest association’s headquarters as part of an initiative to educate residents about native plants, enhance the property, and encourage guests to visit.

Stopping to speak with several people noticing the view from one of Newtown’s highest elevations, association member Robert Eckenrode noted Ms Holcombe’s generosity, pointed to the garden and said, “We want to carry it forward. We’re being more proactive with sharing and educating with the property.”

Association Treasurer Guy Peterson said, “We asked several people to speak about her. From what I understand she was a humble and giving person. The evening’s dedication might have been more than the former owner would have preferred, however.”

Two of her close friends agreed.

“She didn’t like to be recognized,” Barbara Kershaw said. She considered other guests sharing quiet pockets of conversation, and turned her attention to the gardens.

“I knew Josephine. She loved nature, animals, deer, and life,” Ms Kershaw said. “Flowers are just another part of it.”

As fellow guest Doug Rogers nodded his agreement to Ms Kershaw’s observations, memories of Ms Holcombe stretched his smile as he and Ms Kershaw traded memories.

“She had a house in Puerto Rico. I went with her and we stopped in Miami,” said Mr Rogers. “We walked through the airport terminal and she overheard a conversation between a ticket agent and another person.” A language barrier had made the conversation between the two difficult, Mr Rogers recalled. Ms Holcombe was able to translate. “They couldn’t talk to each other and she went over to interpret.”

Remembering a day when Ms Holcombe was ill, and she and Ms Kershaw were driving to the hospital, Ms Kershaw said, “She was about to pass out…but she said, ‘I have to stop and get you a sandwich, you haven’t eaten.’ She was an old-world woman.”

Upon her death in 1997, Ms Holcombe generously left to the NFA her 89-acre property and her  primary residence at 55 Great Hill Road, now known as the Holcombe Wildlife Preserve. In addition to this gift Ms Holcombe previously donated to the NFA 62 acres in 1987 and 14 acres in 1966, collectively referred to as the Holcombe Memorial Trail.

This was a sacred place to Ms Holcombe where all of her pets were laid to rest.

The garden’s goals include preserving the legacy of 86 acres entrusted to the forest association by Ms Holcombe, sharing the natural resources of its properties with residents of Newtown and the surrounding communities, and providing opportunities for environmental education including guided hikes and activities geared toward explaining the value of the natural world.