Jennifer Mertens Brock of Woodstock, Vermont died peacefully on July 20, 2023 at Cedar Hill Continuing Care Community in Windsor, Vermont, following a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She was 92 years old. She is survived by her six children, nineteen grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren. Jennifer was born in New York City, educated at Bennington, Carleton and Colby Sawyer colleges and married Peter Brock in 1953. His career took them through numerous postings in the mid-Atlantic states; Wilmington, Delaware; Brussels, Belgium and ultimately Buckinghamshire, England where the two spent 37 years working, teaching and farming, raising ducks, sheep, ponies, countless dogs and becoming beloved members of their rural village community. In 2012 they moved to Woodstock, long the home of Jennifer's parents Gertrude and Robert Mertens and a gathering place for five generations of the extended family.

Along the way, Jennifer acquired two advanced degrees in teaching and counseling, worked in a variety of school, day care, and community organizations, usually with early childhood education and counseling for recent immigrants. When not focusing on children or the underserved in her community,  Jen also applied herself to a wide spectrum of crafts, becoming an accomplished, seamstress, rug maker, stenciller and watercolor painter.

Jen was known for her uncompromising commitment to fairness, justice and generosity, her straight talk, irreverent sense of humor and irrepressibly warm affection, especially for the smaller creatures of the world, that even Alzheimer's could scarcely dim. She showered her children, grandchildren, extended family and countless friends with deep caring and tireless support and received a generous share of the same from the team of skilled and loving caregivers that saw her through her final years. We will miss her terribly.

Memorial Donations may be made to Doctors Without Borders. https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/secure/donate-psearch-onetime-reverse-sitelink-2?ms=ADD2301U3U49&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=BRAND.MSF_CKMSF-BRAND.MSF-GS-STLK-ALL-VAR-BO-ALL-STLK-eCardSTLK-ONETIME&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwzo2mBhAUEiwAf7wjktE6Uf11DQ5j-CKsVag3ShL-yLVsT16WkOJSOUnBlysgfd99541XSBoCz2QQAvD_BwE