Mona (Havill) Hoadley, 97, died January 13, 2020 in Woodstock, VT. She was born in Woodstock on May 26, 1922, the youngest daughter of Charles H. and Clara V. (Benson) Havill. She was a first generation American, her parents having immigrated from England and Sweden, respectively.

Her elementary education was at the Pelton School on Church Hill and the So. Woodstock School, walking the long distance to school with her sisters every day. She graduated from Woodstock High School in the class of 1941.

Mona's father died when she was eight years old and she and her siblings were expected to help out with all the gardening and farm work. The girls picked wild berries to sell for their spending money. When she and her mother were the last ones left on the farm, she hand milked the cows before and after school, took care of the other animals, learned to scythe the hay, helped with the gardening and housework while her mother worked outside the home to earn a living. This is where she learned life's lessons, the value and necessity of hard work, and the meaning of responsibility. She helped her mother do domestic work in various homes in the area and the evenings were spent hand sewing cuffs on sweaters by kerosene light for The Kedron Knitting Mill in So. Woodstock.

At one of the many dances she attended at the Orion Grange Hall in So. Woodstock, Mona met Darwin Hoadley. They were married on Sept. 27, 1941, living in So. Woodstock for 62 years before moving to an apartment in So. Pomfret and then to The Homestead in Woodstock. Darwin died in 2011 after nearly 70 years of marriage. They enjoyed working together and had many adventures. If you saw one of them, the other wasn't far away.

Mona worked at the Kedron Knitting Mill, then in 1952 started as a part-time clerk in the So. Woodstock Post Office, taking over as full-time Postmaster in 1972, retiring in 1982. During this time she also did domestic work for various summer people in and around So. Woodstock, was the janitor at the So. Woodstock School until it closed, helped Darwin work at the Methodist Cemetery where he was Sexton, and was a very involved member of the So. Woodstock community. She was never one to sit still and do nothing, always on the go, hence, her family nickname "The Energizer Bunny". Her life was work hard, waste nothing and enjoy time with family and friends.

She was a member of St. James Episcopal Church, the Sugar House Swingers, the Long Hill Snowmobile Club, the So. Woodstock Community Club, the So, Woodstock Homemakers, the Vermont Old Cemetery Assoc., Secretary of the So. Woodstock Methodist Burying Ground Assoc., and Treasurer for 17 years of the Green Mountain Perkins Academy.

Mona was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She cherished the people in her life and gave her time and energy selflessly to them and to the community. She loved cooking and baking, trying new recipes, often giving most of it away. She kept up her mother's traditions by baking many Swedish treats for the holidays. She enjoyed playing cards, reading, puzzles, watching Red Sox games, sewing, crocheting, and embroidery work. She was always ready to travel and did so many times with the Sugarhouse Swingers Square Dance Club, dancing in different states. The appearance of the house, in and out, was important to her as evidenced by her prolific vegetable garden, asparagus bed, raspberry patch, and her many beautiful flower beds. Both of them having grown up on a farm enjoyed their "mini farm" where at different times of the year there were cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, young oxen, dogs, and cats. A baby goat and a rabbit completed it for their daughter. They raised their own meat and vegetables and had plenty of milk and butter. Mona was considered the best butter maker in So Woodstock bartering it for something they didn't have at the time. Mona enjoyed the outdoors, spring was the time to walk in the woods looking for spring flowers and searching for wild edibles, summer was berrying of all kinds, and autumn was picking apples and butternuts, winter was feeding the birds, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. Gifts of jams. jellies, pickles, butternut meats, Swedish cookies and rosettes were welcomed by many friends and family at Christmas time. She tried always to live her life to the fullest.

Mona is survived by a daughter, Marie and husband, Tyler Bean of Orleans, VT, a granddaughter, Jennifer and husband, Werner Bartlau of Cambridge, VT, a grandson, Gregory Bean and wife, Kirstina of Newport, VT, three great grandsons, Thomas Bartlau and wife, Jessica of West Palm Beach, FL, Chandler Martin of Jacksonville, FL and Jacob Bean of Newport, VT, one great granddaughter, Morgan Bartlau of Cambridge, VT, many nieces and nephews, and three special people in her life, Diane, Arlene and Ham who she enjoyed being with. She was predeceased by her husband, Darwin, two brothers, Charles Havill and Carl Havill, and four sisters, Alice Benjamin, Eleanor Rutherford, Clara Wright, and Lillian Barber and her only cousin she knew in America, Margaret (Benson) Lively.

At Mona's request there will be no calling hours. A graveside service at Riverside Cemetery in Woodstock, VT will be held at a later date where she will join the love of her life dancing into his waiting arms.

If you wish to make a donation in her memory she has chosen the Kings Daughters, P.O. Box 765, Woodstock, VT. 05091 or the Woodstock Community Food Shelf, P.O. Box 570, Woodstock, VT. 05091

Arrangements are under the direction of the Cabot Funeral Home. An on line guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com