Veronica J. Winslow

Veronica J. Winslow, age 98, passed away peacefully at Calvert Manor Healthcare Center on April 7, 2015. She was born October 7, 1916, to Christof and Stella Vingsen in Wheeling WV. She had three older brothers: John, Stanley, and Frank. Her father died in the flu epidemic of 1918. Her mother later married Teofil Marczewski and her three sisters were born: Frances, Phyllis, and Mary. The family moved to the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, following work in the coal mines.

Veronica left school at an early age to help support her family. She worked as a domestic, caring for children and cooking. She learned variations in recipes from other cultures that heightened her culinary skills later in life. She met John Winslow and they married in 1937. He worked as a coal miner. They started their family and Christine, Michael, and Stanley were born. Both John and Veronica (Verna) experienced agricultural life as they were growing up and they bought their own family farm in 1948. It was 40 acres on top of a mountain in Harding, PA. Here they raised practically all their family’s food, to include vegetables, fruit, meat, and dairy products. Each fall canned goods filled the shelves in the cellar.

While John worked in the mines, Verna worked tirelessly tending gardens and livestock plus maintaining the household. When the mines started closing and jobs became scarce, she worked as a machine operator in dress factories where she was known for her speed and work ethic.

Although diminutive in size, Verna never shrunk from standing up for her rights, no matter who the adversary might be. She taught her children to work hard and accept responsibility. While both she and John left school early to help support their families, they both emphasized to their children the importance of education and of reading. Verna would buy boxes of books at estate auctions and a wide variety of reading material was always available in their home. The given assumption in the household was that the children would continue education beyond high school and they were very proud that all three graduated from college.

Verna and John were married for sixty-four years until his death in 2001. She left her beloved farm and moved to Colora, MD, in 2003 to be near her son Michael. The onset of Alzheimer’s’ Disease prompted her residency in 2005 at Calvert Manor Healthcare Center where she received attentive and loving care.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her daughter and son-in-law, Christine and Sam Scafidi of Camp Hill, PA. She is survived by sons Michael and wife Georgeann Winslow of Colora, MD, Stanley and wife Jane Winslow of Kailua, HI, eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

At Veronica’s request, services will be private at the convenience of the family. If desired, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association and mailed to R.T. Foard Funeral Home, P.A., 111 S. Queen St., Rising Sun, MD 21911.