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Of Family And Faith Sharing Memories With Eleanor Pratt

photo by Photo Provided Four generations strong, Eleanor Pratt’s family is the light of her life and her joy! Seen here with Eleanor are daughter Ellen, grand daughter Sara and great-grandchild number 9 Nova!

photo by Photo Provided Getting her nursing degree in 1943, Eleanor shared memories of a life time of working with others!

photo by Photo Provided At 92.5 years young, Eleanor Pratt loves to attend senior luncheons and to keep up with people and their family!

photo by Photo Provided Born in Panton, Eleanor, her brother Spencer and her parents lived on a dairy farm.

Tuesday August 19, 2014

By Cookie Steponaitis

It was a crisp autumn morning on October 17, 1921 when Eleanor made her appearance into the world joining her brother Spencer and their parents on their Panton farm. While Eleanor remembers feeding calves as a young child the farm that she grew up on was small by Vermont standards today with less than fifty cows. The farm had no running water or internal plumbing and Eleanor remarked that her parents must have thought they died and went to heaven when the family moved in 1944 to a home with both. Eleanor attended a one room school house in east Panton and does not recollect any one subject being her favorite but spoke with great affection for one teacher who did a lot for the girls and even took them on field trips to Burlington.
    It was during her sophomore year of high school when Eleanor made her up mind to be a nurse and took the required biology, Latin, anatomy and other classes graduating from the Mary Fletcher School of Nursing in 1943. She was not even home a day or two when she got a call from Doctor Goodrich that there was a local man who had a severe case of pneumonia and needed nursing. “I immediately went out to take care of that patient,” shared Eleanor, “and after he was better I returned home to find another call and another case already waiting for me.” Eleanor worked through Dr. Goodrich and Porter Hospital for three and a half years and stepped down from nursing shifts with the birth of her first child Richard but never really stopped nursing. Over the years community members, friends and family would find themselves in need and Eleanor and others of her generation would always respond. Whether it was caring for someone with cancer, leukemia, simply giving a shot or working with a new mother or sick child, Eleanor would respond and help. Other occasions found her in school helping the public school nurse.
    Eleanor married Wilbur Pratt in 1944 and the couple settled on his parents’ farm in Addison. She knew Wilbur in high school but it was not until the pair spent time dating with fellow nursing student Polly and her new husband Charles Reed that the couple became serious. Charles and Polly in fact stood up for them when they married. The couple had four children, Richard, Nancy, Wynne and Ellen who still live in proximity to Eleanor and her now 9 grand-children and  10 great grandchildren. Raising her family on a farm was ideal in Eleanor’s mind because it allowed them a lifestyle that included being outside and learning to help each other as a family. The two oldest children had chores on the farm and as the younger children grew they learned from their siblings. Whether it was sharing memories of 4-H or simply family meals, Eleanor smiles and her eyes sparkle as she recounts memory after memory. For Eleanor it is simple; it is family that is her heart.
    While many would cite the computer as the event changing their lifetime the most, Eleanor quickly pointed out the life changing event of the Tri-Town Water District as revolutionizing lives and agriculture in the valley. “ We had our own water system on the farm,” shared Eleanor, “ but I can honestly tell you of many nights and bitterly cold mornings watching Wilbur walk out across the fields to the pump house to  have to fix this or that.I know, and this was before my time, they used to drive the cows down to the lake once a day to drink. The ability to have dependable water supplies changed how we lived and how we farmed.
Eleanor is a woman of strong faith and speaks quietly but with great resolve of her commitment to both the United Methodist Women’s Group and Church and the Addison Corner Baptist Church which have both been a part of her life for many years. “I treasure my memories of our women’s groups and missions,” recollected Eleanor, “and when I was a delegate to the Troy Conference at Green Mountain College. Our group always was working on quilts, raffles and supporting women’s missions to Africa and other projects. It was incredibly fun and important to me to work with others who were also focused on helping people and bringing about change.”
Eleanor brings the interview back to a date in her life that was pivotal with family never far from her heart and mind. It was December 19, 1984 when her youngest daughter gave birth to triplets and the day that would shape Eleanor’s future. Her husband Wilbur had just passed away a few months earlier and she helped care for the triplets and raise them. They lived in a multi-generational setting growing up with Eleanor in their lives on a daily basis. Eleanor all but sparkles as she recounts tales of the triplets as they grew and their lives now. Eleanor is walking cornucopia of local history and relations and can provide at a moment’s notice the lineage of different families and where they are today.
While she voluntarily gave up driving at the age of 90, Eleanor looks at her upcoming 93rd birthday with a bit of awe. “I always told myself that I would live as long as my grandmother who traveled back and forth to Florida each year driving herself,” shared Eleanor, “and she lived to 85. I never expected to live this long, but I must say I am happy to be here. It is such a joy to watch and be a part of the lives of all of the children, no matter the event.” At 92.5 years young, Eleanor Pratt is grounded in her beliefs, family and her love of both.

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