Hershall Whipple

Hershall Whipple, 82, of Wolcott passed away at his home on September 25, 2019 after a short struggle with cancer.  Hershall was born on May 22, 1937 in Hardwick to Delmer and Pauline (Gonyaw) Whipple.  One of eight surviving siblings (sister Doris passed away as a baby) Hershall grew up, played at, and worked on a dairy farm in the hills of Wolcott where the family farmed, maple sugared, and logged to make their living.  When Hershall was a very young adult, the family patriarch, Delmer, passed away and the farm was sold.  Hershall went on to work various jobs in farming, logging, and helping to build Interstate 91 through Vermont.  He was a life long bachelor, eventually settling in Winooski, VT and lived with his mother next door to his sister Shirley and her family.  While in Winooski, he worked mostly as an auto and truck mechanic for various service garages including R.R. Charlebois Trucking, Inc.  

Retirement would see Hershall move back to the hills of Wolcott, to a home located on the family farm where he helped his brother Earl with dairy farming.  Hershall was a consummate Vermonter, quiet and unassuming in nature but always willing to lend a hand to someone in need.

Hershall was never more at home than when he was in the woods.  He loved to hunt and spent many seasons with his brothers, Alton and Everette, roaming the hills in Wolcott and Craftsbury as well as the rugged areas now known as the Steam Mill Brook Wildlife Management Area in Walden, Vermont where he harvested a 14pt., 246lb. buck in 1966.  It would be the biggest of many.  A master woodsman, Hershall had an unfailing sense of direction and never carried a compass with him.  Even until recently, Hershall would strike out on a hike through the woods, sometimes rescuing a trinket or artifact from an old, abandoned homestead or log yard.  Deeply sensitive, he would often wonder about the history of such places and the people that lived, worked, and died there.  Hershall would often say "I like the woods, it's quiet there!"  

Hershall was predeceased by his mother Pauline, father Delmer, brothers Earl, Arthur, Everette and his wife Irene, brother-in-law Tad Trombly, and sister Doris.  Hershall is survived by sisters Shirley Thuren of South Burlington, Pricilla Stacy or Monson, MA, Pearl Whittemore and her husband Don of Aurora, IL, brother Alton and his wife Gisselle of Derby, VT, sister-in-law Jeannine Whipple of Wolcott, VT.  He is also survived by many nieces and nephews, great and great-great nieces and nephews.  Hershall and his quiet but forever wild spirit will be dearly missed.

A committal service for Hershall will be held at the Fairmount Cemetery in Wolcott on Thursday, October 3, 2019 at 2pm.  The des Groseilliers Funeral Home is in care of arrangements.  Online condolences may be conveyed to Hershall's family at dgfunerals.com.

"It is not the length of life, but the depth of life." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Hershall Whipple, please visit our floral store.