| Jennifer Batson Wilson
NEWBURY - Jennifer Batson Wilson, 58, of Newbury, New Hampshire, passed away peacefully, surrounded by the love of her family on August 18th, 2018.
Jennifer was born to Dorothy and Clinton Batson in Lincoln, Nebraska on November 7th, 1959. Jennifer and her two younger sisters, Carrie and Wendy, grew up in a military family, travelling around the country and developing special affinities for the national parks, and the states of Washington and New Hampshire, among others.
Jennifer attended Medical Lake High School near Spokane, Washington, where she first became friends with her future husband of almost 33 years, Greg, and then graduated from Oyster River High School in Durham, New Hampshire near the top of her class. She then attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where she earned her Bachelor of Art degree with distinction in English and rekindled her friendship with Greg during a Texas two-step dance in the student parking lot. The joke was always that they were “just friends”, because early on, they did not know they were destined to be soulmates. Jennifer enjoyed her time at Colby and built friendships that have lasted to this day.
Following college, Jennifer moved to Boston and worked at both Eaton Vance and SEI. More importantly, she reconnected with Greg, who was at the time working outside Boston at the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory. Jennifer and Greg fell in love, were married in 1985, and moved to New Hampshire to begin their family.
A true believer in and advocate of higher education, Jennifer completed a Master of Education degree at the University of New Hampshire in 1988. She would go on to work part and full-time over the course of 25 years supporting both college students and local youth as a Career Counselor at New England College, Special Education Instructor at James House Preschool and Assistant Librarian at Colby Sawyer College and Tracy Memorial Library.
More than her career, Jennifer valued her family. Shortly after moving to New Hampshire, Jennifer and Greg were blessed with two wonderful sons, Jeffrey in 1990, and Matthew in 1992. For the next 27 years, Jennifer devoted most of her time and energy to raising Jeff and Matt, always seeking to expand their horizons and enrich their lives with various extracurricular activities and family vacations filled with biking, kayaking and sightseeing. Jennifer lovingly and tirelessly supported her children and watched them complete college, enter graduate school and pursue meaningful careers to help others, following very much in her footsteps.
Jennifer had many distinctive qualities, but kindness, selflessness, and compassion were chief among them. She will long be remembered as an advocate for children with special needs, diversity and equal human rights. Jennifer received numerous heartfelt words of appreciation from the parents of children with special needs during and after her tenure at James House.
Among the many gifts that Jennifer shared with her family were her passion for nature, her desire to serve those less fortunate than herself, her love for her golden retrievers Travis and Luke, her passion for endangered turtles and monarch butterflies, her green thumb around the house, and her artistic grace, which was evidenced in mediums ranging from watercolor to the written word.
Jennifer is survived by her beloved husband Greg, her sons Jeff and Matt, her mother Dorothy, her sister Carrie Tremblay and husband Rich, her sister Wendy Gibson, husband Mark and children Laurel and Reed, parents-in-law Conrad and Connie, and brother-in-law Doug Wilson, wife Vicki and children Doug and Conrad Lee. She is predeceased by her father, Clinton Batson.
The family would like to express their sincere gratitude to the staff at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for their support over the last six years and the Lake Sunapee VNA and Hospice for their more recent guidance and compassion.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to one of the following organizations in Jennifer’s memory:
James House Preschool
114 Cougar Ct
New London, NH 03257
Sea Turtle Conservancy
4424 Northwest 13th Street Suite B-11
Gainesville, FL 32609
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)
P.O. Box 843721
Los Angeles, CA 90084
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