Polly Bosworth Whitcomb McEwing passed away peacefully on May 13, 2026 with her husband Bob at her side.

Polly was born at home in Bristol Vermont on December 12,1936, the daughter of Bernard and Pauline Sullivan Bosworth. She attended Burlington public schools and went on to graduate as an R.N. from the Mary Fletcher School of Nursing becoming a surgical nurse.

Polly and Ed Whitcomb eloped in1958 and she became an integral part of the Whitcomb Farm, capably taking on everything from the farm bookkeeping to driving a silage truck. In the days before public kindergarten she ran a private kindergarten from her home.

Polly served as the first Agricultural Director for the Vermont Land Trust, providing the perspective of both a dairy farmer and a detail oriented accountant. She was inducted into the Vermont Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2023.

Polly was a dedicated volunteer with the Red Cross, the Vermont Girl Scout Council and the Essex Jct.

Conservation Commission. She served as a founding board member of the Discovery Museum and was a licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator. It wasn’t unusual to have an injured owl resting in the family Christmas tree or baby raccoons bottle fed in the back kitchen.

For nearly 20 summers Polly ran the Champlain Valley Fair’s Dairy Center and if you knew her, odds are she recruited you to scoop ice cream and make milkshakes.

Ed predeceased Polly in 2000 and the following summer she began a new chapter in her life when she reconnected with Bob McEwing at the information booth at the Champlain Valley Fair. They were married at the fair a year later on opening day.

Polly was an adventurous traveler, first across the country with Ed in their motorhome and later around the world with Bob. Together she and Bob traveled extensively in Europe, particularly Scotland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. They also enjoyed vacations in Jamaica, Mexico, cruises throughout the Caribbean and throughout much of Canada.  One of her latest travel adventures was a trip to India for a grandson’s wedding in 2022, circumnavigating the globe.

Polly will be remembered as a loving and supportive parent and as a grandparent who embraced whatever the next generations were interested in. She was a firm believer in the importance of education and the value of family and she was a tireless supporter of Vermont agriculture.

Polly is survived by her husband Robert McEwing, her children Onan (Mary) Whitcomb, Lorenzo (Marybeth) Whitcomb and Margaret (Craig) Armstrong, a brother Kirk Bosworth, a sister Gael Stein, her grandchildren: Jessica Cook, Rebecca Allen, Benjamin Whitcomb, Zebulon Armstrong, Robyn Butler, Elizabeth Armstrong, Eli Armstrong, Cale Whitcomb, Max Whitcomb, Dane Whitcomb and Robyn and Travis Kendrew, Angus, Mackenzie, Mason, Airdin, Kevin, Rebecca and Daniel. She is also survived by eleven great grandchildren: Caroline and Tom Allen, Edward and Memphis Whitcomb, Andrew and Alex Cook, Sienna, Aiden, Syphera and Kia Butler and Evangeline Armstrong. She is also survived by her stepdaughters Sarah McEwing, Heather (Derrick) Kendrew, Susan (Tom) Kelly and stepson Andrew (Karen) McEwing and numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Polly’s life will be held at 4 p.m. June 3, 2026, in the Blue Ribbon Pavilion Building at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Jct.  Family burial will take place the following day. In lieu of flowers donations may be made the Stearn Center for Language and Learning,183 Talcott Road, Williston Vt. 05495 or University of Vermont Home Health and Hospice, 1110 Prim Road, Colchester Vt. 05446.