Leona Carbino – April 17, 1923 – January 29, 2022
A life well lived perfectly describes the 98 years Leona enjoyed on this earth. The youngest of nine children, born on a dairy farm in Bombay, NY, she actually did walk two miles to school and back, and was raised by her father (William McGibbon) and older siblings when her mother (Adelaide Clark McGibbon) passed when she was very young.
After high school, she and her sister, Marge, lived and worked in Malone, NY and stories of their escapades would remind us of Lavern and Shirley. It was there she met Jim (James Carbino), who would become her husband for 47 years until he passed in 1997, and together they had three children, Norma Couture (John) of Keene, NH, Michael Carbino (Terri) of Ballston Spa, NY, and Jacqlyn Snow of Dummerston, VT.
They lived most of their married life in Hinsdale, where Leona was the consummate mom, working at the school while the kids were young, an active member of the PTA and Women’s Evening Club, and partaking or leading school fundraisers, including the money needed to buy new uniforms and send the Hinsdale High School Band to Washington, DC to march in the inaugural parade for Lyndon Johnson in 1965. She was the ultimate homemaker and was always waiting for her children to get home from school. She then went to work in Brattleboro and enjoyed her time at the Town Crier, the Woodcock Clinic in Guilford, and finished her working life at the age of 88 working at the State of Vermont Welcome Center. She loved this job – meeting people, giving directions and especially enjoyed the friends she made of her co-workers. The absolute joy of her life was her 5 grandchildren – Terri Phelps (Kyle), Jacob Snow and Rachel Snow of Greenfield, MA, Ashley Shaw (Pat) of East Greenbush, NY and Graig Carbino (Ashley) of Mechanicville, NY. There wasn’t a “nana” so involved in her grandkids’ lives or who enjoyed them more, and then she was lucky enough to have seven great-grandchildren (Alexa, Adam and Owen Phelps, Molly and Ryan Shaw, and Lucas and Harper Carbino).
We know she loved a party, loved to dance, was a lefty golfer, never missed a chance to be with family, called each of us on our birthday to sing (we laugh because she couldn’t sing), and at 4’11 was the strongest presence in our lives every day. There is nothing but love, admiration and adoration for this fabulous person, friend, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
The family especially thanks Maplewood Nursing Home for the past five years of care and kindness.
A celebration of Leona’s life will be held at the Cheshire Family Funeral Home,
44 Maple Ave, Keene, NH on Friday, February 11th at 5:30 p.m.
Friends, flowers and favorite memories are welcome.
