Constance C. Skewes

The Skewes family is sad to announce the passing of Connie, our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother after a short period of declining health. She was surrounded by her family when she passed away peacefully on May 20, 2021.

Constance Conant Boyd was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1934, the youngest child of Fred and Doris Boyd. She was predeceased by her siblings Roger, Paul, and Jean. She had a delightful childhood and graduated from Concord Academy for Girls. After one year at Wheelock College, Connie met John G. "Jack" Skewes, the love of her life, and soon after she interrupted her college career to marry Jack and begin 68 years of marriage and start a family.

Their children, Linda Kennedy of Norwich, Vt (Doug); John Skewes Jr. of Kensington, NH (Joan); Nancy Liddle of Sylva, NC (Matt); and David Skewes of Canaan, NH (Susan) remember fantastic camping adventures, her evolving career as a teacher, painter, and potter, and every card or letter signed, "Lots of Love, Mom." It was tremendous fun for her to do it all over again with grandchildren Lindsay Kennedy of Avon, CO (Justin Wohlrabe); Elena Kennedy of Boulder CO (Bradley Michalchuk); Eva Skewes of New Haven, CT; Hannah Liddle Kreider of Charleston, SC (Mason Kreider); and Jack Liddle of Asheville, NC. Their "Grammy days" were filled with crafts, baking projects, and play with her beloved dogs. She proudly celebrated their successes and encouraged them through challenges. Her kitchen walls are covered with photos of the great grandsons, Oliver and Finn, who are Elena's kids. She looked forward to every visit.

When her children were nearly grown and independent, Connie chose to go back to college to earn a bachelor's degree in art education from Goddard College, in part so she could be fairly compensated for the work she had been doing for years as an elementary art teacher in Upper Valley schools. The experiences at Goddard gave her time to deepen her own art practice and explore her interests in painting and pottery. Her successful career as an art student and college graduate gave us all tremendous pride, as she graduated before any of her children did and managed this while working a full-time job. Connie became the art educator at the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College where she developed the lively program that exposed busloads of school children from the Upper Valley and beyond to the art exhibitions at the Hood in a "see and do" format that included hands-on art-making in the style of what they were seeing.

Connie had a delightful wit and had a knack for saying exactly what was on her mind. She was voracious reader and a loyal borrower at Howe Library. She was a wonderful cook, avid knitter, and a natural gardener. Connie has many friends who enjoyed her her warm smile, blue eyes, and love of lively conversation.

In her retirement years, she and Jack spent winters at their second home on Hilton Head Island, where instead of painting the mountains and rivers of the Upper Valley, she painted the beautiful marshes and other tideland treasures. Most recently, they were inaugural residents at The Woodlands in Lebanon NH where she and Jack have lived for ten years.

In 2002, Connie wrote a reflection on her life for inclusion in a Concord Academy reunion book and her own words say it best. "I loved teaching and I loved being a museum educator"€"now that I'm retired, I find a richness in my imagination that is allowing me to do things with my own art that I had only hoped to do"€" it astonishes me sometimes to see it on paper"€" "did I really do that?" But none of this would have had as much meaning to me without Jack Skewes as my partner in life. Our four children and five grandchildren have been an enrichment we couldn't have imagined."

Burial will be private and celebration of Connie's life with family and friends will be held later.