Theda Politis

ROYALTON- Theda "Teddi" Louise Politis, 60, known to many as the "Purple Haired Lady," died Tuesday, July 17, 2007, peacefully at her home in Royalton, surrounded by her primary care-givers, Susan Knap and Pam Gaffin, and her many friends and family.

She was born in Pittsfield, Mass. June 12, 1947.

Survivors include her parents, Fr. Alexander and Dorothy Politis; her brother and his wife, Dr. Galen and Patti Politis; and their children, Garrett and Thea Politis, all of Pittsfield, Mass.; her sister and husband, Dari and Dr. Paul Forman, of Albion, Maine; their son, Seth Forman; and Theda's partner, Ted Jeske.

She graduated from Middlebury College in 1969. She worked as a school teacher and a federal safety and first aid instructor for Mines and Gavel Pits, later traveling in South America before returning to Vermont in 1977 and settling in Barnard and later Royalton. Each year, she would leave for St. John, USVI in the late fall to live with and care for her parents in their home on "Rainbow Ridge," high above Great Cruz Bay.

In the spring she returned to Vermont as the head gardener at Standing Stone Perennial Farm in Royalton, working with her friends, David Brandau, Lynne Hall and Jeanne McCullough during the gardening season and then moved to St. John where she worked as a snorkeling and hiking leader in the Virgin Islands National Park. She loved sailing with friends and family, especially in the Coral Bay Yacht Club race on Wednesdays.

An original "Rainbow Elf," she often returned to Vermont to help her long-time friend Steve Killam make maple syrup in Barnard. She loved nature and the outdoors, preferring to go barefoot most of the time. Picking strawberries, mangoes soursops, foraging for wild mushrooms, fiddleheads, coconuts or conch; she would share them with everyone she met. Always ready to dance and sing, she was a familiar fan to many area musicians and bands in Vermont and St. John.

One of her heart's desires was to trek from Nepal into Tibet to make a pilgrimage to Mt. Kailas, the holy mountain of Buddhists, Bonpos, Hindus, and Jains. The trip, planned for this August, will be completed by six friends from Vermont and St. John, carrying her ashes to the sacred mountain. She had a profound love for the Himalayas and the Tibetan people and religion. She enjoyed trekking among the high mountains of Zanskar and Ladakh in 1989 and into the Nepali kingdom of Mustang, around Annapurna and into the Everest region in 1992. She practiced the Buddhist ideals of compassion and loving kindness.

There will be no calling hours. Memorial services will be held at later dates in Royalton, and St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Memorial donations may be made to Hospice, c/o VNA-VNH, 66 Benning St. Suite, 6, Lebanon, NH 03748.