PIERMONT — For those who knew her, and most people in town did, there was a simple truth about Abby Metcalf: No one worked harder or enjoyed it more.

Metcalf and her husband, John, were best known as the owners of the Piermont Plant Pantry, which they started in the early 1970s. In spite of the long hours of a farming life, Metcalf always found time to roll up her sleeves and share her time and talents with her community.

The varied roles of Piermont School Board member, town clerk, cemetery trustee, chairwoman of Piermont’s 250th Anniversary Committee and the town’s first female volunteer firefighter only scratch the surface of all that Metcalf did. She even drove a school bus for a few years.

“She was a gal of immeasurable energy,” her close friend of more than 45 years, Eileen Belyea, said in an email. “Up early, raised wonderful children, worked the farm and gardens and still found time to serve the town in many capacities. And yet, at the end of the day, could beat you at any card game played.”

Metcalf, who died at the age of 78 at the Jack Byrne Center in Lebanon on Jan, 4, 2025 after a period of declining health, grew up on a dairy farm in the New Hampshire town of Northwood with her parents, Helen F. (Bartlett) and Norman T. Johnson, and two siblings, Peter and Tom.

Love for farming was in Metcalf’s blood from an early age and her parents instilled in her a strong work ethic, said Tom Johnson, who still lives in Northwood. She was part of 4-H, showed dairy cows and sheep at local fairs.

When she was old enough, Metcalf began scooping ice cream at the family business, Johnson’s Dairy Bar, and also waited tables and worked the grill.

“Many times at the end of work at the dairy bar, she would go home, change her uniform and if the rest of the family was haying a field and it looked like rain she would come and help hay,” Johnson said. “Work, work, work.”

After high school, where she was on the basketball and softball teams and played the flute, Metcalf earned a teaching degree from Plymouth State College in 1968 and taught in Merrimack, N.H. and at the Piermont Village School.

Her eventual husband, John, was the brother of her college roommate. After they were married in 1970, Metcalf was able to pursue her dream of a farming life.

“She liked to say she grew up farming, she wanted to be a farmer but women in that era weren’t allowed to farm on their own so she had to go to college and become a teacher,” Metcalf’s daughter, Abigail Underhill, said.

Underhill, who lives in Piermont, said farming was more than a way for her mother to make a living; it was her passion and that passion was in evidence every day with the hours she worked.

“She just loved farming and work was what got her out of bed in the morning,” said Underhill. “Essentially she lived to work and she wanted us kids to experience farm life. She just did so much it is hard to know where to start.”

The Metcalf property had been a farm in John’s family for generations. In 1974, Abby and John, who predeceased her, began Piermont Plant Pantry with two greenhouses and a bountiful garden with squash, pumpkins, strawberries and sweet corn. It grew steadily to include a small beef herd, chickens and turkeys.

In 1979, Metcalf bought a herd of goats and named the operation the Udder Dairy Place, selling the milk and making a small curd cheese. Her daughter remembers kidding season in February, March and April on the farm with a lot of baby goats that needed to be bottle fed.

“There were so many, our mom would come to school, pick up her kids and other kids and bring them to the farm to help feed the baby goats,” said Underhill. In addition to their daughter, the Metcalfs also had two sons, Asa and Ai. Ai died in 2023.

Joan Robie was a young teen when Metcalf hired her at the Plant Pantry in 1975. She worked there through her college years while studying agriculture at the University of New Hampshire. Robie watched the business grow to 18 greenhouses full of annuals planted every March.

“I loved working with Abby,” Robie said. “I would always strive to work as hard as she did but I am not sure I was ever successful at that. She was one of my best friends in my life.”

Robie still marvels at Metcalf’s energy and her ability to get so much out of every day.

“I played summer league softball and our games began about 6:30,” Robie said. “I would look over and here comes Abby and her kids coming across the field to watch after a 12-hour day on the farm. She somehow seemed to find the time for an incredible amount of things to do in each day. She went in 100 different directions.”

Though the Metcalfs did not grow hay, Robie said Metcalf and her farm help would pitch in for local farmers during haying season.

“All over Piermont, our group would be throwing hay bales and loading hay,” Robie said.

While Metcalf loved work, she knew how to take a break and have some fun. “We always found something to laugh about every day,” Robie said.

On hot days on the farm, Metcalf might stop work, pile her children and others working at the farm in the van and head to the local swimming hole to cool off.

The plant pantry, which closed following Metcalf’s death, was more than simply a business. Metcalf created an inviting place for the community where she shared her love of flowers and held events such as an annual pumpkin lighting.

The annual event began by the family carving pumpkins to place around the greenhouses and barns. Within 10 years, the event had grown to include as many as 1,000 pumpkins. They invited community members to help with the carving and to walk around looking at the glowing creations, Underhill said.

Still, Metcalf was never too busy to teach others about farming, Belyea said.

Belyea, who taught at the Piermont Village School, would bring her classes to the greenhouses for a tour.

“This would be during her busiest time in May or early June, but she never failed to give all the time the children needed and they left proudly carrying their own marigold,” Belyea recalled.

Tim Cole was the Piermont Fire Chief from 1980 to 1998, and remembers when Metcalf became the town’s first female volunteer firefighter.

“She lived in town, close to the fire station,” Cole said. “She could be there in minutes, have the doors open and one of the trucks pulled out and running, waiting for the rest of the crew.”

Being kind and ready to help came naturally to Metcalf.

“She was an all around good person,” Cole said. “… She just did everything.”

Part of her participation in the community included not being shy about her giving her opinion, as many Piermont Town Meeting attendees would attest.

“She always spoke at Town Meeting and whether it was negative or positive, she said what was on her mind,” said Underhill.

Rob Elder, who served on the Piermont School Board with Metcalf in the 1980s, said Metcalf did more than simply occupy a chair on the School Board.

“She was more than competent and added a great deal to the discussions,” Elder said in a phone interview. “She was thoughtful and energetic in how she approached everything she did.”

Metcalf could be counted on whenever a need arose in town, big or small.

“I think her proudest moment might have been Piermont’s 250th celebration,” which took place in 2014, said Belyea.

Metcalf picked the committee members herself.

“Hard, committed workers, every one, and many others, excitedly came to share their ideas and time,” Belyea said.

The result, after two years of planning meetings and fundraisers, was a spectacular and memorable event that included a parade, street dance, fireworks, exhibits and a host of activities in addition to a few new books on the town and an update of the town history.

“It was amazing to see the excitement and “community” generated by this event and we owe it all to Abby,” Belyea said.

When he thinks about his friend and remembers her time with the fire department and all her other contributions to Piermont, Cole, the former fire chief, said there is a void in Piermont now.

“The town is empty without her.”

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.