Nancy-Joyce Peoples Benjamin
Nancy-Joyce Peoples Benjamin, 83, passed away surrounded by family on Friday, May 17, 2024. Affectionately nicknamed “N.J.” by her friends and “Grandma Horsey” by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she was a fiercely independent, deeply caring daughter, wife, friend, teacher, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
N.J. was born in New York, New York, on December 5, 1940, to the late John “Jack” Peoples and the late Anne Alice Wall Peoples. She graduated from high school from Staten Island Academy and then attended the “Walnut Hill Finishing School for Sweet Young Ladies” in Natick, Massachusetts. While attending the University of New Hampshire, she met her husband, Leo, and they married in the Sigma Beta Fraternity house. Soon after, she began her career teaching children in kindergarten and preschool.
Her love for the outdoors and teaching others led her to become a professional ski and swim instructor, as well as a triathlete. She worked at the Green Mountain Valley School in Fayston, Vermont, as a cook and coach for many years. She was the children’s ski school director at Copper Mountain in Colorado and Mad River Glen in Vermont. She was a mother to many, with her children, grandchildren and community benefiting from her encouragement and patient instruction.
As an active equestrian, she was the Drag for the Green Mountain Hounds in Stowe and Waitsfield, Vermont, as well as Field Master for Why Worry Hounds in Windsor, South Carolina. She remained an enthusiastic member of the equine community and skiing despite her battle with Parkinson’s. She was an avid gardener, house plant enthusiast, foodie, cat lover, and loved to shop at Costco and beyond. Despite the effects of Parkinson’s, she never stopped doing the things she loved and always found a way to continue her hobbies.
Words cannot truly capture the profound impact she had on her family and friends. She conquered life with resilience, humor, and an unyielding attitude.
Left to cherish her memories and carry on her legacy are her family near and far: her husband of 63 years, Leo Jay Benjamin; her children Leo Benjamin Jr. and his wife Arlene, Cassy Johnston and her husband Tom, and John Benjamin; her grandchildren Isaiah Benjamin and his wife Heather, Sarah Peduzzi and her husband Mike, Seth Benjamin and his wife Gillian, Luke Johnston and his wife Kristen, Emily Johnston, Laney Ulrich and her husband Zane, Solomon Benjamin and his wife Abey, DK Benjamin and his wife Christine, Autumn Benjamin, Deirdre Darr, and Timothy Darr; and her great-grandchildren Aiden Benjamin, Aubrey Benjamin, Owen Peduzzi, Norah Peduzzi, Tyler Johnston, Billie Johnston, Paisley Ulrich, and Ira Ulrich.
