Oral history interview with Jack Watts

Oral history interview with Jack Watts

Jack Watts of Cornwall, Vermont, shares his memories from the COVID-19 pandemic, including his wife's experience of the pandemic as a person with dementia and his role as her caregiver. He describes moving from their condo in downtown Middlebury, Vermont, back to their unsold farm in Cornwall near the start of the pandemic. He also explains their worries about the dangers of COVID for the elderly and relates an anecdote of an out-of-state friend being ridiculed for masking. Overall, he reflects that for him the pandemic's mental impact took a back seat to caring for his wife and her passing in 2022. Other topics he addresses include getting news primarily through his daughter, changes to church services, and the experience of getting vaccinated as a sort of social activity.

Jack Watts had a long career as a fire safety engineer and had retired from the field by the time the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. He and his wife, Judy Geisler Watts (1941-2022), bought the Glen Dale Farm in Cornwall, Vermont, around 1980. They briefly moved to Middlebury, Vermont, following Judy's dementia diagnosis in 2017, but returned to the farm at the start of the pandemic.

Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.

2024-07-20

Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project

AudioFileCOVID-084

MP3

WAV

Audio file

Permission to publish material from the Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project may be obtained from the Vermont Historical Society.

Gustin, Amanda Kay

Watts, Jack

45 min., 30 sec.

Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641-4215