The Monadnock region lost a rare soul on Dec. 29, 2024, when Jerome Varnum passed away.
Jerome was a painter, of both art and houses, a poet, a hunter, a lover of nature, and an avid fisherman.
“Jerome left more than 100 paintings,” said his widow, Barbara. “He used to go in his art room and paint every night. I hate seeing them just stacked up against the wall, and he would have hated that, too. He should get credit for being such a talented artist.”
After Jerome died, Andy Petersen, an old friend of the family, suggested Barbara contact Peterborough Auctions to have a sale of Jerome’s work.
“We were so happy to help,” said Nick Prior of Peterborough Auctions. “It has been our pleasure getting Jerome’s paintings into the hands of new collectors and old friends.”
Polly Bannister, another old friend, helped get the word out. The first batch of Jerome’s paintings sold quickly at an auction on Nov. 9, and another 35 paintings are now for sale through Peterborough Auctions at www.peterboroughauctions.us/shop.
Jerome grew up on Old Greenfield Road in Peterborough. He spent a lot of time at his grandparent’s house on Route 31 in Greenfield, in the red house on Zephyr Lake just across from the start of Miner Road. Jerome’s parents, Arthur and Aileen, later built another house on the lake between the red house and Greenvale Cemetery.
When my parents bought the old Greenfield Poor Farm up on Woodland Hill in 1994, Mr. and Mrs. Varnum were some of the very first people they met. Soon after moving to Greenfield, my dad told Arthur that he was trying to figure out how to deal with an infestation of raccoons under the barn, and Arthur volunteered to take care of them.
Mrs. Varnum told my mom, “Arthur has a new lease on life going after your raccoons!”
According to Barbara, Jerome graduated from ConVal in 1973 and went to work as a house painter immediately after graduation.
“He always helped his parents around the farm, he always did wallpapering and painting for his mom, and was so skilled at things like that,” Barbara said. “After he graduated, his mother said, ‘You’re going to work,’ and she got him a job with Scott Fleury, who was a real character.”
When Fleury retired, Jerome was able to take over the business.
“Jerome got all the ladders, everything, and then he was out on his own, and it was a very good business,” Barbara said.
Barbara recalled that Jerome never had a pick-up truck, like most house painters.
“Jerome was always unusual,” she said. “He had a Pontiac Grand Prix for a paint wagon, with the ladders and everything.”
Barbara said Jerome was proud of his 23 years of sobriety, and that AA had played a huge role in his life.
“AA saved him,” she said. “And then he turned around and helped save other people.”
Barbara says her husband had a few lapses over the years, but he always recovered.
“The first time he got treatment was at Beech Hill Hospital, and that worked for a while,” she said. “But AA was what really stuck for life; it’s a wonderful program. Part of it is knowing you might fall off sometimes, and not to give up hope, that you can recover again, you can get back on the program.”
At Jerome’s memorial service last spring at the Harris Center, an overflowing room of friends and family told story after story about him. Many talked about how he had helped them when they were facing their own struggles.
“Jerome would just go and sit with people, hold their hands, tell them it was going to be OK, tell them they were going to make it through,” Barbara said. “He helped so many people. He would go and shovel sometimes an entire driveway if they were struggling, things like that.”
Jerome was also a writer.
“He wrote quite a bit, poetry, and some really pretty good stories,” Barbara said.
Several of Jerome’s poems were read at his service.
Jerome’s stepdaughter Lisa, who he raised since the age of 4, his son George, and many friends spoke about his love of fishing, the woods, and the peace and quiet of nature. This love for nature and all creatures is reflected in all of Jerome’s paintings.
“Jerome and our son George just loved to fish, and a lot of his paintings were of fish,” Barbara said. “All of nature, and the landscape, animals–that was what he really loved, and where he was happiest.”
Barbara is happy to share Jerome’s work with the world.
“His work was so beautiful,” she said. “He was very special, and he was just so loved.”
