Roberta Joan Lipfert, 84, a longtime Woolwich resident, died July 3, 2012, with her family at her side at Winship Green Nursing Home from age-related illness.

She was born Roberta Joan Green in Springfield MA, on December 7, 1927, to Robert and Ada (Hinsley) Green, both born in the area of Birmingham, England. When her father lost his job at the Rolls-Royce plant in Springfield and had trouble finding other work, they returned home to England.

She grew up in the village of Pennington, near Lymington, in Hampshire in the south of England. World War II affected her deeply. She saw German bombers passing overhead, and saw planes coming down in flames during the Battle of Britain. She talked about seeing the glow in the sky from the bombing of nearby Southampton, and seeing troops embarking for the D-Day invasion. After she left school, she took secretarial training and worked in a factory making engine parts, where her father also worked.

After the war, she came to Canada to live with her older sister’s family in Ottawa. She became a secretary in the national patent office. She met Donald Ernest Lipfert of Meriden, CT at a summer Christadelphian Bible School held in Wilbraham MA in 1949, and they fell in love. He courted her with letters and occasional visits to Canada and they married in 1950. Their first home was in South Meriden, CT. They were joined there by a son and twin daughters. In 1955, the family moved to Middletown, CT, to a house her husband had designed. In 1963 they moved, with their children, to a historic 1780s house in Woolwich, Maine. In 1995 they built an off-the-grid home, also in Woolwich. Their selfless concern for the future resulted in the donation of a conservation easement for their land to the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay and establishment of it as town open space. In 2009, she and her husband became residents of the Plant Home in Bath. Her husband died in April, 2011.

She was a notable craftswoman, skilled in the fabric arts (sewing, knitting, spinning, crocheting, rug hooking, quilting, cross-stitch and embroidery) and for a time weaving her own cloth for sewing projects. She was also an amazing cook and baker, always doing Thanksgiving and other dinners for the family and often baking bread, pies, and other delicacies.

She spent much of her life caring for her three children and numerous foster children, visiting foreign students, boat shop students, and others. She also tended to their huge garden, where they raised much of their food, and helped care for the many dogs, cats, horses, chickens, goats and sheep over the years. In the 1970s she helped her husband establish and run the Jacataqua School, an alternative high school using resources in the community to educate students. She was an enthusiastic supporter of organic gardening, and assisted in the founding of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners association. She worked in the MOFGA office for a number of years, helping to organize the Common Ground Fair. She worked as a receptionist at Maine Maritime Museum in Bath for a time, and served as a volunteer there after her “retirement.” She also volunteered in the Woolwich Central School and at the Woolwich Historical Society.

She is survived by a son Nathan Lipfert of Woolwich; a daughter Wendy Decker of Bath, and a daughter Gail Lipfert of Canaan ME. She had two nieces, two nephews, a nephew and two nieces by marriage, five grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren. She will be missed by her children’s partners, Janine Lipfert, Michael Kelly, and Elaine Malkin, and by many others.

A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday August 4, 2012, at 1:30 p.m., at the hall of the North Woolwich Methodist Church, 941 River Road, Woolwich. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.