Robert Jeffrey Poulterer, he loved his farm
Robert Jeffrey Poulterer, 68, died Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, after a long history of heart disease and sleep apnea. He made an effort to remain active up to the day he died, even though it was clear he was in pain part of the time.
Jeff was born in Philadelphia, Pa. The first five years of his life he lived in Penn Wynne, a suburb of Philadelphia, until his parents, William T. Poulterer Jr. and Betty Poulterer, moved to Wilmington. From then on, though living in the Wilmington suburbs, Jeff spent his entire summers with his grandparents, Walter and Mildred Bennett, at their beach home in Lewes. He had a great time swimming, fishing, boating and sailing. As all the kids did in those days, he never wore shoes all summer, unless going to the Boardwalk in Rehoboth for an outing. It was truly a "Huck Finn" existence.
Upon completion of high school, at Tatnall School in Wilmington, college followed at the University of Delaware, with Jeff earning a degree in sociology and photography. After graduation, he decided to move to Texas, but his car broke down near Richmond, Va., where his sister Phoebe Hall and her husband Frank Hall lived (both deceased).
With his sister's encouragement, he decided to remain in Richmond, where he earned a real estate license and sold houses for a while. In 1981, Jeff met his future wife, Dene Sherman, at the Honey Bee restaurant in Richmond. They were married Dec. 23, 1984, in the home Dene owned. In the meantime, Jeff had earned a postgraduate certificate in Information Systems at VCU, and started working as a programmer with the Virginia Farm Bureau. Dene, who worked as a graphic artist, decided to change careers. She returned to VCU and earned an MSW in the field of social work.
Jeff and Dene had been looking for country property over the state of Virginia and even North Carolina. They found it on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, an 80-acre farm with a house that was being used to store hay. They moved to the Shore in 1996. Prior to moving to the Shore, Dene applied at CSB, an agency that serves people who have mental health and additional problems. She got the job, started to work on July 15, 1996, the second day after the move, and continued to work there until she retired in 2013. Jeff spent the next several years restoring the old farmhouse. Thereafter, he started a successful business as a handyman, working on repairs and improvements to local properties until he couldn't continue because of his health. Jeff liked that work because as a child he always wanted to be a carpenter. Jeff always loved music, being out in nature and gardening. Each year his gardening efforts produced wonderful fruits and vegetables.
Jeff and Dene remained on the farm until his death. His friends will remember him as a master pun maker and joke teller – some laughable at and some not so laughable.
Jeff is survived by his wife, Maudene "Dene" Sherman; his brother and sister-in-law Bill Poulterer and Jane; his nephew Matt Evans and Tami; his niece Stacy Thompson and Rick; his nephew Andrew Poulterer and Sahoy; niece Kim Johnson and Dan; nephew Franklin Hall and Mel; his sister-in-law and brother-in-law Mary and Doug Puckett; cousin Nancy Prettyman and Dick; cousin Susan and Fred Ulmer; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Instead of flowers, donations may be made to: Legal Aid Justice Center, 1000 Preston Ave. Suite A, Charlottesville, VA 22903, Attn: Megan Gildea Farm Workers' Program in Memory of Jeff Poulterer. (Donations are used to improve the working conditions of ESVA farm workers.)
