Stuart (Stu) Weppler, 78, passed away peacefully on March 12 at his cherished home on the Elmore Mountain Road. A celebration of his life will occur later this summer.

Stu was born in New Jersey, raised in Westport, Connecticut, and received his Bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in 1968. He then enlisted as a Naval Officer during the Vietnam War and served two tours on the USS Ramsey, a destroyer escort that fought in Northern Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin. After a brief corporate career in New York, he came to Vermont for a taste of the ski-bum life and decided to stay.  While managing the Topnotch resort in the mid 1970’s he met and married Michel. They moved with her two sons to their beloved farmhouse on the Elmore Mountain Road, soon welcomed another son, and stayed for the next 40 years. Stuart went on to manage Sweet & Burt, seeing it through many transitions until his retirement in 2000. 

Stu never rested for long and devoted many years to community service. He served Copley Hospital as Board member, Board Chair, and interim CEO. He served as Elmore Town Clerk, Treasurer, Select Board member, Justice of the Peace, chair of the Board of Civil Authority, Zoning Administrator and Health Officer. He served on numerous boards and committees, including the Business Roundtable, the Vermont Educational and Health Buildings Financing Board, the General Advisory Committee of the Green Mountain Care Board, The Lake Mansfield Trout Club Board (Trout Club) and as Treasurer for his stepson Shap’s political campaigns. A survivor of cancer, he proudly supported Lamoille Area Cancer Network and was an enthusiastic participant in their annual cancer walk at Peoples Academy. Stuart loved working the polls on election day and was fortunate enough to do so just a week before his passing.

He always loved a good book by the fire, his dogs at his feet, sometimes with a Middleton’s Whiskey in hand.  He and Michel never tired of improving the Elmore farmhouse and its grounds. He treasured fishing and socializing at the Trout Club in Stowe, driving his MG to the British Invasion, and enjoying many of Stowe’s summer festivals. A friend to all, he soon became a local wherever he went. He was a regular fixture on the deck of the National Hotel in Block Island or taking a pint at O’Shea’s after cheering on the local rowing club in Sneem, Ireland. One of his last adventures took him to his family’s roots in the small town of Oberuala in Hessen, Germany.

Stuart was predeceased by his wife Michel and his brother Jay. He leaves behind his son Spenser (Vy) Weppler, stepsons Shap (Melissa) Smith and Chapman (Nicky) Smith; grandchildren Eli, Gunnar, Larson, and Mia Smith, and Saoirse and Seraphina Weppler; siblings Sarah (Marty), Merriel and Peter (Ronnie).  Donations can be made to Lamoille Area Cancer Network.