“When Jeannette Beach died two weeks before Christmas 1985, Newfield lost part of its history. From 1956 until her retirement in 1983, Beach served as the Newfield town clerk. It was her responsibility to assist residents in obtaining required licenses and paying their bills. She issued licenses for marriages, dogs, hunting and fishing; she collects the town’s water and tax bills. Because licenses and taxes touch almost everyone’s life, Beach quickly came to know everyone and they her.
“She will be missed by many,” said Ethelyn Tompkins, her deputy town clerk for nine years. Tompkins noted that, for the first 20 years of Beach’s service the town clerk’s office was in her Bank Street home. Newfielders would stop by her house at all times, including evenings and weekends, to buy a license or pay a bill. “She was so gracious, she never turned anyone away,” Tompkins said.
Jeannette Beach was born in Newfield 77 years ago, the daughter of Sylvenus and Lillian Sincebaugh Cornish. In 1928 she moved to Bank Street with her husband George Beach.” Ithaca Journal December 1985
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