LEICESTER — Joan Ardith Euber Cameron O’Neil-Gittens, age 81, died Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021, at Porter Medical Center in Middlebury, Vt.
Joan was born in Orwell on July 18, 1939. She was the second eldest of five children to Leland and Dorothea (Frasier) Euber, and their only daughter. She grew up in Orwell, where she attended primary school and later graduated with honors from Brandon High School in 1957.
As a young woman it didn’t take Joan long to find her calling. Her passion for the automobile industry would prove to be a life-long career — one in which she would break down barriers and overcome prejudice to prove she not only belonged in the race, but was poised to lead. In 1967 Smith Buick in Rutland, Vt., hired her as the first female car salesperson in the state. At times her presence was met with begrudging and sometimes rude demeanor and her work schedule was shifted away from prime selling times because her male counterparts refused to work with a woman.
In 1968, moving closer to home, she began working for Beckwith Motors of Middlebury. Radiating style as bold as her accomplishments, Joan requested a bright yellow Oldsmobile as her demo car on the lot. Jack Beckwith advised her, “You can choose any Oldsmobile you want, but it will never be yellow.” Never was not an option. and in January 1969, she opened Pioneer Auto sales Inc., becoming the first female-owned car dealer in the state of Vermont.
With a never-say-never attitude and shoulders as broad as the hoods of her many Cadillacs, Joan gained not only the respect of her fellow car dealers but the trust of her grateful customers. Many family and friends were given their first careers at Pioneer Auto, which became an international landmark with the 1987 erecting of ‘Queen Connie Of Concrete,’ a 19-foot tall, three-ton steel and concrete Gorilla, which still stands in front of what was once Pioneer Auto, overlooking Rte. 7 in Leicester. Joan always remarked, “If I had a quarter for every picture someone took in front of that Gorilla, I’d be a billionaire.” To this day Queen Connie Of Concrete is publicized in numerous newspaper articles, books, and magazines, including Car and Driver’s 1991 – Carchitectural Wonders Of The World.
Joan spent nearly her entire adult life helping others — friends, family and strangers. She shared everything she had and sometimes a little more, so someone else could eat, drink, dress, drive, travel or live a little better. And she did it four tires at a time.
Surviving are her brother, Leland Euber II of Salisbury; son, Michael Cameron of Leicester; and daughter, Carol Cameron-Wieland of Salisbury; four grandchildren, Chase Cameron and wife, Charmy, of Oxford, Mass., Blake Cameron and wife, Ithia, of Vergennes, Mikka Cameron and fiancé, Justin, of Milton, and Chelsea Gould and husband, James, of Florida; great-grandson Conrad Cameron of Vergennes; and three stepchildren, Cameron Ifill, Ithia Ifill and Sharon Ifill, all of Barbados. Many nieces, nephews and cousins also survive her. She was predeceased by her three brothers; Alan Euber, Gordon Euber and Jesse Euber; and her parents; Leland and Dorothea (Frasier) Euber.
A private graveside committal service and burial will be held at a later date, in the family lot, at Mountain View Cemetery in Orwell.◊