Charlotte Pluta

LUDLOW      Charlotte (AHER) Pluta, age 93, of Ludlow passed away peacefully on December 5, 2023, after a short decline in health at Gill Odd Fellows Home in Ludlow.

She was born on September 26, 1930, in Brattleboro, the daughter of Walter T. Aher and Bernice (Stone) Aher. As a young child they settled in Ludlow and the family purchased Ludlow Insurance Agency in 1939.

She was a 1948 graduate of Black River High School and attended The University of Vermont and graduated from Rutland Business College in 1951.

Charlotte married John G. (Dud) Pluta on May 1, 1954 at the Church of the Annunciation in Ludlow.

Charlotte & Dud operated and owned Ludlow Insurance Agency from 1963, after her dad died, retiring in 1997. They both were very community minded. Charlotte volunteered over the years for such things as playing Taps for military funerals, both while in high school and in her later years; reading to the children at the Fletcher Memorial Library, helping with VINS classes at Ludlow Elementary and was very active in the Ludlow Garden Club for a few years.  She was on the board of the Fletcher Farm Foundation for over 30 years and on the Board of Directors of the Black River Academy Museum for a period of time; and always very active in her church and as a Fire Department Auxiliary wife. She also loved baking for a worthy cause.  She and Dud traveled a great deal both for pleasure and business and had great friends in Vermont and all over the country.

When they retired, they handed down the business to their daughter and son-in-law, Sharon and Ron Bixby; bought a home on the Sarasota Bay in Bradenton Florida and spent many winters there.

She is survived by her sister Margaret ‘Peggy’ Nuzzolo of Fair Haven; daughter, Sharon (Ron) Bixby of Ludlow; granddaughters, Pamela Bixby (Craig Richardson) of Chesapeake, VA, and Kimberly (Brad) Southworth of Ludlow; nephew Walter ‘Pepe’ Nuzzolo, Sister-in-law Margaret Pluta of Florida; nieces Rita and Karen Pluta; four great-grandchildren Connor, Lucas and Tucker Southworth and Layla Richardson and several cousins.

She is predeceased by her husband John G. Pluta in 2012 and by her son, Michael J. Pluta in 1989 and brother-in-laws, Lee Pluta and Frank ’Nick’ Nuzzolo.

Calling hours are Saturday December 16th from 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM at the Parish Center at the Church of the Annunciation 7 Depot St Ludlow followed by the Funeral Mass at 11 AM. A reception will follow from 12 to 1:30 PM at the family’s favorite restaurant- “where everyone knows your name”- D.J.’s Restaurant 146 Main St Ludlow.    Burial will take place in family plot in the spring at Pleasant View Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Fletcher Memorial Library 88 Main St Ludlow, VT 05149 or the Black River Academy Museum P O Box 73 Ludlow, VT 05149. Charlotte was an AVID reader and loved our areas history!

Arrangements were made under the direction of Clifford Funeral Home.