Matriarch of the Demarest family and driving force behind the beloved Demarest Farms, Elisabeth Demarest (1925–2024) leaves behind a legacy of resilience, kindness, and hard work that touched countless lives in the Pascack Valley and beyond
— By Juliana Demarest
It took mere seconds for tributes and prayers to start pouring in after the Demarest family shared on social media that their beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Elisabeth Demarest, had been admitted to the hospital with Covid and double pneumonia. Just a week later, the matriarch of the namesake family of Demarest Farms peacefully passed away at the age of 99 on Dec. 26, 2024.
“She always gave a good measure in everything she did,” said Elisabeth’s former daughter-in-law, Marsha Demarest. “Whether it was blueberries or farm matters or friendship.”
While Elisabeth is known to generations of Pascack Valley residents as the driving force of the original Demarest farmstand — the old two-car garage across the street from the current farm market on Werimus Road in Hillsdale — her story is much more than that.
Elisabeth was born July 11, 1925, in Czechoslovakia, to parents Alfonse and Johanna Wagner. Despite converting to become Protestant when she married Alfonse, Johanna had been born and raised Jewish and was sent to a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, as was Alfonse for refusing to divorce her. One of five children, Elisabeth was 16 at the time and had gone to Germany to work in a factory.
“As the war ended, the Allied Forces came in from different directions. The Russians came into Czechoslovakia to take over,” said Elisabeth’s son, Peter Demarest.
Having both survived their harrowing time spent in the camps, Alfonse decided to move his wife and family to Austria. In 1945, Elisabeth was still spending time between both countries.
“The bombs and everything had stopped, but the Russians were there, and as in all wars, atrocities are inflicted upon the population of that country,” said Peter. “My mom was just walking on one of the streets when she was confronted by a platoon of Russian soldiers. They had very bad intentions and I think they would’ve shot her, and she would’ve been killed. But then the man who would be my father, who happened to be a Russian officer, came upon the scene and saved her.”
Since she spoke Russian, 20-year-old Elisabeth started speaking with the officer. In short time, the two fell in love and were married. At 21, while Elisabeth was pregnant with their child, her husband, Ivan Besnov, had been given orders to return to Russia.
As his wife and soon-to-be mother of his child, Ivan wanted Elisabeth to go with him.
“My mother asked him, ‘If I go with you, can you promise me that I’ll be able to come back to see my sisters and my parents?’ Peter explained. “He said, ‘If you go with me, you’ll never be able to come back and see them.’ So, she decided that she was not going to go back to Russia with him.”
Meanwhile, Elisabeth was getting further along in her pregnancy.
“My father asked for leave to be with her when she gave birth,” said Peter. Instead of giving him leave, the next day after he had applied for it, they sent him right back to Russia. He never knew whether he had a boy or girl.”
Peter was born two months premature, the lack of nutrition in the post-war times making it hard for Elisabeth to sustain her pregnancy. At times she had resorted to digging for wild turnips in fields just to find some nourishment.
Over the next few years, Elisabeth’s family helped look after Peter so she could work. Eventually, the opportunity arose to have a new start in America. One of her sisters was already living in the U.S. and her sponsor was also willing to sponsor Elisabeth. In 1954, she and Peter traveled to the States.
“She was really excited when she realized that she was going to come to America,” recalled Peter, who was 8 at the time. “It gave her all new hope after the war was over, as things were still really bad in Europe because there was a recession and the lasting effects of the war.”
The pair arrived in The Bronx, where Elisabeth worked as a trained seamstress in a textile factory.
“I didn’t know until just about a week ago when I looked it up, she worked there at minimum wage, which in 1954 was 75 cents an hour,” Peter said. “She made $30 a week and that’s what she had to live on to take care of herself and me and share the rent money with her sister.”
From there she spent time as a cook for a wealthy Connecticut family and worked as a dental assistant in North Jersey, having gained knowledge in that field from her dentist father.
Eventually, a blind date led Elisabeth to marry George Demarest, who adopted Peter as his own son. The farm had been in the Demarest family since 1886. Elisabeth left her work to help run the roadside market, Aunt Annie’s Farmstand, which at the time was run by George’s mother’s sister, Annie.
“She really had a flair with people, and she really had good work ethic,” Peter recalled. “Anybody that worked for her was very fortunate because they learned how to work the right way and have the right work ethic. Many, many letters have come to her from employees she had 30, 40 years ago, thanking her for her training because they felt it’s why they became successful in their own careers.”
After long days at the farmstand, she’d go up to the farmhouse to make dinner and would then spend hours working on the books. She had a reputation of being tough as a boss, even holding weekly finger-nail checks to ensure her employees’ fingernails were not so long that they would stab the fruit being sold at the stand.
“I prefer to call it tough love,” said Peter. “Not only did she want her business to do well, but she also wanted the teenagers that were representing her in the business to do well. She wanted to teach them what she had learned in life so they could become successful.”
Yet she was also gracious, giving juicy peaches and handfuls of cherries to little ones coming into the stand. Elisabeth always remained humble; her life’s experiences having had a formidable effect on her as a person. She never let anything go to waste, canning fruits and making jams, and using bruised fruit to top ice cream — her favorite treat during the farm season.
Outside the farm, she joined George on hunting trips and over time could prepare some of the most delicious meals of game like venison and quail. Years of hard work paid off and they spent winters on the Big Island of Hawaii, her happy place, where she continued to winter after George’s death in 2004. A long-standing member of Old Paramus Dutch Reformed Church in Ridgewood, Elisabeth had a big heart and always gave back to the community. Even in retirement, her civil service continued as a member of the Pascack Valley Rotary Club. During her time as a Rotarian, she and George hosted at the farmhouse two Ukrainian children through the Rotary’s Gift of Life program, which brings young children to the United States for life-saving heart surgeries. As the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Elisabeth decided to remain in Hawaii, eventually moving to Reno, Nev., in 2022 to be closer to her family, who live just across the California state line.
Elisabeth Demarest is survived by her son, Peter Demarest, and his wife, Lynda; grandson, PJ Demarest, and his wife, Juliana; and great-grandchildren, Sierra and Kai; all of Truckee, Calif. She is also survived by her former daughter-in-law, Marsha Demarest, of Reno, Nev.; her sister-in-law Ursula Wagner, of Palm Coast, Fla.; and many loving friends and family members. A celebration of life will be held at Demarest Farms in the spring.