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Bobbi Ercoline became a symbol of a generation when she and her then-boyfriend were pictured on the Woodstock soundtrack album cover, embracing while wrapped in a blanket.
Woodstock and beyond
Ercoline – still unmarried at the time and going by her maiden name, Barbara “Bobbi” Kelly – and her boyfriend decided to go to Woodstock on a whim with her new boyfriend, Nick Ercoline. Early on the Sunday morning of the 1969 festival, the two were photographed standing amidst many other people sitting or sleeping on the grass, wrapped together in a blanket. When the Woodstock soundtrack album was released the following year, the photo was used for its cover, and the embracing couple became iconic. The couple married in 1971 and remained together until her death. Ercoline became a registered nurse and was the longtime school nurse at Pine Bush Elementary. She was a beloved part of the school, known for the emergency food pantry she created and maintained.
Notable quote
“I look at [the photograph] every day. I met Nick, we fell in love and it was the beginning of my best life.” —from a 2009 interview for Smithsonian magazine
Tributes to Bobbi Ercoline
Full obituary: Middletown Times-Herald Record
