Eileen G. Mulson was a “good-hearted woman who loved her kids, loved her grandkids,” said her daughter, Kathryn Giebitz. A “city girl” who was born and raised in Albany, Mrs. Mulson moved to East Berne after her marriage and there ran a farm with her husband for over five decades, raising four children and becoming an expert in Japanese-style flower arrangement, her daughter said.

She “passed away peacefully” on Monday, Jan. 9, 2017, at the Our Lady of Mercy Life Center, her family wrote in a tribute. She was 90.

Mrs. Mulson was the daughter of the late Thomas L. and Margaret H. Gleason. She was born on Feb. 16, 1926 and graduated in 1943 from the Vincentian Institute. She worked as a telephone operator for New York Telephone and as a switchboard operator for the General Adjustment Bureau before becoming, her family wrote, “a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother.”

On their Old Stage Road farm, the Mulsons “hardly ever had to buy any food,” said Mrs. Giebitz, since Mrs. Mulson and her husband grew and tended large vegetable gardens, and then, with the children by her side helping, Mrs. Mulson preserved and froze their homemade vegetables and fruits. The couple also raised “all their own meat,” including beef cows, sheep, chickens, and turkey, Mrs. Giebitz said.

Mrs. Mulson’s passion, her family wrote, was planting and growing flowers, especially dahlias and tulips. She was a member of the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State, the National Garden Clubs Inc., the Guilderland Garden Club, and the Hill and Dale Garden Club.

She was a Master Flower Show Judge with the Federated Garden Clubs of New York State. She continued to judge flower shows — including, for many years, the Altamont Fair’s — into her seventies, said her daughter, and after that she became known as a “judge emeritus.”

She had “many, many good friends” through her years of involvement in garden clubs and flower shows, according to Mrs. Giebitz.

Mrs. Mulson specialized in the art of Japanese flower arranging, which she learned through years of lessons, conferences, and symposia, her daughter said.

She taught flower arranging to many women, in both the Hill and Dale Garden Club and the Guilderland Garden Club, said Mrs. Giebitz. She also loved to make wreaths, and helped every year to decorate the historic Mynderse-Frederick House in Guilderland Center.

During her last five years, when she lived at Our Lady of Mercy in Guilderland, she started a gardening club there and planted a garden in the courtyard. She also enjoyed playing bingo there.

She loved water — whether lakes, oceans, or pools — said Mrs. Giebitz, and taught her children and grandchildren to swim.

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Eileen G. Mulson is survived by her sister, Marcia Smith, and her husband, William. She is also survived by her four children: Karl Mulson; Karen Dinardi and her husband, Nicholas; Kurt Mulson and his wife, Terri; and Kathryn Giebitz and her husband, Paul. She is survived, too, by seven grandchildren: Jordan Mulson and his wife, Rebecca; Meghan Dinardi; Matthew and Gregory Mulson; and Adam, Aaron, and Alex Giebitz. She is also survived by six great-grandchildren, Judah, Benjamin, and Olive Mulson; and Brynnlee, Brayden, and Brooklyn Giebitz; and by several nieces and nephews.

Her husband of 61 years, Bernard H. Mulson, died before her, as did her brother, Thomas L Gleason III.

The family sincerely thanks the caregivers at Our Lady of Mercy Life Center for the compassionate care given to Eileen during her five years there.

Relatives and friends are invited to call on Thursday, Jan. 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Fredendall Funeral Home, 199 Main St., Altamont. A funeral service will be held at the funeral home on Friday, Jan. 13, at 11 a.m., followed by interment at the High Point Cemetery in Knox.

— Elizabeth Floyd Mair