KNOX — “Up up and away” is an expression that must have had special resonance for Shirley Pendergast.  She never tired, her family says, of attending hot air balloon festivals. One of her sons, Ronald Rue, says that but for his own nervousness on her behalf,  she would have gone up in one. “She was a very strong and determined woman,” he says.

The beauty of hot air balloons was among her many loves, says another of her four sons, Robert  Rue. But above all, he says, she loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Pendergast died on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017. She was 78.

Her other loves included country music — a big thrill was seeing her favorite, George Jones — working outdoors,  and taking care of her own cats and dogs as well as feeding all the strays that  happened by.

She also loved to travel with her family in a recreational vehicle that bore them to places like Nashville for the Grand Ole Opry, Cape Cod for whale-watching, and Niagara Falls.  The World Trade Center site, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty were also among the destinations.

Born on Aug. 10, 1938, Mrs. Pendergast was one of eight children — four boys, four girls — born to Orville and Ada (née Countryman) Van Buren. She was raised in an old stone farmhouse on the Bozenkill Road. That family farm was sold about 12 years ago, Robert Rue says.

She and her siblings attended the one-room Bozenkill School further up the road from where they grew up. The school still exists, but in a different location now: on the Altamont fairgrounds.

Robert Rue says of his mother, “She never had a bad word to say about anyone...She was one of the kindest people I have ever known, and one of the toughest.”

The toughness showed in how she would walk up the hill every day to help with chores on the farm, even as she raised five boys in her home below. Much later in life,  she would still go out, to shovel the snow from around her rural mailbox.

Her kindness showed in how “she would go without for the sake of her children and grandchildren,” Robert Rue says.

“She was very active in the lives of her five grandchildren, who have grown to be caring adults,” her family wrote. “Their thoughtful nature most certainly developed through the time they spent with Shirley.”

Mrs. Pendergast’s granddaughter, Jessica, says her grandmother “was my best friend.”

She looked out for neighboring children, too.  “Whoever needed their children watched, she would volunteer,” her son recalls. “As soon as the kids got off the school bus, she was there, waiting, with snacks for them...Everyone knew that her house was a safe place for their kids.”

“Her door was always open to to family and neighbors, “ her family says.

Robert Rue says, “God got himself an angel, she was just special.”

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Shirley M. Pendergast  is survived by her husband, John Pendergast, whom she married in 1977; her sons, Russell, Robert, Roger, and Ronald Rue; her grandchildren, Christopher, Jeremy, Kathleen, Scott, and Jessica; her great-grandchildren, Isaac, Jason, and Benjamin; and her sisters, Viola LaDock and Judy Kolanchick, as well as by many nieces and nephews.

Her son, Richard Rue; her brothers, Ralph, Jesse, Herman, and Harold Van Buren, and her sister, Helen Rivenburgh, all died before her.

The family extends special thanks to Peter and Kathy Bashwinger “for their countless hours caring for Shirley when she needed it most.”  The family is  also  grateful to the staff at The Grand in Guilderland Center for its care.

Calling hours and a memorial service were  held at New Comer Funeral Hom in Albany on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017.

Memorial contributions may be  made to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society,  3 Oakland Avenue, Menands 12204. Or to  the American Diabetes Association, 2 Pine West Plaza, Albany 12205.

— Tim Tulloch