GUILDERLAND — Beth (Batters) Heimer created a loving home for her family and also for the patients at the Guilderland Center Nursing Home where she worked as a nurse.

She died peacefully on Monday, March 16, 2015, at the Daughters of Sarah Nursing Center. She was 97.

She was born on March 31, 1917 in Unadilla in Otsego County, the daughter of the late Raie F. and Helen (née Rumpf) Benedict. She graduated in 1938 from the Robert Packer Training School for Nurses in Sayre, Pennsylvania.

In 1943, she married Thomas B. Batters. They moved to the Altamont area and raised four children. She was active in the Altar Rosary Society of St. Lucy’s Catholic Church and in many community organizations. “Beth was a devoted mother who created a very loving home for her children,” her family wrote in a tribute.

In 1968, Thomas Batters died and she resumed her nursing career at the Guilderland Center Nursing Home where, her family wrote, “she was loved by the patients and staff for her kind and caring nature.”

In 1971, she married a childhood friend, William D. Heimer. They moved to Madeira Beach, Florida where they enjoyed entertaining family and friends. While in Florida, Mrs. Heimer learned to make crafts with seashells, which she collected on the beach. William Heimer died in 1981.

In 1992, Mrs. Heimer returned to Guilderland to be closer to family and old friends. She lived at Heritage Village Apartments where she had many dear neighbors. Continuing her craftwork, she completed a beautiful “Dresden Plate” quilt, which she had started in 1933.

****

Beth Heimer is survived by her children, Thomas R. Batters and his wife, Vicki, of Kent, Ohio, Robert C. Batters and his wife, Elaine, of West Orange, New Jersey, Helen Rowley and her husband, Rick, of Schenectady, Mary Jo Batters of Guilderland; her stepdaughter, Patricia Parent, and her husband, Louis, of Columbia, South Carolina; her grandchildren, Beth Ann Wilson, Thomas H. Batters, Rachel Rowley, Christine Parent, Michael Parent and Tiffany Stonemetz; her cousins Glen E. Whitaker Jr. and his wife, Rosemary; and six great-grandchildren.

Her brother, Charles A. Benedict, and his wife, Bertha, died before her, as did her cousins, Virginia Tiffany and Glen E. Whitaker, and her dear friends, Mary Martini and Anna Lustenhouwer, who had both lived in Altamont.

Calling hours will be held today, March 19, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Fredendall Funeral Home at 199 Main St. in Altamont. A Mass of Resurrection will follow at 11:45 a.m. at St. Lucy / St. Bernadette Church at 109 Grand Street in Altamont with interment at Calvary Cemetery in the spring. Online condolences may be made at www.fredendallfuneralhome.com.

The family thanks the staff of the Blue Wing at Daughters of Sarah “for the loving care they gave Beth.”