GUILDERLAND — Geraldine Mohr — who was always ready for her next adventure — died, after a brief illness, on Monday, June 11, 2018, surrounded by her loving family. She was 88.

“Geri loved her family; she loved to travel and recently took a trip to Africa for her granddaughter’s wedding,” her family wrote in a tribute. “She enjoyed going out to eat with her family and friends. She and her husband traveled throughout Europe during their marriage.”

“Just the other day, she said she was planning her next trip,” said her son, Jay T. Mohr. When her husband was alive, the Mohrs would travel to far-flung places, like Russia, and particularly enjoyed a “World War II tour,” her son said, where her husband reconnected with people he had known during the war.

She was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and adopted by Charles and Arline Miller of Salamanca, New York. Known to her friends and family as Geri, she was raised in Salamanca, and graduated from Salamanca High School in 1948.

Her mother was a homemaker and, at a young age, Mrs. Mohr learned to knit and sew and embroider — skills she used her whole life long. “She taught everyone in Salamanca how to knit,” said her daughter-in-law, Nancy Mohr. “She taught my daughter how to sew. She made clothes for her kids and grandkids. She even made clothes for my daughter’s doll.”

Her father was a grocer. His first store was on a Seneca reservation. His next store, the Elkdale Store, was “an old-fashioned place with candy and a block of cheese and soda for truck drivers, with wind-up pumps out front,” recalled Mr. Mohr.

“She learned to drive, delivering groceries to customers during the Depression, when people didn’t have cars,” said Mr. Mohr.

His mother and father met at that the Elkdale Store. Their son tells the story: “My father was back from the war and working as a painter and handyman. He was working at the store when my mother thought he was peeking in the window at her. She thought he was fresh. He came back and my grandfather thought he was there to talk about handyman work. He said, ‘No, I’m here to ask your daughter out.’”

She married Richard J. Mohr who had served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946. For their honeymoon, the couple drove in his Model A to Niagara Falls.

The Mohrs moved to Troy, where they had their eldest son, Jay T. Mohr. Soon after that, they moved to Albany, where Sharon and Richard C. Mohr were born.

Richard J. Mohr was a building superintendent for the New York State Education Department and he died on Sept. 26, 2005.

Mrs. Mohr and her family moved to Guilderland, and attended the Lynnwood Reformed Church. “She went to church every Sunday and always sat in the same pew,” said her son. “She liked the social activities at church.”

She also worked for the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

Mrs. Mohr was very involved with the Genealogy Association of Albany, New York and Western New York. She researched genealogy at the State Library in Albany.

Her first love, though, was for her family. “She was completely absorbed with being a mother,” said her son. He illustrated his point with a story: “One time, when we lived in Albany, our car was stolen. So, to go shopping, she would walk with a stroller from Berkshire Boulevard to Westgate with three young kids.”

She warmly welcomed her sons’ wives into the family. “She was a very loving mother-in-law,” said Nancy Mohr. “She was my friend. … She always had a present for everybody.”

Nancy Mohr recalled how, soon after she was engaged, she visited the Mohrs’ home for Christmas. Nancy Mohr said she was used to getting just one or two gifts for Christmas. “There were presents up to the sky,” she said. “She was very thoughtful of everyone. If anyone needed a shoulder to cry on, she was there.”

Mrs. Mohr also said that her mother-in-law was a good cook. “She taught me how to make potato salad,” she said, “and she always had nice Thanksgiving dinners.”

“People always loved the Christmas cookies she baked,” added Mr. Mohr.

He recalled times weren’t always flush. He said of his parents, when he was young, “They were always short of money before the state payday. My brother and I were teens before we ordered a pizza out.” Their mother had always cooked her own at home.

Geri Mohr liked animals her whole life and owned a series of dogs. “She never liked cats until late in life when she got a cat and loved it,” said her son. “On her last day, she said the cat came up and kissed her when she went to the hospital.”

“She was a devoted wife and loving and supporting mother and the greatest Grammie to her grandchildren,” her family wrote. “She loved life and she had a great sense of humor. During her later years, through aches and pains, she was always ready for her next adventure.”

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Geraldine M. Mohr is survived by three children: Jay T. Mohr and his wife, Nancy, of East Schodack, New York; Sharon P. Mohr of West Covina, California; and Richard “Thumper” C. Mohr and his wife, M.Martha, of Guilderland.

She is also survived by her grandchildren, Jamie L. Mohr of East Schodack, New York; Erika K. Holland and her husband, Murray, of Capetown, Africa; Karl J. Mohr and his wife, Lauren, of Slingerlands; and Emily M. Mohr and Samuel R. Mohr of Guilderland. She is survived, too, by one great-granddaughter, Odell R. Bouchard of Stephentown.

She is also survived by her cousin, June Woodin, of Salamanca, New York.

A Remembrance Service will be held at the Lynnwood Reformed Church at 3714 Carman Rd. in Guilderland on Wednesday, June 20, at 6:30 p.m.

Geraldine will be buried at the Saratoga National Cemetery next to her husband, Richard J. Mohr. Mourners may leave condolences online at www.NewComerAlbany.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Lynnwood Reformed Church, 3714 Carman Rd., Schenectady, NY 12303, or to a charity of your choice.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer