BERNE — Lois Kleinhans Porlier was known for her bright mind and tender care of her garden. She died suddenly with her husband, Victor Porlier, at their East Berne home on Friday, June 4, 2021. She was 72.

Mrs. Porlier was born Lois Jean Wagoner in Albany on Aug. 24, 1948, to Jean K. Kerr and Ellwood Wagoner. Growing up in Delmar, she attended Bethlehem Central Schools and, after graduating in 1966, went on to the State University of New York at Albany and SUNY Buffalo, graduating from the latter with a bachelor’s degree in political science, her family wrote in a tribute. 

In the early 1990s, Mrs. Porlier met her future husband, Victor, and they married in 1993. 

“They were skilled gardeners and incredibly industrious people,” a tribute for Victor Porlier reads. “They were a generous couple that truly cared for the people in their life. Their influence and deep concern for the people around them will be greatly missed.”

Together, the Porliers lived on an expansive property in Berne, and were early adopters of renewable energy technologies that since the 1990s had supplied power to their home and beyond.

“We actually supply the grid,” Mrs. Porlier told The Enterprise in 2008, when the couple offered a reporter a tour of their setup, which then included four solar panels and a windmill.

She described herself as a “housewife” in that same interview and her family wrote in a tribute that “she would pursue her passion of organic farming while working with Victor on many consulting ventures and intellectual pursuits.”

A member of the Conservative Party, Mrs. Porlier is found in a 2003 Enterprise story acting “as an unofficial advisor” to Berne’s then-Republican Party Chair Pat Gage during a court session held to determine the validity of votes cast in a recent election. 

At the time of their deaths, Mrs. and Mr. Porlier were preparing to leave the Hilltowns and move south to be closer to family. 

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Lois Kleinhans Porlier is survived by her brother, Jim Kerr, and his wife, Cyndi; her brother, Jeff Wagoner, and his wife, Colleen; her stepchildren Marc, Jon, and Valerie Porlier; her niece, Jennifer Kerr; her nephew, Eric Kerr, and his wife, Christina; her nephew Mark Wagoner, and his wife, Arielle; her nephew Jack Wagoner, and his wife, Tania; her great-nieces Alana Kerr and Bree Wagoner; her great-nephew Aiden Kerr; her grandchildren, Sydney, Alexander, Emma, and Serena; and many extended relatives and friends. 

A memorial service and burial was held on Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at Elmwood Cemetery, in Selkirk.

Memorial messages may be left at www.altamontenterprise.com/milestones.

Memorial contributions may be made to the East Berne Volunteer Fire Company at 25 Main St, East Berne, NY 12059 or the Helderberg Volunteer Ambulance Squad at 978 Cole Hill Rd, East Berne, NY 12059.

— Noah Zweifel