Ethel Frances McDermott

Ethel Frances McDermott

KNOX — Ethel Frances McDermott, a loving mother and grandmother who worked as a school bus driver and as a nurse’s aid, died peacefully on Saturday, June 29, 2019. She was 97.

She was born on May 19, 1922 in the Town of Wright to the late Harrison and Beula (née Clow) Gage.

She graduated from Schoharie High School in June 1940. She married her sweetheart, Harold McDermott, on June 21, 1942.

Mrs. McDermott was a contract driver for the Berne-Knox Central School District during the late 1960s and early 1970s. She worked at several nursing homes as a nurse’s aid starting with Marcy’s Nursing Home in East Berne, then Guilderland Center Nursing Home, and retiring from the Good Samaritan in Delmar.

She was an avid gardener and loved petunias and geraniums and enjoyed her home on Pleasant Valley Road in Knox. She enjoyed bowling and was on a league in Schoharie for several years. She was a member of the Hilltown Seniors and enjoyed traveling with them. She was a member of the West Berne Methodist Church.

“Ethel was a loving mother and grandmother and will be truly missed,” her family wrote in a tribute.

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Ethel Frances McDermott survived by her children, Donald McDermott and his wife, Linda, of Huntersland, Linda Hempstead and her husband, Gerald, of Middleburgh, and Darleen Shrederis and her husband, Martin, of Schoharie; by her grandchildren, Kim Ryan and her husband, Jim, granddaughter-in-law Brenda McDermott, Lauri Motschmann and her husband, Robert, Carrie Unser, Tyrel Hempstead, Jessie Griffin and her husband, Mike, Jennie Smith and her husband, Robert, Martin E. Shrederis and his wife, Denay, Sonja Webb, Imants Shrederis and his wife, Kim; by her 18 great-grandchildren and nine great-great grandchildren; by her sister, Joyce Heigle; and by several nieces and nephews.

Her husband, Harold, died before her as did her grandchildren, Kevin McDermott, Sherri Hempstead and Richard Hempstead; and her siblings, Thelma Hoberg, Ruth Martin, Wendell Gage, and Charles Gage.

A private graveside service will be held at the Knox Cemetery.

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