Norma Jane Saddlemire loved farm life and caring for others. She cooked church suppers and sewed her own wedding gown as well as gowns for all of her daughters’ weddings.

She died on Thursday, July 9, 2015, after a brief stay at Capstone Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Amsterdam, New York. She was 84.

She was born on Sept. 17, 1930 in Esperance, to the late Vernon and Blanche (née Zeh) Putnam, formerly of Esperance.

Educated in the Esperance schoolhouse and at Schoharie Central School, Mrs. Saddlemire also received beautician's training from the former Royal Beauty Academy in Schenectady.

After growing up in Esperance, Mrs. Saddlemire lived on Barton Hill Road in the town of Wright where she worked and managed the family farm. She moved to the village of Schoharie in 1982 and worked in the transportation department of Schoharie Central Schools and drove special needs children to their schools outside of the Schoharie school district.

A victim of two floods and a tornado while residing in Schoharie, Mrs. Saddlemire returned to live on Barton Hill Road in 1996. She retired in 1997 from the Schoharie Central School District.  For the last 15 years, she has resided on Long Road in East Berne.

Mrs. Saddlemire was a former member of the Schoharie United Presbyterian Church, where she served as Deacon, and of the Wiawaka Women's Group. Later, she was a member of the Gallupville Evangelical Lutheran Church.

“While living in Schoharie, Norma's life was also that of a caregiver from caring for her elderly parents, other relatives, and friends,” her family wrote in a tribute. “She loved country music and cooking. Her cooking ranged from making cut-up animal-shaped cakes for all the children, to large church spaghetti dinners, to canning and freezing vegetables from her garden.”

She enjoyed traveling, whether chaperoning the church handbell youth choir to Ohio, spending time in Florida, traveling cross country with friends, or her first airplane ride to China.

An excellent seamstress, she sewed her own wedding gown and all her attendants’ dresses, as well as all her daughters’ gowns and their attendants’.  She also sewed many quilts, crocheted baptismal dresses and knitted many baby blankets and sweaters.

“Norma loved life on the farm,” her family wrote, “where she found peace surrounded by animals, many flower and vegetable gardens, hard work, and family, beginning on her farm on Barton Hill Road, Schoharie, and most recently on the Crawford farm in East Berne.”

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Norma Jane Saddlemire is survived by her children, Linda Mencucci and her husband, Daniel; Frank Faber and his wife, Rosanne; Patricia Haroldson and her husband, John; Cindy Slack and Michael Stever; and Rosalie Faber and Peter Centore.

She is also survived by her companion, Kenneth Crawford, and his family.

She is survived, too, by six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and one great-great-granddaughter; by her brother, Roger V. Putnam of Sun City, Arizona; and by many cousins, two nieces, a nephew, and many friends.

Her parents died before her, as did her sister, Thelma Salsbury, and her great-granddaughter, Olivia Lane Marbot.

The family thanks the staff of Capstone Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, and the Montgomery County Hospice “for their compassionate unending care and support.”

A memorial celebration-of-life service will be held on Wednesday, July 22, at 6 p.m., with the Rev. Brandan Eddy of the Schoharie United Presbyterian Church officiating.  A period of visitation will be from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Fredendall Funeral Home at 199 Main Street in Altamont.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Community Hospice of Amsterdam, 246 Manny’s Corners Road, Amsterdam, NY  12010, or to Helderberg Ambulance, 978 Cole Hill Road, East Berne, NY 12059, or to Senior Services of Albany, Post Office Box 13512, Albany, NY 12212.