ALTAMONT — Mary C. Bosworth looked for the best in everyone and believed the future was safe in the hands of her own children and the students she knew at Guilderland High School where she worked as a library clerk.

She died peacefully on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016, surrounded by her family. She was 85.

“She  was a loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was loved by all that knew her,” her family wrote in a tribute. “She never had a bad word to say about anyone, and she made everyone believe that they were her favorite.”

“We all were her favorite,” said her daughter Margaret Barber, referring to herself and her siblings. “She made us each feel special and important. She never said anything negative.”

Mrs. Barber went on, “My mother never, ever looked at flaws — ever. She just loved everyone.”

Her advice was consistent: “You find what you love about someone; don’t focus on what you don’t love.”

Her mother, Mrs. Barber said, was “fun, funny, and loving.”

Mrs. Bosworth was born on March 1, 1931 in Albany, to the late William and Mary Elizabeth (née Smith) McCann. Her father worked as an attorney and her mother as a nurse at Albany Medical Center.

Mrs. Bosworth was a student in nursing school when she met the man who would become her husband, Matthew Bosworth. “My dad was in the Navy. They got married and she raised many babies,” said Mrs. Barber.

Their union ended only with Mr. Bosworth’s death.

“My parents were both such kind, wonderful people,” said Mrs. Barber. “I don’t remember having to be disciplined. Family was everything, and still is. Me and my brothers and sisters are very close.”

Mrs. Bosworth worked at Guilderland High School as a library clerk. She was close with the three librarians and has kept in touch with their families over the years. Many of the students who used the library a half-century ago have also kept in touch with Mrs. Bosworth.

“She still gets Christmas cards from students who graduated 40 or 50 years ago,” said Mrs. Barber.

“My mother was all about children. She liked being where kids were. She would say, ‘You don’t need to know about history because you’re looking at it.’”

Mrs. Barber explained this: “She looked at what people were becoming.” Mrs. Barber gave the example of seeing a doctor for help with a health problem who had once been a student. Her mother believed “what you put into people, you get out.”

Mrs. Bosworth was a good cook and, more than that, she could improvise to solve problems. “Anything I was ever cooking, my mother knew the recipe. And, if I was lacking an ingredient, she could tell me what to substitute,” said Mrs. Barber.

Mrs. Bosworth also knew how to stretch food to feed a crowd. “She could make a full meal out of a head of cabbage and a pound of burger,” said her daughter.

Mrs. Bosworth was a life member of the Guilderland Center Fire Department Ladies’ Auxiliary. “Growing up, we went to all the parades,” said Mrs. Barber. “To watch your mother and father march, that was community. It felt so much bigger than myself.”

Mrs. Bosworth relished her role as grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved backyard picnics and watching her grandchildren at play. “She was so absolutely proud of her babies,” said Mrs. Barber. “She loved them with every fiber of her body.”

Sincer her death, Mrs. Barber reported, “All of us have said, ‘What are we going to do?’ She was our best friend. In happy times, in sad times, it was always Mom we went to.”

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She is survived by her children, William Bosworth and his wife, Micky; Daniel Bosworth and his wife, Michele; Margaret Barber and her husband, Richard; Kathleen Katz and her husband, Edward; and her son-in-law, Tom Brooks.

She is also survived by her grandchildren, Matthew and Daniel Bosworth; Theresa, Andrew, and Alan Barber; Matthew, Derek, and Justin Katz; Rachael Carl and Mary Star Brooks. She is survived, too, by 10 great-grandchildren; her sisters, Dora D’Amato and Nancy Lown; her brother Jim McCann; and many nieces and nephews.

Her husband, Matthew Bosworth, died before her, as did her daughter Mary Brooks.

Calling hours will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 19, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Fredendall Funeral Home, 199 Main Street, Altamont, with a service at 7:30 p.m. A graveside service will be held at Memory Gardens, 983 Watervliet Shaker Rd.,  Albany on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 11 a.m.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer