Donna Fargo was a homemaker and devoted family woman with a sense of humor that persevered into the final days of her life. She died at home, in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, on Dec. 14, 2020. She was 80.

Though she had grown up in Schenectady, Mrs. Fargo loved living in the remote rural Hilltowns, and used to say “You got to be tough to live on the mountain.”

Mrs. Fargo was born on April 18, 1940 to William Griffin and Mary Griffin Keller, the only daughter among four children. 

As a young girl, Mrs. Fargo would accompany her family to their camp on Great Sacandaga Lake, where she would later bring her own four children. 

Mrs. Fargo graduated from Colonie High School, and, shortly after, on July 20, 1958, married Tom Fargo.

In 1969, after the Fargo family had grown to include three daughters and a son, they moved from Schenectady to East Berne. Mrs. Fargo and her husband were members of the East Berne Volunteer Fire Company for many years, with Mrs. Fargo serving a term as its secretary, as well as volunteering as an emergency medical technician. Their daughter, Sally Herzog, and son, David Fargo, also became members of the fire company. 

Although she would later take jobs at the former Bremerton Adult Home, in Knox, and the Albany Medical Center Dialysis Unit, as a patient aid, Mrs. Fargo focused her energy on her family, staying home to raise her children.

“We had a good childhood,” Mrs. Herzog said. “One thing we always did as a family was play board games. I remember many Christmases where we would spend the whole day playing with new games we got for Christmas.”

In 2007, Mrs. Fargo, along with her son, David, moved to Massachusetts and lived with her daughter, Lisa. 

Along with reading, gardening, knitting, and crocheting, Mrs. Fargo relaxed by birdwatching, sitting on the porch of her home in Massachusetts with binoculars, seeking out her avian neighbors. 

Mrs. Herzog said that her mother will be remembered for her kindness, wit, and sparring sense of humor, which she used to “kiddingly give people a hard time,” Mrs. Herzog said.

To her children, Mrs. Fargo imparted a sense of respect for and duty to others, which she had exhibited in her own life through her guardianship as a mother, fire company volunteer, and emergency medical technician.

“She taught us to always be kind to others and be the best that we could be,” Mrs. Herzog said.

**** 

Mrs. Fargo is survived by her four children, Mary Fargo and her boyfriend, Paul Aldrich; Sally Herzog and her husband, Steve; Lisa Timm and her boyfriend, Brad Salisbury; and David Fargo. 

Mrs. Fargo is also survived by her six grandchildren, Ashley Ferussi and her husband, Anthony; Andrew Herzog and his wife, Mallory; Sarah Toth and her husband, Dale; Elizabeth Timm; and Joachim “Jake” Timm; as well as her three great-grandchildren, Aiden, Lucia, and Gabriella; and her brothers, William Griffin, Ralph Griffin, and Richard Keller; and several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

Mrs. Fargo’s husband, Tom Fargo, died before her, as did her parents.

A graveside service will be held in the summer of 2021 at the Thompson’s Lake Rural Cemetery in East Berne. 

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

Memorial contributions may be made to Beacon Hospice, 815 Worcester St, Springfield, MA 01151, or to your regional foodbank.

— Noah Zweifel