ALTAMONT — Joan E. Settle was raised in the city — in Schenectady’s Stockade neighborhood — but relished country life, proudly referring to herself as “the farmer’s wife.”

A long-time Altamont and former Knox resident, she died on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022, with her loving family at her side. She was 92.

Born on Christmas Eve 1929, she was the daughter of the late Everett and Florence (née Honor) Tibbitts and the beloved wife of the late Ivan Settle.

Her mother was a homemaker, raising Joan and her brother and sister, all now deceased, while her father was foreman at a Stockade laundry.

Mrs. Settle always had an outgoing personality, said her daughter Debra Settle, and as a child, “She roamed the neighborhood, visiting everyone. She’d eat spaghetti at an old Italian lady’s home.”

After she graduated from Mount Pleasant High School, Mrs. Settle worked for a brief time at General Electric in Schenectady before marrying her husband, Ivan Settle of Knox, in 1949. They met through relatives on her mother’s side of the family who lived in Knox.

Mrs. Settle loved life on the Settle Brothers Dairy Farm. Mrs. Settle was “always a homemaker,” her daughter said. She kept a huge garden and canned food for the family. 

“She sewed clothes for us children,” said Ms. Settle. “She was a great mom — always cooking, always caring. All the neighborhood kids would call her ‘Ma.’”

Mrs. Settle was devoted to her husband. “She never drove. She never went anywhere without him,” said her daughter.

As her family grew, so did Mrs. Settle’s love — for her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and finally her great-great grandchild.

Mrs. Settle was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 72. “Joan was a proud breast cancer survivor, having defeated breast cancer a total of three times,” her family wrote in a tribute.

She went through surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. “The chemo almost killed her,” said her daughter. “But she said she was going to beat cancer … She was a very strong, determined woman.”

Ms. Settle concluded of her mother, “Through it all, she always had a smile on her face.”

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 Joan E. Settle is survived by her children, Sherrie Pasquariello and her husband, Joe, Thomas Settle, and Debra Settle and her partner David Gray; by her grandchildren, Brian, Kristen, Timothy, Michael, and Andrea; by her nine great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild; and a host of nieces and nephews.

Calling hours and a prayer service were held on Dec. 13 at Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont. Interment will take place in the spring in the Knox Cemetery.

“The Settle family would like to thank the Albany County Community Hospice for their kind and compassionate care during Joan’s final days,” the tribute said.

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

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Breast Cancer Foundation at www.ABCF.org.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer