Obituaries Archives — The Altamont Enterprise, April 30, 2009
Myron Filkins
BERNE — Myron Filkins was a kind and devoted husband and family man, his son said.
He died peacefully on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at the Firemen’s Home in Hudson, N.Y. He was 85.
He was born on Dec. 4, 1923 in East Berne to the late Leroy and Edna Filkins.
“Although not very successful himself with a gun in his hands, he taught me to hunt and track,” his son, David Filkins, said, “a great thing to learn for a young man who wasn’t old enough to work yet.”
Most of all, Mr. Filkins loved working in his garden, his son went on, “and keeping up with his raspberries and cherries, which were so abundant some years, you couldn’t pick them fast enough. That didn’t matter, though, because he would give more away to friends and neighbors for pies and jellies than he would keep for himself.”
Born and raised in Berne, Mr. Filkins attended and graduated from the Berne-Knox High School. He worked as a laborer for Callahan’s, making blacktop.
“He enjoyed the outdoors,” his son said. “Every year, he went camping with his family.” They camped in Rhode Island; Thompson’s Lake; and New Brunswick, Canada.
“First was a tent, and then, we moved up to a pop-up trailer,” which Violet Filkins, Mr. Filkins’s wife of 50 years, liked much better, their son said.
Mr. Filkins met his wife when he was a child, as she was his neighbor. They married in 1951, but it wasn’t until his second marriage proposal that she said yes, “confiding later in the children that the first ring was nicer,” their son said.
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Filkins is survived by his three children: Connie, Donna, and David; his grandchildren: Judson, Meghan, David Jr., and Preston; his great-grandchildren: David and Daisy; his brothers: Warren and his wife, Rita, Thomas and his wife, Gladys, Donald and his wife, Beverly; and his sister, Florence.
His wife, Violet, died before him.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 2, at Fredendall’s Funeral Home in Altamont, followed by a gathering at the East Berne fire house.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Firemen’s Home, at 125 Harry Howard Ave., Hudson NY 12534.
— Zach Simeone
Edith Kuhar
RENSSELAERVILLE — Edith Kuhar, a wife and mother who was very active in her community, died unexpectedly on April 25, 2009 at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany. She was 84.
She was born on Jan. 28, 1925, the daughter of the late Eberhardt and Lydia (Teter) vonLinden.
She was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church and the Clark White Post 589 American Legion Ladies Auxiliary. She was also a former board member of the Rensselaerville Library, and a member of the Rensselaerville Historical Society, the Rensselaerville Seniors, the Hilltown Seniors, and a former 4-H leader. She was also a founding and former board member of the Heldeberg Senior Services.
Her husband, William Kuhar, died in 2005.
She is survived by a daughter, Jane Coutant, and her husband, Malcolm, of Saranac Lake N.Y.; a son, Michael Kuhar of Rensselaerville and a sister Shirley vonLinden, of Fultonham, N.Y.
Her funeral service will be at 1 p.m. today, April 30, at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Rensselaerville. Arrangements are by the Cunningham Funeral Home, in Greenville. Interment will be in the Rensselaerville Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Rensselaerville Library or to the Trinity Episcopal Church.
Burial Service — Amos E. Hallenbeck
WESTERLO — A burial service will be held on Saturday, May 2, at 11 a.m. in the Westerlo Rural Cemetery for Amos E. Hallenbeck.
Mr. Hallenbeck died on Sunday, March 8, 2009, at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Albany. He was 87.
Mr. Hallenbeck, who was born in Coeymans, had served as a staff sergeant in World War II. After the war, he worked as a crane operator at the Army depot in Voorheesville until it closed. He then worked as Albany County’s commissioner of highways.
Mr. Hallenbeck will be buried with military honors. Rev. Donald Lyon will officiate. Arrangements are by the Cunningham Funeral Home in Greenville.
Burial Service — Robert Eugene Wright
BERNE — A burial service will be held on Saturday, May 9, at 2 p.m., in the Woodlawn Cemetery, for Robert Eugene Wright. His brother, George Howard Wright, will be buried immediately following.
Mr. Wright died on Dec. 25, 2008. He was 72.
Mr. Wright served in the United States Army from 1955 to 1958. He worked as a building maintenance supervisor for the New York State Thruway Authority for 33 years.
Mr. Wright will have a military graveside service. Family and friends are welcome to attend the service, as well as the luncheon following at Duncan and Susan Schanz’s Farmhouse on Knox-Gallupville Road.
Burial Service — George Howard Wright
BERNE — A burial service will be held on Saturday, May 9, at 2 p.m., in the Woodlawn Cemetery, for George Howard Wright. His brother, Robert Eugene Wright, will be buried earlier in the day.
Mr. Wright died on Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, at St. Peter’s Hospital. He was 67.
Mr. Wright was the head custodian at the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School District for 30 years.
Family and friends are welcome to attend the service, as well as a luncheon following at Duncan and Susan Schanz’s Farmhouse on Knox-Gallupville Road.