Obituaries Archives — The Altamont Enterprise, October 15, 2009

Memorial gathering — Peter Ferraioli

Peter Ferraioli, formerly of Altamont, recently passed away at his home in Las Vegas, Nev. He was 45. He is the son or Margaret Ferraioli of Pattersonville, and the late Richard Ferraioli.

Family and friends are invited to a memorial gathering  on Oct. 18, 2009 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Guilderland Center Fire Department Community Hall on School Road in Guilderland Center.

Harriet L. Van Benthuysen

Harriet Van Benthuysen, a loving mother and wife who styled hair and made angels, died on Oct. 10, 2009. She was 76.

Born on Dec. 7, 1932 in Valley Stream, Long Island, Mrs. Benthuysen was the daughter of the late Alfred and Barbara (Zorn) Fleury and grew up on a rural coast.

She fell in love with her husband of over 50 years on Long Island, before the couple moved upstate when their hometown started to get crowded.

“We met on a little boat trip down to Jones Beach,” said David Van Benthuysen. He and his brother had gotten a used outboard and took their sister and several friends to the beach — and she was on the trip.

Mrs. Van Benthuysen was certified at the Queens Beauty Institute, he said, and styled hair for decades. She wore her own hair many ways over the years, said her son, William Benthuysen.

In 1965, the pair moved their family upstate. “They had a great dream of one day opening a campground,” said their son.

They bought a house with 21 rooms and 30 acres, David Van Benthuysen said. They never got around to turning it into a campground, but Mrs. Van Benthuysen had a beauty parlor in the house, her husband said, and they enjoyed camping trips to the Adirondacks.

For 10 years, Mrs. Van Benthuysen worked for Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Albany, her family said.

As a beautician licensed in 1950, she worked at both the Hair Depot and Wal-Mart Smart Styles in Keyser. She was a member of the Keyser Church of the Brethren and was active with the Helping Hands Ministry.

She also kept a collection of angels “that would surpass any you could imagine,” said her son. His mother created some of the figures in her collection, he said. In addition to enjoying ceramics, Mrs. Van Benthuysen sewed and knitted. She “loved to make things,” he said.

“She was a loving person, a caring person,” said. Mr. Van Benthuysen. “She was good company and a good companion.”

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Mrs. Van Benthuysen is survived by her husband of 56 years, David H. Van Benthuysen, and their three sons: Howard D. Van Benthuysen and his wife, Janet, of Lindenhurst, Long Island; William S. Van Benthuysen and his wife, Maureen, of Clifton Park; and David C. Van Benthuysen of Vicksburg, Miss. She is also survived by her siblings, Alfred Fleury, of Bound Brook, N.J. and Evelyn Goodenough, of San Antonio, Texas. She is also survived by her 10 grandchildren: James, Daniel, Aaron, Liam, Owen, Adrian, Melissa, David, Christopher, and Courtney and by her five great-grandchildren.

Her brother, Ronald Fleury, died before her.

A memorial service will be held today, Oct. 15, at the Keyser Church of the Brethren in West Virginia with Pastor Dwight Ramsey officiating. Arraignments are by the Smith Funeral Home in Keyser, W.V. Interment will be in the Greenfield Cemetery in Hempstead, N.Y.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, 182 N. Mechanic St., Cumberland, MD 21502.

Condolences to the family may be left at www.smithfuneralhomes.net.

“She was incredibly beautiful, inside and out,” her family wrote in a tribute. “We will always remember her smiling and laughing wherever she was.”

Andrea took digital pictures and videos with her camera, said her stepmother, Angela Guido. She often went to Ronald Park with her friends.

Andrea’s family was important to her. Her best friend was her Aunt Nikki, her family said. Andrea enjoyed her summer family vacations at Sacandaga.

“She loved spending time with her 14-year-old brother, Emilio,” said Mrs. Guido. “And she taught her 11-month-old sister all kinds of things — how to do high fives, and to hug.”

Mrs. Guido went on, “She was a social butterfly. Everyone we knew was magnetized by her. She was always smiling and laughing.”

The memorial card that the family chose for Andrea has a picture of a guardian angel on one side and a poem on the other side that says, “I’d like to leave an afterglow of smiles.”

“She’s my very special guardian angel now,” said Mrs. Guido through tears.

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She is survived by her father, Christopher, and his wife, Angela, and her mother, Elba Perkins, and her husband, Joe; one brother, Emilio Guido; two sisters, Asteria Solana and Julianna Guido.

She is also survived by her grandparents, Michael and Beverly Guido; Elva Ortiz, Ernie and Penny Incitti and Evelyn Incitti; her aunts and uncles, Nichole Guido-Baker and Bob Baker, Orlando Solana, Gerardo Solana, Brian and Julie Incitti, Lauren Incitti and Matt Incitti; and by extended family and friends.

Calling hours were Monday, Oct. 12, at the DeMarco-Stone Funeral Home in Guilderland. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Rotterdam.

GUILDERLAND — Frances Hodgkins, who crocheted for charity and installed telephone systems, including on a ship’s crow’s nest, for a living, died on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009. She was 93

Born in Syracuse, she was the daughter of the late Harry and Pauline (Douglass) Seager.

Her employment included: telephone operator in the late 1930s; in the early 1940s she became a telephone systems installer on naval ships (including the crow’s nest) at the Providence, Rhode Island shipyard. In the 1950s through 1970s, she was the office manager of Arden Jewelry Mfg. Co. in Providence, and, finally, in the 1980s, she worked in the bookkeeping unit of Ellenville Hospital in Ellenville, N.Y.

Active in the organizations she served, her affiliations included: member and high office holder in the Grange in Cranston, R.I.; Bernardston, Mass.; and Accord, N.Y.; member and president of Greenfield, Mass. American Association of Retired Persons Chapter and member of the Guilderland AARP; volunteer with AARP, Red Cross and the Chamber of Commerce in Guilderland; and an enthusiast of the aerobics program with the Guilderland Senior Citizens.

Mrs. Hodgkins also enjoyed baking and crafts of all kinds. Throughout her life, she created hundreds of stuffed animals, crocheted and knitted items for charity.

“Frances will be missed by many friends and relatives,” her family wrote in a tribute.

Her husband, Arthur Hodgkins, died before her.

She is survived by her sons David Hodgkins and his wife, Eileen, of Guilderland, and George Hodgkins of Phoenix, Ariz., and daughter-in-law Sonya Hodgkins of Phoenix, Ariz.; her grandchildren Mark Hodgkins of Colonie, David Hodgkins and Holger Hodgkins, both of Albany; and Rose Mattas and her husband, Chris, of Sloansville; sister Virginia Smith and her husband, Jubal, of Ellenville, N.Y., Thelma Coghlin and her husband, Fitz, of Saugatuck, Mich.; seven great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Her brother, Harry Seager, died before her.

Calling hours will be held today, Oct. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Guilderland’s DeMarco-Stone Funeral Home, 5216 Western Turnpike (Route 20 just west of Carman Road). Burial will be at the convenience of the family in Memory’s Garden in Colonie.

Minnie Hotaling

GUILDERLAND — Hal McCarthy began his teaching career with the Guilderland School District and retired, after 35 years, as the superintendent of schools.

When he retired in 1992, the men and women who had worked with him over the years had less to say about what he’d built with bricks and mortar than what he’d built with trust and loyalty.

He died on Sunday morning, Oct. 11, 2009. He was 71.

Although additions were made to each of the elementary schools during his tenure as superintendent, and the high school was updated, what Mr. McCarthy’s co-workers focused on were his human qualities. The high school principal at the time, Jack Whipple said, “He’s very people oriented. He believed schools were a service organization and he brought in good people and made them feel they had a significant impact.”

Mr. McCarthy described himself as a practical man and said he thought his independent spirit came from his upbringing. He was born on July 22, 1938 in Malone, N.Y. to Helen and Harold McCarthy. He grew up on a dairy farm, three miles, as the crow flies, from the Canadian border. The farm, in Constable, N.Y., had been in Mr. McCarthy’s family for five generations.

“It was a 24-hour-a day job, seven days a week,” he said. “It’s hard, cold country with a short season for growing. We grew everything we needed.”

Mr. McCarthy’s parents had seven children; two of them died young. “Our family is very strong,” he said. “My mother was trained as a nurse, but had very little career opportunities, except helping neighbors.” Helen McCarthy brought 30 children into the world, he said.

Each member of the McCarthy family had his or her own niche, Mr. McCarthy said. “My brother was a machine man; for another it was gardening. I was the animal person. We had our own capons, pork, turkey, beef. We butchered every weekend in the fall.”

Mr. McCarthy went to school at St. Joseph’s Academy in nearby Malone, where he learned that education was important. He was taught mostly by nuns, whom he saw as “extremely caring people.”

When Mr. McCarthy was in high school, he and his brother, 14 months older than he, got up at 5 a.m. every morning to milk the cows, and loaded 40 cans of milk in the back of their truck to deliver to the dairy before school. Mr. McCarthy kept the early hours as a teacher and administrator at Guilderland.

In high school, Mr. McCarthy was the president of his class for four years and captain of athletic teams. He was also active in 4-H and traveled throughout the Northeast, showing cattle at country fairs.

He also traveled for sports competitions and recalled a game in Watertown that was filmed for television. “We didn’t have a TV at home,” he said. “It was a big thing.”

After graduating, Mr. McCarthy headed for Cornell University with plans of becoming a veterinarian. But the eight-year program proved to be too much. He left after two years and went to work for the St. Lawrence Seaway as a concrete foreman, pouring concrete for big dams and the Eisenhower locks. “Sometimes we’d work 24 hours and pour 100,000 cubic yards,” he said. “One day, I took my mother to the hospital in Plattsburgh. I went by the state university there,” he said, and realized, “I did not envision myself being a construction worker the rest of my life.”

He worked his way through Plattsburg, where he discovered two loves — for mathematics and for Jo Ann, who would become his wife.

Mr. McCarthy landed a job at Guilderland in 1961, and went on to earn two master’s degrees from Union College.

“I started out as a math teacher in the junior high,” said Mr. McCarthy. “It was the first year the junior high was open, and it was a very exciting time,” he said. He made lifelong friends then, whom he said became like family to him.

He was married in 1963, during the school’s spring break, and the next year his wife gave birth to a daughter, Kimberly, followed by two sons — Michael, born in 1965, and Shannon James, born in 1969.

“Hal was beloved by his family and friends for his intelligence, generosity, and his love of life,” his family wrote this week in a tribute. “He loved spending time in the Adirondacks, playing tennis, golfing, and maintaining friendships from over his lifespan.”

Many of his closest friendships were rooted in the school.

“In the sixties, we had very little, and we were able to start so many things,” Mr. McCarthy said of his work at Guilderland. He cited soccer as an example. Along with Don Snyder, he began a soccer program in the 1960s. “We had soccer teams without shoes and shin guards,” said Mr. McCarthy, “but, if you wanted something, the community would help you get it.”

Mr. McCarthy went on to chair the math department; then he was an assistant business administrator and then business administrator for the district; next he was assistant superintendent and finally superintendent. After retiring from Guilderland, he went on to work in the insurance business through May 2009.

Mr. McCarthy talked about the Guilderland School District as if it had a life of its own.

“It’s an outstanding school system,” he said. “It cares about its children. It’s always trying to be better. It believes learning is important. And education of its children is important. People work hard and are committed to that. They know it’s never over.”

****

Hal McCarthy is survived by his wife, JoAnn; a daughter, Kim; his sons, Michael, and his wife, Corinne, and Shannon, and his wife, Isil; two grandchildren, Madeline McCarthy and Engin Dennis McCarthy; his sister, Teresa Guido, of Syracuse, N.Y; his brothers, Michael, and his wife, Marge, of Burke, N.Y, and William, and his wife, Sharon, of West Palm Beach, Fla.

His family would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Dr. Masson and Dr. Gold and the staff at St. Peter’s intensive care unit.

A Mass will be held today, Oct. 15, at noon, at St. Lucy’s Church in Altamont. A reception will follow at the parish center. Arrangements are by Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Lung Association, 155 Washington Ave., Suite 210, Albany, N.Y. 12210, or online at www.tinyurl.com/InMemoryofHal.

ALTAMONT — Lyle Aldrege Newcomb died on Oct. 9, 2009, at Our Lady of Mercy Life Center, in Guilderland. He was 76.

Mr. Aldredge was born on July 14, 1933, in Prattsville, N.Y., the son of Aldredge and Mabel Newcomb, nee Tuttle.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Judith Newcomb, nee Barber; his daughters, Carla Stefan, and her husband, Doug, of Voorheesville, and Lori Walrath, and her husband, Stephen, of Altamont; his son, Lyle Thomas, and his wife, Rachelle, of Davis, Calif.; his grandchildren, Lesley and Robert Stefan, Lydia and James Walrath, and Julianna and Lyla Newcomb; his sister, Fay Haynes, of Grand Gorge, N.Y.; and a cousin, Roberta Zeigel, of Ashland, N.Y.

A funeral service was held on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at St. John’s Lutheran Church, in Altamont. Arrangements were made by Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont.

The family wishes to extend special thanks to the staff of Our Lady of Mercy Life Center, in Guilderland, for their excellent care and kindness.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. John’s Lutheran Church, Post Office box 770, Altamont, NY 12009, or to Community Caregivers, 2113 Western Ave., Guilderland, NY 12084. 

Judith Ellis Pulliam

ALTAMONT — Judith Ellis Pulliam, a family-oriented, selfless woman, died on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009, in St. Peter’s Hospice, after an 11-year battle with progressive supranuclear palsy. She was 73.

Mrs. Pulliam was born in Albany on May 15, 1936, to Laurence Packard and Martha Hinman Ellis. She graduated from the Albany Academy for Girls.

Vall Pulliam, Mrs. Pulliam’s husband, said he met his wife at Warner’s Lake one summer, when he went there to go swimming.

“I saw this nice-looking blonde, with nice, suntanned legs, sitting up on the counter,” he recalled. “She didn’t really like me, but a few years later, she told me she liked me very much. She said I was a funny guy, but she couldn’t get serious with me. I told her I was going to make her get serious about me, and we ended up being married for 54 years.”

In a tribute to Mrs. Pulliam, her family wrote that she devoted most of her energy to helping others. Throughout her life, she assisted commercial fishermen in a boat on the Hudson River, worked as a preschool teacher, was an associate member of the Altamont Fair, a member of the Albany Junior League, and drove elderly people to their doctors appointments for Community Caregivers.

Of all the roles that she took on, her family said, she was the most successful and most proud of being a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She raised four sons and a daughter.

“Though she hated cooking, there was a meal on the table every night. Though she had young ones to take care of, the older children were never neglected. Though money was sometimes tight, she made sure there were birthdays and Christmas.

“Her children’s fortitude, success, and character are the direct result of how she raised them. The happiest she has ever been is when her family was around her,” the family wrote.

Mr. Pulliam said he and his wife both took a lot of enjoyment in “working on things,” and bought four houses that they “put a lot of sweat into.” He said that Mrs. Pulliam was the decorator, and he was the carpenter and electrician in their projects.

“If she wasn’t re-caning a chair or refinishing a table, she would be stripping wallpaper in another room — and that’s just on the inside,” her family wrote. “Judy would spend several hours each week working in her gardens of perennials. Although it may not have been her intent, she created a place — an environment — a home welcoming to anyone and everyone.”

“We fixed them up and sold them, and incidentally made some money on them,” Mr. Pulliam said of their homes. “But we didn’t pamper ourselves as much as some people do. We were workers.”

No matter where Mrs. Pulliam spent the rest of the year, her family said she always spent the summer on Warner’s Lake, where she met her husband.

“She was the matriarch of a large family based out of Strevell Lane on Warner’s Lake every summer,” the family said. “From Altamont to Hoosick Falls, to Claverack to Ticonderoga — no matter where she resided the rest of the year, her family base was situated on the lake from Flag Day to Labor Day,” her family wrote.

Mr. Pulliam said that after he and his wife retired, they did a lot of international traveling, and spent two or three weeks in Florida every winter.

“One day, we each threw our suitcases in the car and said we were going to travel around the country. We budgeted for six weeks to travel around the country. We lasted three weeks, and we got up one Sunday morning in Denver. She looked at me, I looked at her, and I said ‘Do you want to keep going?’ She said, ‘No, do you?’ So we went home. We weren’t heavy travelers but we did go on some nice tours,” said Mr. Pulliam.

The family said only Mrs. Pulliam herself would ever have described her life as uneventful.

“As giving as she was, she would take no credit for anything she ever did,” her family wrote. “Caring and considerate, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has even heard her say a negative word about anyone — being rude or mean was never who she was.

“She’d be embarrassed just reading these nice thing about her,” her family wrote. “Judy never wanted the attention drawn to her. Her character, her devotion, her fortitude were demonstrated by her actions and not by anything she would tell you about herself. Judy was indeed ‘quiet strength.’

“You could call her an indomitable spirit, you could call her a dedicated wife, you could call her a hard, selfless worker, but she would most likely want to her you call her ‘Mom,’” said her family in a tribute.

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Mrs. Pulliam is survived by her husband, Vall Pulliam; two sisters, Elizabeth Bates of Voorheesville, and Susan Rockmore of East Berne; five children — Kyle Pulliam, and his wife, Maribeth, Brett Pulliam, and his wife, Amy, Kent Pulliam, and his wife, Christine, Amy Carlson, and her husband, Mark, and Jason Pulliam, and his wife, Neeta; thirteen grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

A memorial celebration will be planned for the future. Arrangements are by Fredendall Funeral Home of Altamont.

Memorial contributions may be made to CurePSP, Executive Plaza III, 11350 McCormick Road, Suite 906, Hunt Valley, M.D. 21031.

Mrs. Spring was born on Nov. 11, 1912, to Jacob and Helen Clute in Charlton, NY. She attended Draper School, and was in the class of 1930. She graduated from Memorial Hospital Nursing School, and went on to work as a registered nurse at Memorial and Ellis hospitals, and as an office nurse for Dr. Rudolph Deutl, and a school nurse at Pinewood School in the Schalmont School District.

In addition to working, Mrs. Spring attended to all the details of a farmer’s wife, and was the mother of four much-loved children.

After she retired from Schalmont Schools, she volunteered at the experimental farm, Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, in Fort Meyers, Fla, in the winter. She also volunteered for the Schenectady County Historical Society, and was a member of the Lynwood Reformed Church.

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Mrs. Spring is survived by her son, Sam Spring, and his wife, Elaine; her daughter, Susan Spring Meggs; her son, John Spring; her son, Kent Spring, and his wife, Susan; her brother, John Clute, and his wife, Doris; her sister, Barbara Murray; and, 11 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Nov. 8 at the Lynwood Reformed Church. Arrangements are by DeMarco Stone Funeral Home in Guilderland.

Memorial Contributions may be made to Lynwood Reformed Church, 2714 Carman Road, Schenectady, NY 12303, or to Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, 17391 Durrance Road, North Fort Meyers, FL 33917.

Robert L. York

VOORHEESVILLE — Robert York, quiet and steady, died on Oct. 8, 2009. He was 79.

The youngest of Nellie and Joseph York’s 12 children, Mr. York worked hard through his childhood in Erie, Pa., said his wife, Rita York.

He joined the Army when he was 20, at the same time that his nephew of the same age joined a different branch of the military, said Mrs. York. To him, it looked like freedom and independence, she said, and he maintained that outlook through his 20-year service.

Mr. York fought in Korea and Vietnam, earning many awards and medals, including a Bronze Star, his family wrote in a tribute.

Later, he was stationed in Albany as an Army recruiter in the office where Mrs. York worked. “I took one look at him and I fell in love with his uniform and his crew cut,” she said of herself at 18.

“He was a very quiet man,” Mrs. York said, and his children and grandchildren were his life.

“He was a good father — a quiet father, but a loving father,” she said. He was an adoring grandfather.

“He was the most caring, giving man I’ve met,” she said. He never disagreed with her, Mrs. York said; he wanted her to have everything she wanted. “He was too good to be true sometimes,” she said.

When he retired from the Army, Mr. York worked as the chief of security in the Northeastern Industrial Park for the Galesi Group for about 10 years before he and his wife joined her family’s dry-cleaning business. They opened a store in Troy and, she said, “He loved going to work… He loved chatting with the people.”

He was regimented, Mrs. York said — everything had its place, which probably came from his years in Army. “He could be funny, but he was serious,” she said.

“We’ve been happy,” Mrs. York said. “We’re grateful for what we’ve had.”

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Mr. York is survived by his wife of 46 years, Rita (Rosenthal) York, and his daughters: Debbie Cohen and her husband, Jeff, of Slingerlands and Shannon Bastiani and her husband, Butch, of Altamont. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Jessica and Ashley Cohen, and Clayton Bastiani.

He is also survived by his children, Bruce, Doug, and Kathleen and several grandchildren, all of Cleveland, Ohio. He is also survived by five sisters and a brother, all of Erie, Pa.

Services were held at the Levine Memorial Chapel in Albany on Oct. 13 with interment in the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Daughters of Sarah Nursing Foundation at 180 Washington Ave. Extension, Albany, NY 12203.

A family guestbook can be signed online at www.levinememorialchapel.com.

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