He was born on Aug. 24, 1939, in the family car on Route 85 on Salem Hill on the way to what was then the Brady Memorial Hospital in Albany. He was the son of the late Charles Walter Clickman, of Westerlo, and Florence Clickman, now of Altamont.

“Charles was a loving and committed family man, and a devout Christian,” his family wrote in a tribute. “His loss leaves his family bereft of his caring and dear presence. He was determined to make his family members lives full of love and Charles was a true friend to many. He was known for his honesty and quiet generosity.

“When he retired seven years ago, he was able to enjoy babysitting his youngest granddaughter, spending winters in Florida with his wife, vacationing with the family in Ocean City, Md., and getting together for wonderful family picnics and events. “He will be truly missed by family and friends.

“He loved hunting, watching Westerns, babysitting, sunbathing on the beach and visiting with family and friends.”

He attended Westerlo schools, and worked on his parents’ farm on Willsey Road in the town of Rensselaerville. In 1958, when he was 19, he hitchhiked across the United States and back. Upon his return, he worked on various farms, including that of Larry Cooke and D.K. Ormsbee.

Mr. Clickman enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1960, and served until 1964, receiving an honorable discharge. He worked on the Howard Gifford farm, and then the Avant Tree Company, setting poles for the telephone company.

“Charles and his soul mate and future wife-to-be, Wanda Carole Chase, had grown up on neighboring farms on Willsey Road,” his family wrote. On February 19, 1966, they were married, and had their first child, Charles Jr., later that year. That same year, Charles went to work at Hannay Reels in Westerlo, and retired from Hannay’s in 2002, after 35 years in assembly and carpentry.

“Charles and Wanda bought their first home in South Westerlo in 1968, and lived there for 15 years. Their daughter, Wendy Carole, came along in December of 1969.

“In 1983, the Clickmans moved to their present home on Spring Valley Road in Hannacroix, just outside of Greenville. Charles loved his home, and enjoyed keeping it in tip-top condition. He also loved their winter home in Zephyrhills, Fla. that they purchased in the fall of 2006. Charles loved their January and February escapes to the warm temperatures of sunny Florida and the delightful camaraderie they enjoyed with their Zephyrhills neighbors.

“Charles also enjoyed the annual family vacations in Ocean City, Md. Charles and Wanda started going in 1986, bringing their children, and joining up with sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews on these weeklong beachside getaways. The tradition has passed on to include the next generations as well.

“In October, Wanda surprised Charles with a 70th birthday party at the Quarry Steakhouse. Charles truly enjoyed the gathering of family and friends, and kept remarking about how wonderful of an event it was, that included loving tributes by his wife, son, daughter, son-in-law and others.”

****

Besides his wife, Wanda, of 43 years, he is survived by son, Charles “Guy” William Clickman Jr., and his wife, Nancy, daughter, Wendy Carole Robie and her husband, Daniel; grandchildren, Elaina and Zachariah Clickman, and Olivia Robie; sisters, Shirley Salisbury and her husband, William, Joan Hensley and her husband, Kenneth, Carol Chase and her husband, Richard, and Sharon Mycoff and her husband, Clark; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Clifford “Sonny” Chase and his wife, Janice, Richard Chase and his wife, Carol, Gary Jon Chase and his wife, Joyce, Barry Mark Chase and his wife, Carol Ann, Galen Chase and his wife, Rachel, Linda Chase, and Melony Shaver and her husband, Doyle; several nieces, nephews and cousins; and many dear friends, including Curt, Dianna and Nicholas Carl, and Nick and Diamato Mavromihalis among many.

His father, Charles Walter Clickman, died on Dec. 9, 1995 at age 77, and his brother, Kenneth Dale Clickman, also died before him.

Funeral service will be Friday, Dec. 18, at 1 p.m. at the Cunningham Funeral Home, 4898 Route 81, Greenville, NY 12083. Friends may call at the funeral home on Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m.

Interment will be in the Medusa Cemetery on Route 403.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Greenville Rescue Squad, Route 32, Greenville, NY 12083 or Albany Medical Center Trauma Unit care of Albany Medical Center Foundation, Post Office Box 8928, Albany, NY 12208.  

UTICA — Mazie Crawford, a religious woman who grew up in the Hilltowns, died on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009. She was 68.

She was born on March 16, 1941 to the late Roy and Gladys Crawford and grew up on Cass Hill Road in Reidsville. “Her father raised sheep,” said her cousin, June Alberts who grew up near her and still lives on Cass Hill Road.

Ms. Crawford attended Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School and graduated from the St. Mary’s-In-The-Field at White Plains, N.Y.

She was married twice and widowed twice; both of her husbands, Skip Horton and John Fleury, died before her.

She lived most of her adult life in the Utica area. And, after a hip operation, she spent the last eight years at the Heritage Health Center in Utica.

She enjoyed listening to music and gospel preachers on television.

“She just loved listening to music,” June Alberts said.

Ms. Crawford is survived by many cousins. A private service will be held.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer 

NEW SCOTLAND — Leonora Ruth Dellahoy, a licensed x-ray technician, died on Dec. 10, 2009. She was 77.

Mrs. Dellahoy, born Leonora Ruth Noble, was the wife of Kenneth Lee Dellahoy.

She worked as an x-ray technician for Dr. Thomas J. Murnane of Delmar and Dr. Roger Drew of Delmar and Slingerlands, her family wrote in a tribute.

In her own time, Mrs. Dellahoy was a master gardener and an avid bird watcher, her family wrote.

Mrs. Dellahoy is survived by her husband, Kenneth Lee Dellahoy, and by her child, Kerry M. (Susan) Noble, of Albany. She is also survived by two grandchildren and her sister, Melanie Grover, of Lawtons, N.Y., as well as her nephew, Kevin (Sheri) Grover, of Lawtons.

Her brother, Dan Deary, died before her; he had lived in Niagara Falls.

A memorial service will be held at the convenience of the family with arrangements by the Meyers Funeral Home in Delmar.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Community Hospice, 445 New Karner Rd., Albany, NY 12205. 

---

Bernard C. Nagengast

BERNE — Bernard Nagengast, who spread flowers like cheer, died on Dec. 4, 2009. He was 84.

He grew up as one of several sons of a florist and, said his daughter, Anne Marie Nagengast-Place, “The business just drew them all in.”

“They were born upstairs, over the flower shop,” she said, and her father worked in the store and the greenhouses that filled it all his life.

He brought fresh flowers to all the bars in the Hilltowns, where he lived, and bouquets to every doctor or dentist appointment he had.

When he began courting Matilda Nicklas after meeting her while ice-skating in Washington Park, Mr. Nagengast would bring her a single carnation when he went to see her. His daughters agreed that it was probably his favorite flower.

“My mother was the love of his life,” his daughter, Mary Jean Nagengast, said of the couple, who were wed at the Blessed Sacrament Church in 1947.

“That was his life,” Ms. Nagengast said of the shop. “He worked very hard.”

His father, Emil J. Nagengast, opened the flower shop in 1910 and the family’s third generation operates the business now.

“He’s an artiste,” Mrs. Nagengast-Place said of her father’s propensity for drawing. He’d draw so beautifully on boxes and wrapping paper that his children have been known to frame the packaging that held gifts. Mr. Nagengast drew on everything. As a young man, his daughters said, he wanted to be a cartoonist.

The art that he made with flower arrangements he shared with dozens of people. Every year at Christmas time, during Advent, Mr. Nagengast, a devout Catholic, taught groups of people to make Advent wreaths with greens and four candles — one to be lit each Sunday until Christmas.

Mr. Nagengast was generous, Mrs. Nagengast-Place said, and he never complained.

“He loved to tell jokes,” said Ms. Nagengast, and people warmed to him. When she and her siblings were small, he would spontaneously unveil his restored 1922 Overland and scoop up as many neighborhood kids as would fit and take them to the Tasty Freeze for ice-cream cones. “He would just have a whim,” she said.

“He was a very giving person,” she added. “He was not a complainer.”

After Mr. Nagengast retired in 1986, he took up woodworking and mastered the art, often making birdhouses. “He always likes to tinker. He would see something and he’d just duplicate it,” Ms. Nagengast said.

Mr. Nagengast was a member of St. Bernadette’s Catholic Church; an honorary life member of the Knights of Columbus; a member of the Warners Lake Improvement Association, Moose International, the Packard Club, the Willy’s Overland Knights, and the Automobilists of the Upper Hudson Valley; and a retired member of the FTD Association.

Ms. Nagengast, thinking of her father’s Advent wreaths, said that a friend had recently told her, “‘During the Advent, they take all the good souls.’ It’s true,” she said.

****

Mr. Nagengast is survived by his wife of 62 years, Matilda Nicklas Nagengast and his children: Bernard A. Nagengast and his wife, Carol; Richard J. Nagengast; Joanne M. Nagengast and Jody; Mary Jean Nagengast; Mark S. Nagengast; Kathryn M. Willsie and her husband, Ross; Anne Marie Nagengast-Place and her husband, Tim; Thomas G. Nagengast and his wife, Mary Ellen; Rosemary R. Hoffman and her husband, Jim; and Brian C. Nagengast; and his daughter-in-law, Peggy Vogel-Nagengast.

His son, Michael R. Nagengast died before him.

He is also survived by his grandchildren: Tatyana, Anne, and Therese Nagengast; Tyler Vogel; Katie and Jenny Vogel-Nagengast; Carly and Ethan Willsie; and Nicklas and Marianna Nagengast, as well as many nieces and nephews.

His siblings — Josephine, George, Margaret McGarithy, Emil J. Jr., his twin brother Joe, Raymond, and Dorothy Tobin — died before him.

A funeral will be held tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 11 at 11 a.m. at St. Bernadette’s Church in Berne where a Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated. Calling hours are today, Thursday, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the McVeigh Funeral Home. Interment in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery will follow the Mass.

To leave a message for the family, visit www.McveighFuneralHome.com.

— Saranac Hale Spencer