Obituaries Archives — The Altamont Enterprise, March 24, 2011
Henry C. “Bub” Latham
WESTERLO — Henry C. “Bub” Latham, of Westerlo, who hardly ever missed church on Sunday all of his life, died of heart problems on Thursday, March 17, 2011, at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany. He was 75.
Mr. Latham, born in Albany on May 2, 1935, was known as “Bub” to all of his friends and family. He was the son of the late Henry and Zaida (DeLavergne) Latham.
“I always knew when strange people called the house because they would ask for Henry, not Bub,” said Mr. Latham’s wife of 49 years, Nancy Latham, who remembered meeting her husband at a square dance. “He’s had that nickname since he was a little kid.”
Mr. Latham graduated from Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School in 1954 and served his country in the United States Army from 1955 to ‘58. He was employed by Hannay Reels Inc. for 31 years.
Mr. Latham was a true community-minded man, being a life member of the Westerlo Volunteer Fire Company, past captain of the Westerlo Rescue Squad, a member of the Hiawatha Grange for 55 years, a board member of the Westerlo Rural Cemetery, a member of the Westerlo Historical Society, and a life member of the Westerlo Rod and Gun Club.
“He was a super-active person,” said Mrs. Latham. “He couldn’t sit still.”
Mr. Latham was also an elder, deacon, and Sunday school superintendent of the Westerlo Reformed Church.
“He loved his family, friends, and church dearly,” said his wife.
Mr. Latham also loved to hunt and snowmobile, taking trips to Canada and Yellowstone National Park.
“He wasn’t able to hunt and snowmobile during his last few years,” said Mrs. Latham. “He had a long struggle with heart problems. He told his minister that he was ready to go.”
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Besides his wife Nancy (McCafferty) Latham, he is survived is by his son, Brant Latham and his wife Amy; his three grandchildren, Kyle, Dylan, and Hayden Latham; his brother, Alvin Latham and his wife, Katherine; and several nieces and nephews.
His sister, Joyce Kudlack, died before him.
Funeral services were held on Monday, March 21, 2011 at the Westerlo Reformed Church. Arrangements were by Cunningham Funeral Home in Greenville. Mourners may light a candle at ajcunninghamfh.com.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Westerlo Reformed Church or the Westerlo Rescue Squad.
— Jordan J. Michael
Martin Frederich Jannsen
WESTERLO — Martin Frederich Jannsen, a mechanic and restaurant manager, is remembered as an easygoing, likeable person.
“I don’t know anyone who didn’t like him,” said his wife of 36 years, Mary Ellen Rees Jannsen, known locally as Elderberry Mary. “He’s been my better half with making my jams and jelly.”
Mr. Jannsen died on Friday, March 18, 2011. He was 80.
“He married me when I was a widow with six children, and the minister said, ‘Martin, you’ve got to be a very brave man to marry this woman with six kids,’” Mrs. Jannsen said with a laugh. “I knew him for five years before I married him, and I sat my children down and asked what they thought of Martin, and they were all for having him for a father.”
While living in the Hilltowns, Mr. Jannsen worked as a mechanic for Neptune Movers and Vogel Van and Storage. He was a member of the Lake Onderdonk Improvement Association, the Lifestyle Group at CHP, and the Edelweiss Club.
“My husband had a diploma from Germany in blacksmithing and welding,” said Mrs. Jannsen.
He came to United States in 1961 from the island of Föhr, the second largest of the German islands in the North Sea.
The couple last visited Germany in May.
“We spent a whole month with his son,” Mrs. Jannsen said, and they met some of his childhood friends, too. The couple traveled to Germany six times during their marriage.
“He took me home to meet his mother, and she was making elderberry juice, and that gave us the idea to make elderberry juice,” Mrs. Jannsen said. “I have beautiful elderberries growing all over my yard. In spring, I feel the Lord smiles on me. They’re beautiful white flowers, and then they die down and turn into a little green ball, and then they turn orange, then red, and then black.”
Mr. Jannsen originally came to the United States from Germany in 1961, working in a New York City deli for a while before moving to Westerlo and becoming the manager for the Student Prince Restaurant, where he worked for five years. It was there that he met his wife.
“I went up to the Student Prince for a job, and he looked at me and told everybody in the place he was going to marry me,” his wife said. “I used to be his chambermaid; I used to wash his dishes; make sandwiches; waitress. The Student Prince was a busy place, and it had German music. And, it wasn’t far from where I lived, so I could keep an eye on my children.”
They were married Jan. 25, 1975.
“I’ll miss him terribly, but I’ll keep on going,” his wife concluded. “I’ve been up on Lake Onderdonk for 40 some years, and I’m not going anywhere.”
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In addition to his wife of 36 years, Mary Ellen Rees Jannsen, Mr. Jannsen is survived by his children: Werner Jannsen and his wife, Ranata, of Hattstedter Marsh, Germany; Michaela Kercheval and her husband, David, of Florida; Marina Jannsen of Florida; Christine DeLong of Berne; Larry Peek and his wife, Jo-Ann, of Rotterdam; Charles Benninger and his wife, Cheryl, of Greenville; Bridget Tucker of Latham; James Benninger and his wife, Jennifer, of Greenville; and Helen Crane of Greenville.
He is also survived by his siblings: Hans Jannsen of Long Island; Lorenz Jannsen of Kiel, Germany; and Friede Jannsen Haus of Nazereth, Germany, as well as his cousin, Betty Booch of Steinburg, Germany.
He is survived, too, by his grandchildren: Marco, Battina, Marion, Audra, James, Jonathan, Alexander, Jeff, Jeanette, Monica, Charles, Allison, Kirk, Jessica, Jamey, Katilyn, Karianne, Krystle, and Boston.
A funeral service was held on Tuesday, March 22, at Myer’s Funeral Home in Delmar.
Memorial contributions may be made to the National Kidney Foundation, 6110 Executive Boulevard, Suite 1010, Rockville, MD 20852, or to the Westerlo Rescue Squad, Post Office Box 12, Westerlo, NY 12193.
The family thanks St. Peter’s Hospital, the Westerlo Rescue Squad, and the Capital District Dialysis Center in Schenectady.
“He’s been on dialysis for five years, and they’ve been wonderful down in Schenectady at the dialysis center at St. Clare’s Hospital,” said Mrs. Jannsen. “He’s just had the very best of care.”
— Zach Simeone
Robert M. Farrell
VOORHEESVILLE — The long-time principal of Voorheesville Elementary School, Robert M. Farrell, died on Friday, March 18, 2011, just a month after the death of his beloved wife. He was 84.
The couple had been married for 60 years. Born in Gloversville, Mr. Farrell met Marilyn Bennett when she took a teaching job near the Canadian border. They began what their son, John Farrell, called, “a beautiful love story.” Robert Farrell was the physical education teacher at the school and, after the couple married, they moved to Rockland County.
They later moved to Voorheesville when Mr. Farrell got a job teaching sixth grade at the school. He was the elementary principal for 35 years while Mrs. Farrell taught fourth grade. The Farrells, who had two sons, lived in Voorheesville for 58 years.
Mr. Farrell was a communicant of St. Matthew’s Church in Voorheesville and a member of the Holy Names Society, the New Scotland Kiwanis Club, and the former Tall Timbers Country Club, where he was an avid golfer. Also, he enjoyed painting.
After his brother died of a brain tumor at the age of 17, John Farrell said of his parents, “They lived stronger after that. More deeply.” He explained, “When you face unexpected death, life becomes more dear.”
His parents were a couple that couldn’t be apart, said Mr. Farrell. “They were bookends,” he said. They were “one person made up of two people.”
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Robert M. Farrell is survived by his son, John Farrell, and his wife, Christine, of Cliffside Park, N.J. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Matthew Dohln Farrell and Meaghan Julia Farrell.
His wife, Marilyn Bennett Farrell, died on Feb. 17, 2011; she was 82. His son, Matthew Charles Farrell, also died before him as did his siblings, Jack, Dick, Jean, and Rita.
His funeral Mass will be celebrated this morning, March 24, at 9:30 a.m. at St. Matthew’s Church on Mountainview Street in Voorheesville. Burial will be in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery in Colonie. Arrangements are by the Reilly & Son Funeral Home in Voorheesville.