Archive » November 2016 » Obituaries

AMSTERDAM —  Wilfred F. “Rick” Rapp, who both farmed and worked in steel, died unexpectedly on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. He was 69.

He was born in Albany on Nov. 15, 1947 to the late Wilfred and Orvilla (née Mosley) Rapp.

Thomas Brown

GUILDERLAND — “Tommy was my middle child, my pride and joy,” said his mother, April Rowley. “He was so charismatic. Everybody who met him just fell in love with him.”

GUILDERLAND — A hardworking man who put his family first, Charles “Jack” A. Jack Jr., retired at the age of 79.

An Army veteran, he worked in his family’s restaurant for 40 years, ran a pool business with his brother for a decade, and then worked as a trucker for another two decades.

WRIGHT — Richard E. Ogsbury was a tough man who rose to meet challenges.

“There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do,” said his wife, Florence Ogsbury. “He was a jack of all trades. He always liked a challenge. He had to prove to people he could do it.”

BERNE — To get a vivid sense of the person Whilma Helen Wolford Willsey was, you need only  read the recollections of her early life, assembled by her daughter Winifred in 2010 into one remarkable document.  It is personal history at its richest and best, calling to life  a vanished world that fewer and fewer people can now remember.

Bonnie Vincent, who was raised in Altamont, died on Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, in her Florida home. She was 66. A lover of her job, her pets, and those around her, she was as sunny as the southern weather she enjoyed.

Cleo K. Schroeder — described by her family as “a happy, jovial person” — died on Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016, at her home in Normal, Illinois. She was 94.

She was born on March 15, 1922, the daughter of William Curtis and Nellie Rachel Buzzard. Mrs. Schroeder was born and raised on the family farm in Fayette County, Illinois.

BERNE — Whilma H. Willsey died at home on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016.

ALTAMONT — Michelle M. Teal — described by her family as “loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, and cousin to many” — was a well-known local restaurateur.

She died at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany on Monday, Nov. 7, 2016, surrounded by those who loved her. She was 52.

Scott Dennis Armstrong loved theater all his life, singing in “Carmen” at age 3 and then, as an adult, touring the country as an audio engineer with a wide range of shows. He died peacefully at his home in Chester, New York on Thursday morning, Oct. 6, 2016. He was 49.

EAST BERNE — Donna Jeanine Filkins — who, as a bartender, served “everyone from lawyers to outlaws,” her sister said — “accepted everybody for who they were.”

Her sister, Connie Filkins, went on, “She saw the best in people; she trusted people.”

ALTAMONT — Howard A. Brock — a political person as well as a family man — died on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, in his Altamont home surrounded by those who loved him.

“He was a wonderful guy,” said his wife, Mary-Ann Brock; he was also a private person who did not want a fuss made over his death, she said.

GUILDERLAND — To town residents, Jeannette E. Mastrianni was co-owner with her husband of Mastrianni’s Dutch Mill Nursery on Carman Road and later of the Dutch Mill Antique Shop and Flea Market on the same site. To her daughter, Sharon M. Mastrianni-Kumiszcza, who served as her caregiver for many years, “She was my best friend.”

SCHOHARIE — Augustus “Gus” W. Dymes, a dedicated gardener who worked hard, died unexpectedly on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016, at Albany Medical Center. He was 80.

Born on June 15, 1936 in Ossining, he was the son of Augustus and Lillian (née Beasley) Dymes.

ALTAMONT — With a life full of selfless acts, Thomas Nolan Doyle will be remembered best for his compassion for others. He died on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, at Albany Medical Center. “He passed quietly, having been in the care of his wife and four children,” his family wrote in a tribute. He was 77.

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