Archive » August 2022 » Obituaries

GALLUPVILLE — Faye Stolzenburg, a farmer, wife, and mother of four children who harbored a fondness and aptitude for the arts, died peacefully at home on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022, after an extended illness. She was 86. 

MIDDLEBURGH — Eleanor M. Reinhart, of East Hill Road, “found eternal peace on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022, in the loving care of her family and Hospice,” her family wrote in a tribute. She was 88.

Born on Aug. 10, 1934 in the town of Westerlo, she was the daughter of Marion E. (née Barrett) and Maurice “Dukie” S. Mercer Sr.

EAST BERNE — Mary W. Bassler died peacefully on Sunday, Aug. 21, at the family homestead on Warner Lake, the home in which she has lived her entire life since she was 3 years old, and was surrounded by her family. She was 87.

BERNE — Kenneth P. “Kenny” Crounse of Berne, a master carpenter who loved farming, died peacefully on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022. He was 74.

“He was one of the most kind-hearted people,” said his son, Aaron Crounse. “He loved his animals — they were like his pets.”

GUILDERLAND — Peter H. VanGuysling, the founder of Dutch Manor Stable where he trained some of the country’s top riders, died on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022, at home surrounded by family. He was 79.

ALTAMONT — Thomas E. Orsini, a devoted son, father, and grandfather, was a veteran who designed Thruway bridges. He died peacefully surrounded by his loving family at Albany Medical Center on Tuesday, Aug. 9. He was 64.

EAST BERNE — Lora Ricketts worked as a nutrition instructor but her nurturing went beyond foods, sustaining her family and friends, and her larger Hilltown community.

Virginia Salisbury

Virginia (née Long) Salisbury, a fixture in the Helderberg Hilltown community, died on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. She was 91.
Born to Elmer and Stella (née Winnie) Long on Oct. 7, 1930, in New Salem, she grew up on the Long Farm Dairy in East Berne.

Rita Hennemann

EAST BERNE — Rita (née Lorenz) Hennemann, a talented seamstress and a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, died at her home in East Berne from cancer on Sunday, July 24, 2022.  She was 87.

FEURA BUSH — “Donja Ryan’s last week was mostly peaceful,” her family wrote in a tribute, “but she willed her middle finger to communicate for her a final time, defiantly directing it at the cancer she faced for 20 years (though it might have actually been meant for a relative — jury’s still out on that one).

WESTERLO — Albany Medical Center was a constant in the life of Anderson E. Smith, eldest son of Dr. George H. Smith and his wife, Jane Smith, of Slingerlands.

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — Steven Herzog, an East Berne native and man of many passions, died on Friday, July 29, 2022. He was 72. 

ALTAMONT — Tomassina “Tommie” Panepinto was a social-justice warrior who was deeply devoted to her family, friends, and community, her family said.