WRIGHT — Helen L. Schell was a strong woman who loved her family and faith. She died on Thursday, July 12, 2018. She was 87.

“Mom was fantastic,” said her son, Wayne Schell. “She worked and she took care of sister and myself and my brother Robbie … .”

After a number of abstentions stalled appointment of a board member’s wife as a substitute teacher, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo School Board appointed Carli Elble with four votes in favor and only one abstention from her husband.

WESTERLO — Robert F. Matott had the heart of Santa Claus.

“He was the life of the party,” said his wife, Lisa Matott. “And he was always giving.”

BERNE — Greg A. Stempel, a hard-working arborist, died unexpectedly on Monday, June 25, 2018, at home with his loving wife, Tammy, by his side. Greg “Stewie” Allen was 56 years old.

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo School Board will decide early Thursday morning if Carli Elble will be appointed to teach at the elementary school for a year while the Dergositses take a combined parental leave.

This is an excerpt from Gerard A. Finin’s just-published book, “A Good and Noble Thing: The Pioneering Life and Service of Anna Ward Perkins, M.D.”