GUILDERLAND — The face of Guilderland Town Hall for a quarter of a century, Lois Lourdes Hungershafer was also a vibrant and devoted wife and mother.

“Carl Walters,” said her husband, recalling a former Guilderland supervisor,  “referred to her as Miss Town Hall.” That was during her 25 years as the receptionist there.

Mrs. Hungershafer died on Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. She was 81.

She was born on July 8, 1932 to the late Clarence and Amelia (née LeClare) Elliott in Cohoes. Her father worked as a welding instructor at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. “He taught welding in an atomic submarine inside a giant ball there,” said Lamont “Monty” Hungershafer, Lois’s husband. Her mother worked in a Troy shirt factory as a seamstress.

“My wife was an only child,” said Mr. Hungershafer. “She was doted upon but she was not a spoiled brat.”

Her family lived across from St. Patrick’s church and school. “She was involved with the nuns every day,” Mr. Hungershafer said of his wife. After the eighth grade, she went on to Catholic Central High School in Troy from which she graduated.

“She was religious yet she wasn’t a prude,” said Mr. Hungershafer.

The couple met on a blind date, he said, arranged by his brother.

“She married the love of her life...and together they shared a wonderful life,” her family wrote in a tribute. “She was a world traveler; traveling to Ireland several times, throughout Europe and all over the United States. She skied the Alps and all of the mountains out west. She also went on several cruises to Bermuda. She was an avid golfer.”

The Hungershafers’ marriage lasted 60 years, ending only with her death.

“I wish we had another 60 years,” said Mr. Hungershafer. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”

Their marriage was so successful, he said, because they shared the same values. “I was attracted to her moral standards,” he said. “She was so refreshing. She was beautiful.”

Describing their early years together, Mr. Hungershafer said, “We went through thick and thin — mostly thin.” He said they lived “pretty close to the vest for the first 15 years” of their marriage.

The couple lived first with his mother and then got an apartment in Guilderland before renting a flat in Albany, which prompted the Hungershafers to buy their own “little house” in Latham. They lived there for six years before buying a house in Guilderland where they resided for half a century. “We remodeled and did a lot of the work ourselves,” said Mr. Hungershafer.

It was there that the Hungershafers raised their family.

“She was a devoted wife and mother,” said Mr. Hungershafer. “Nothing came before her children — nothing.”

He concluded by describing his wife this way: “She was effervescent, vital, and vibrant.”

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Beside her husband of 60 years, Lamont “Monty” Hungershafer, Lois Lourdes Hungershafer is survived by her children, Bruce Hungershafer and his wife, Patricia, of Delmar, Mark Hungershafer and his wife, Susan, of Westmere, and Jill Cunningham of Saratoga Springs.

She is also survived by her grandchildren, Ryan Hungershafer and his wife, Marisa, of Niskayuna, Eric Hungershafer and his wife, Amy, of Latham, Brittany Cunningham of Saratoga Springs, Colleen Cunningham of Saratoga Springs, Kaitlyn Hungershafer of Albany, and Michaelia Hungershafer of Westmere; and her great-grandchildren, Ellie Rose Hungershafer and the new baby on the way.

She is survived, too, by her sister-in-law, Donnie Hungershafer; her niece, Susie Roerig of Ballston Spa; her nephew, John Hungershafer of Voorheesville; and her grand nieces, Gina Hungershafer and Emily Roerig.

Family and friends are invited to calling hours on Thursday, Feb. 20, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Fredendall Funeral Home at 199 Main Street in Altamont. A funeral service will be held on Friday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. at the Fredendall Funeral Home with interment to follow at Prospect Hill Cemetery in Guilderland. Online condolences may be made at www.fredendallfuneralhome.com.

 — Melissa Hale-Spencer