VOORHEESVILLE — A woman who played many roles in the life of this community may have viewed her village much as she did her home life: an endless sociable gathering around a kitchen table — with good food figuring prominently.

Corinne Cossac died after a brief illness on Friday, Dec, 23, 2016, at home, surrounded by people who loved her.  She was 85.

Born on Sept. 21, 1931, Mrs. Cossac was the daughter of  Charles and Rose Ricci. Apart from the time she studied at Syracuse University, she was a lifelong resident of the village. Her majors at the university — art and political science — hinted at the breadth of her interests as well as her future as elected town clerk in her native place.

The name Ricci was well-known locally because of Ricci’s Market, a Main Street grocery store that, until it closed about 30 years ago, was one of those small-town businesses that have largely vanished: family-owned and operated with the family living above the store.

“It wasn’t really an Italian store,” recalls Mrs. Cossac’s daughter Annie Brill. “It wouldn’t have survived,” she says, in a village with few Italians.

But for Mrs. Cossac her time helping at the store was the first of many public roles that made her a person of whom it could be said, “She knew everybody and everybody knew her.”

“She was a typical small-town woman,” says her daughter. “Always with a lot of irons in the fire. Her generation were active in so many things.”

The irons included Girl Scout troop leader, founding member of the the New Scotland Business and Professional Women’s Organization, member of the New Scotland Women’s Republican Club, and member and president of the American Legion Auxilary — “just to name a few,” her family wrote in an admiring tribute.

Mrs. Cossac was also widely admired for her cooking, which was so good that her catering was a popular choice at weddings and anniversaries and at school and Scout functions —at any events where good food was a must. “She cooked for thousands of people,” her family says.

Food figured in her jobs too.  Among her many jobs were managing the cafeteria at Bethlehem Middle School and making pizzas at Smitty’s Tavern. Mrs. Brill recalls a period when her mother held down three jobs at one time, as the family breadwinner.

But the job she held longest and perhaps loved best was town clerk, a position to which she was elected more than once. “She finally retired in 1999,” her daughter recalls. “She worked through many pairs of shoes knocking on every door in her campaigns. She enjoyed talking to people so much.

“I think her favorite thing to do as town clerk,’ Mrs. Brill says, “was to issue marriage licenses. She loved to see the happy young couples come in.”  The role introduced her to a whole new generation and introduced the soon-to-be-married to her on a day they would long remember.

“Until recent years,” her family wrote, “she attended Mountainview Evangelical Church, where she worshipped the Lord and put her faith in Him. She lived her faith in many ways.”

Love for her town seems to have always been there, right from high school days when with a few others she wrote the song that is still the alma mater for the local high school, the one that begins “Beside the Vly Creek flowing.’ The current elementary school was the high school when that song was penned.

That bit of creativity was typical, Mrs. Brill says, of a woman who “was always using her mind. She was an extremely well-read lady...known to pull out the encyclopedia if there wasn’t a book at hand.”

“My most vivid memory of her,” her daughter says, “will be being around the kitchen table while our mother cooked,” producing a seemingly unending supply of delicious food and with people always dropping in. “It was the place to be,” she says.

“She had the gift of hospitality,” Mrs. Brill says. “There were always people there.”

She recalls, too, how Mrs. Cossac’s  hospitality extended even to giving shelter to her children’s friends in times of trouble.  “Her home always had a door open for young people in need of a place to feel safe.”

“More importantly,” her family says. “She was the strength and glue that held the family together. She tirelessly worked to support her four girls and provided the most nurturing home filled with food, song and laughter.”

The village — that bigger table — got to see her year after year in the Memorial Day parade, each time “representing one of her roles” in the town’s ongoing story.

Mrs. Cossac was a woman who loved traditions and made no small contribution to keeping them alive.

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Corinne (née Ricci) Cossac is survived by her loving brother, Michael Ricci, of Voorheesville; her daughters,Roz Robinson and her husband, Dennis, of Voorheesville; Annie Brill and her husband, Doug, of Voorheesville; Carol Corriveau and her husband, Joe, of Asheville, North Carolina; and MaryGrace Cossac of Voorheesville.

She is also survived by her grandsons Matthew Robinson and his wife, Nicole, and Timothy Robinson, Jacob Brill, and Daniel Brill; and great-grandson Timothy Joseph Robinson; as well as loved nephews and nieces.

Her parents, Charles and Rose Ricci, died before her.

The family extends a special thank you to Sue Miner, Corinne's faithful caregiver of many years.

A celebration of her life will be held at the Voorheesville American Legion on Thursday, Jan. 5, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Family, friends, and community members are welcome. Arrangements are by Reilly & Son Funeral Home in Voorheesville.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Peter's Community Hospice, 445 New Karner Rd, Albany, NY 12205.

— Tim Tulloch