GUILDERLAND — Deloris E. Van Deusen-Heidenreich, a lifelong Girl Scout and a passionate skier, died on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014.

“She has left her earthly dwelling to join her beloved husband, Stanley Heidenreich, and her cat, Misty,” wrote her family in a tribute.

Mrs. Van Deusen-Heidenreich was born in the Albany area, to her late parents, Leonard V. Van Deusen and Bertha (née Koonz) Van Deusen.

She graduated from Albany High School, and was active in Girl Scouts and Trinity Camp.

Her sister, Audrey Branion, said all the girls in their family were Girl Scouts as children, and Mrs. Van Deusen-Heidenreich developed a passion for it, befriending the camp director. She became a counselor, and spent many summers volunteering at Trinity Camp.

Mrs. Van Deusen-Heidenreich became a nurse, and worked for the Children’s Hospital and in the operating room at Albany Medical Center. She worked for several years with Drs. Campbell, Clark, Dougherty, Quinn, and Myung Kim.

Mrs. Branion said her sister became fast friends with the doctors she worked with, and enjoyed vacationing and sailing with them.

“She made friends wherever she went,” Mrs. Branion said. “She was very outgoing.”

Family was very important to her, as well. She kept in touch with all of her siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews, Mrs. Branion said.

She had a particular fondness for cats, and leaves behind Shadow, her most recent pet.

Mrs. Van Deusen-Heidenreich was a longtime member of the Helderberg Ski Club; an associate member of the World War II 10th Mountain Division; and a member of the Guilderland Center Senior Citizens.

The family offers special thanks to Drs. Mary Ellen Drislane, Rebecca Keim, David Shaffer, and the staff of Community Hospice of Schenectady, for their loving care during Mrs. Van Deusen-Heidenreich’s long illness.

Mrs. Van Deusen-Heidenreich is survived by her siblings, Margaret Stammell, and her husband, Raymond, James Van Deusen, and his wife, Marjorie, and Audrey Branion, and her husband, William; her stepdaughter, Paula Guidarelli, and her step-grandson, Anthony Tino; and many nieces and nephews.

Her husband, Stanley Heidenreich, died before her, as did her siblings, Dorothy Van Deusen, Leonard Van Deusen Jr., and his wife, Mildred, Florence Weekly, and her husband, Claude, and Joan Nerney, and her husband, Frank.

The family will greet relatives and friends from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, at New Comer Cannon Funeral Home, 343 New Karner Road, Colonie. A memorial service will follow at 2 p.m. at the funeral home. To leave a special message for the family, visit www.newcomeralbany.com.

— Anne Hayden Harwood