GUILDERLAND — Ann M. Stressel was a caring person who “made everyone feel like they were the most wonderful,” said her daughters Nancy and Linda. She loved her family above all else and found purpose in giving back to her community, according to her daughters.

Mrs. Stressel died peacefully on Friday, March 22, 2019. She was 89.

Ann Elizabeth (née Merrill) Stressel was born on July 27, 1929 in Flushing, New York to Wilbur Merrill and Ethel Breitweiser Merrill. She was raised in Williston Park, New York. After graduating from Mineola High School, she put herself through Packard Junior College in New York City, said daughter Nancy Robinson.

She became an executive secretary for Mobil Oil Company in New York City, where she was the second vice president of the Pegasus Club in charge of women’s activities and formed the first female softball team. She was the treasurer for the bowling club, the riding group, and the ski club.

She met and married her husband, Ernie Stressel, in 1954 and became a Navy wife and then a full-time mother.

The family moved to Guilderland in 1967, and Mrs. Stressel worked for the Guilderland Central School District and the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES, for over 20 years. She started out at Guilderland Elementary School as a secretary and soon became a teacher’s assistant at the high school through BOCES, working in special education.

“For about 15 years after she stopped working there,” Mrs. Robinson recalled, “kids would still call her on the holidays to talk with her, because she was so kind and she made everybody feel so good about themselves.”

Mrs. Stressel devoted herself to her family and to community service. She loved leading her daughters’ Girl Scout troops. “It was social for her, and she just loved all kids,” said Mrs. Robinson.

Mrs. Stressel served as the treasurer for the Guilderland Food Pantry until she was in her early 80s. She was also involved in the Guilderland Interfaith Council, and was a poll worker for the Board of Elections for many years.

She was an usher at Capital Repertory Theatre for over 30 years, an activity she also brought her daughters into; when she got older and had trouble getting around the theater, she would hand out programs.

She was a loyal communicant of Lynnwood Reformed Church and active in her church community for many years.

She delivered Meals on Wheels until she was in her 80s, “and she loved it,” Mrs. Robinson said. Deliveries that were meant to take an hour might take her three, because she would sit and chat with people, knowing that might be the only conversation the meal recipient would have that day or even that week.

“That gave her a sense of purpose and kept her young for a long time,” her daughter said.

Mrs. Stressel was athletic, her daughters said. She was in a golf league, and was in the Albany Curling Club with her husband and their friends. She and her husband also belonged to a bowling club.

Granddaughter Jenna Robinson said that Mrs. Stressel gave great advice. If Mrs. Robinson was ever unsure about how to advise her daughter, she would ask Mrs. Stressel. Not only was her advice sound, but it was a chance for Jenna Robinson to observe the close bond that Mrs. Stressel had with Mrs. Robinson and that Jenna Robinson now enjoys with her own mother.

Mrs. Robinson read aloud a few lines that Jenna Robinson wrote about her grandmother and posted on Facebook:

“You taught me how to put myself in someone else’s shoes, to always help others who are less fortunate, and to make the best blueberry pancakes filled with love.”

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Ann Elizabeth (née Merrill) Stressel is survived by her four daughters, Pamela Wells; Linda Stressel; Nancy Robinson and her husband, Garry; and Donna Tice and her husband, Darrin.

She is also survived by her grandchildren, Brendan Wells and Eric Wells; Judd Robinson and his wife, Sara, Jenna Robinson, and Jillian Robinson; and Natalie Tice; as well as her great-grandchildren, Rylin Robinson, Tanner Robinson, and Jack Robinson; and the Artus family.

Her husband, Ernest F. Stressel, died before her, as did her brother, George Merrill; her son-in-law, Joseph Wells; and her lifelong family friends, Robert and Rita Artus.

A calling hour will be held at New Comer Cremations & Funerals at 181 Troy Schenectady Rd. in Watervliet on Friday, March 29, from 10 to 11 a.m. A funeral service will be held at the funeral home at 11 a.m. Interment will follow the service at Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery at 200 Duell Road in Schuylerville at 12:30 p.m. Mourners may leave condolences at www.NewComerAlbany.com.

Friends and family are invited to attend a celebration of her life at Lynnwood Reformed Church, 3714 Carman Road, Schenectady on Saturday, April 6, at 11 a.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Guilderland Food Pantry, Post Office Box 7, Guilderland, New York 12084.

— By Elizabeth Floyd Mair