WESTERLO — Joan McDermott, who worked as a clerk and hairdresser, valued her family and her privacy.

She died on Monday, May 18, 2015. She was 77.

She was born in Albany on Dec. 12, 1937, to the late Arthur and Mabel Slingerland. She grew up on a farm on Route 402 in Westerlo, a piece of which she had for her own family, her daughter-in-law, Kelli McDermott said.

Mrs. McDermott graduated from Berne-Knox High School and worked as a hairdresser. Later in life, she was a clerk at Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Her loving husband, Charles McDermott, died before her.

“It was a caring relationship. She cared for Charles very much,” her daughter-in-law said.

She didn’t have many community activities and preferred privacy, her daughter-in-law said, but one of Mrs. McDermott’s passions was her dogs. The McDermotts had two daschunds.

“Joan lived a quiet life and will be greatly missed by her family,” her family wrote in a tribute.

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Joan Marie McDermott is survived by her son, Kevin McDermott and his wife, Kelli; her granddaughter, Courtney McDermott; her sister, Norma D'Alfonsi; and several stepchildren, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and friends

Her husband, Charles McDermott, died before her, as did her brothers, James Slingerland and Ronald Slingerland.

A service was held in the Westerlo Rural Cemetery on May 22.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Heart of the Catskills Humane Society, Post Office Box 88, Delhi, NY 13753.

— Marcello Iaia