WESTERLO — Ruth Peck Savino was a committed caretaker, devout Disney fan, and culinary maestro. After a long battle with stage 4 breast cancer, she died on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. She was 63.

SCHENECTADY — Elaine S. Zimmer taught home economics while raising her two children and, with her husband, traveled to five continents and all 50 states.

She died peacefully, with her family by her side, on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, at Ingersoll Place. She was 92.

Edwin David Hamilton, who worked in construction and loved nature, died peacefully at home on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, after a long and tenacious battle with cancer. He died the day after he turned 59.

He was born in Albany on Aug. 7, 1962, to Arthur and Betty Weyant Hamilton, the youngest of their eight children.   

Nancy Sager Halpert, a librarian who cared deeply about her family and many friends, died peacefully and in the comfort of her family on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021. She was 97.

NEW SCOTLAND — Patricia Anne Riley Coons was the ultimate mother — she fostered over 100 children and adopted 13.

Charles “Chuck” Peter Schiltz, a devoted dad, died on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, at the age of 59. Born April 28, 1961, he was the son of Sylvester Schiltz and Betty (née Lee) Spadaro.

WESTERLO — Diane Wilms Figel, a devout woman who ran a dairy farm with her husband, died on Sept. 6, 2020 at the age of 78.

WESTERLO — Rev. Robert Martin Duchow, a retired Lutheran pastor, local historian, and fifth-generation resident of the family home in Westerlo, died on Friday, June 11, 2021, in Farmington, Conn., where he had lived with his son and daughter-in-law for the last four years. He was 84.

AVERILL PARK — Michael D. Baker Sr .— a loving husband, father, and grandfather — died on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 in Albany. He was 70.

He was born on June 25, 1951 in Albany to the late Wilmer Baker and Yvonne Baker.

HOLLY HILL, Fla. — Mary Leah Brush, a long-time resident of Westerlo, died on Friday, June 25, 2021, after a brief illness.

She was born July 19, 1938 to the late Edward and Elizabeth Stiffen.

She was a long-time member of the American Legion Auxiliary Post 120 of Holly Hill, Florida.