ONEONTA – Oneonta native Leroy Charles Klein, 78, of Keystone Heights, Fla., passed away Sunday, July 5, 2020, from injuries he sustained in a tractor accident.
He was born May 31, 1942, in Oneonta, to Edward and Doris (Earing) Klein. Mr. Klein served in the Navy and was a retired contractor. He was Episcopalian and loved staying busy doing odds and ends.
In addition to his father his son Wayne Klein and brothers Philip Klein and Paul Klein had also preceded him death. Mr. Klein leaves behind is daughters Shawn McClure (Robert) of Boynton Beach, Fla., and Jannell Davisson of West Columbia, S.C.
COOPERSTOWN – Joseph Raymond McCullion, 77, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, passed away on June 30, 2020.
He was born May 28, 1943 in Tampa, Fla.
Joseph was a kind, loving, compassionate man. He loved his New York sports teams – the Yankees, Rangers and Giants. He was a lifelong fan of all three.
WORCESTER – Joseph K. Brennan, 85, passed June 30, 2020 at Albany Medical Center after a short illness.
Joseph was born March 26, 1935, in The Bronx, the son of Mae McLoughlin and Joseph Brennan.
He served in the Navy from 1952 to 1960, his most significant assignment being on the USS Lowry DD-770. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Medal, UN Medal and China Service Medal.
WEST EDMESTON – Marguerite Ann Bueche, 84, who moved to West Edmeston in 2018 to be near family, passed away Wednesday July 1, 2020, at the home of her son.
Marguerite was born on July 28, 1935, in Richmond Hill, Queens, the daughter of the late Norman and Marguerite Gunn. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband, Valentine “Val” Bueche, and brothers Richard and Jack Gunn.
She is survived by sons Mark (Jen) Bueche of West Edmeston, and Jeff Bueche of Florida. Also surviving are her grandchildren Charlie (Ashley) Bueche, Jim Bueche, and Ashley Bueche, and many nieces and nephews.
FLY CREEK – It is with deep sorrow and much love that we mourn the passing of Emma Jean (Shaw) Shepard of Cooperstown on July 1, 2020, at the age of 91 years.
Emma Jean was born to Harold Judson Shaw and Ethel Catherine (Knapp) Shaw February 5, 1929, at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown.
COOPERSTOWN – Adventurer Clifford Nelson Forman passed away June 29, 2020, at the family cottage on Otsego Lake, with a wonderful view of the glimmering lake before him while surrounded by his loving partner, Carolyn Skorka, family members and friends, with whom he was able to smile and share stories of his many remarkable adventures.
Cliff served in the Army with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg from Sept. 27, 1954, until Sept. 26, 1956, serving as a paratrooper’s photographer. During his service he took many remarkable photos.
ONEONTA– Mary C. Erbe, 97, passed away June 28, 2020 at A.O. Fox Hospital in Oneonta.
Born in Oneonta, August 26, 1922, the daughter of Sheldon H. and Gertrude (Strong) Close. She married Donald D. Erbe on June 10, 1944. He died September 5, 1992.
Mary graduated from Bugee School, Oneonta High School and Syracuse University. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority. A life member of the First Presbyterian Church, where she served as a Trustee and an Elder. Mary also served on the Board of Directors of the Oneonta Family YMCA; the Executive Committee of the Hartwick College Citizens Board, a director of Friends of Huntington Library Board. She was a member of the Oneonta Federated Garden Club, the Oneonta Country Club and for over 50 years she played in the Wednesday Bridge Club.
ONEONTA – George W. Smith, Jr., 93, went home peacefully to the Lord on Thursday, June 25, 2020.
George, Junior or Smitty, was born in Rome, N.Y, in 1926, the son of George and Maude (Race) Smith. In 1944, he joined the Navy to defend our freedom in World War II. He trained and served on the USS Manatee in the South Pacific. His service to our country is something he always held in deepest honor and respect.
Returning from military service, Smitty married his sweetheart, Doris Clark, in October 1947 in Rome. Together they raised their sons, George W. Smith, III, and Gary M. Smith, now an A.O. Fox Hospital vice president, spending summers on Piseco Lake.
The father of “I Love NY,” Milton Glaser, who died Friday, June 26, 2020, on his 91st birthday in his studio in New York City, has also provided the annual poster for Linda Chessis’ Cooperstown Music Festival for the past two decades. This video describes how it all came about.
ONEONTA – Celebration of Life for Adam Pierce will be held on July 18, 2020, at Fortin Park in Oneonta. We hope you can come spend the afternoon with us on what would have been Adam’s 46th birthday.
Please gather between 12:00-12:30. A service of remembrance will begin at 12:30. After that, we invite everyone to enjoy a catered picnic and an afternoon of sharing memories and playing games. Our hope is to have the smiles outnumber the tears, as we know that is what Adam would want.
ONEONTA – Celeste Brown Thomas, 61, retired New York Times staff editor who grew up in Oneonta, passed away June 20, 2020, in Rochester of complications from uterine serous cancer.
She had been treated for the disease, a rare and aggressive cancer, at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Rochester since May 2017. She died surrounded by family, after hospice care at home for several weeks.
She was born Nov. 25, 1958, in Sayre, Pa., the eldest of two children of Foster Lloyd Brown, a SUNY Oneonta statistics professor, and Barbara Feather Brown, a music teacher. After attending Bugbee School and Oneonta High School, she graduated with a bachelor’s in English from SUNY New Paltz and later a master’s in English from New York University.
COOPERSTOWN – Giles E. Russell, 86, of Cooperstown, died on Wednesday, June 17, 2020.
Born March 14, 1934, and raised in Eagle Bridge, N.Y., Giles was the son of Giles Sr. and Kathryn (Mahar).
He graduated from RPI in Troy with a degree in electrical engineering in 1955. He was an IBM engineer in Poughkeepsie from 1955 until his retirement in 1991.
SOUTH BROOKFIELD – Evelyn “Teddy” Whitford, formerly of South Brookfield, a longtime columnist for the Waterville Times, passed away June 19, 2020, at the Waterville Residential Care Center.
Born in Ilion in 1930, the daughter of David D. and Lucy (Young) Singer, Teddy received her education at Mohawk Central School. On Oct. 14, 1947, she married John K. Stillman in the Jenks-Stillman family homestead in South Brookfield.
EDMESTON – Janet M. Bowen, 83, a 37-year Home Economics teacher at Edmeston Central School, passed away at Chestnut Park Rehabilitation & Nursing Center on Wednesday June 17, 2020.
Janet was born on Oct. 22, 1936 in Oneonta, the daughter of the late John D. and Pansy Eller Moore.
A lifetime resident of the area, Janet attended SUNY Albany, and graduated from SUNY Oneonta. While in school, she met the love of her life, Russell. Many hours were spent traveling to see each other while she was in Oneonta, and they could be found dancing almost every Saturday night.
ONEONTA – Helen Stam, age 96, a life-long resident of Oneonta, NY, died peacefully at home on June 17, 2020, surrounded by her loved ones after a long battle with Parkinson’s.
Helen was born on Sept. 16, 1923, to the late Harry G. and Mary N. Lambros (Zaharis) at Fox Hospital. She graduated from Oneonta High School in 1941.
For over 50 years, Helen assisted her father, and later her brother George, with day-to-day operations of Diana Restaurant, a well-known eatery in Oneonta for 70 years. She retired in 1991 when George sold the business.
