By: Staff
10/27/2022 6:30 pm
By Darla M. Youngs
During my father’s last hospital stay, as he was being treated for lung cancer that had spread to the brain, an attending physician asked him, “What’s your life’s plan?” The doctor wanted to talk about brain surgery, and Dad was having none of it. “What’s my life’s plan?” he replied. “Pushing up daisies, that’s my life’s plan.”
This was in the spring of 2006, and my father died shortly after. Since then, though, “pushing up daisies” has become a real option for those making end-of-life plans. The National Funeral Directors Association reported last year that 55.7 percent of people surveyed in an NFDA Consumer Awareness and Preferences Report would be interested in green funeral options because of their potential environmental benefits, cost savings or other reasons.
By: Ian Austin
01/25/2020 5:38 pm


Friends, family, colleagues and students filled the Belden Auditorium at Oneonta High School this afternoon where a service was held celebrating the life of William “Bud” Pirone, a beloved teacher, OHS principal and coach, who passed away on Jan. 13 at age 80. Retired Methodist minister Dick Breuninger gave the sermon, remarking, “If Dick saw paradise as a walk in the woods on a golden afternoon, the best way to honor his memory would be to go for a walk on a lovely day. If it’s too cold to walk, sit down with a good book.” Pirone’s son and daughter, Michael Pirone and Kim Pirone Baskin, seen at left, remarked on memories of their father. “My father had a reputation as a harsh grader, and once told me he gave himself a B+ as a father and husband,” said Michael. “But I gave him an A+.” (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
By: Kathy Peters
03/27/2019 5:25 pm
RICHFIELD SPRINGS – Gladys E. “Nicky” Smith, 91, died Monday, March 18, 2019 at Cooperstown Center surrounded by her loving family. Born May 14, 1927, in Bridgewater, she was raised and lived most of her life in the Bridgewater, Sauquoit, Clayville and Van Hornsville area. She married Leland Smith in December 1944.

By: Jim Kevlin
05/09/2018 1:40 pm
COOPERSTOWN – Services for arborist William E. Aufmuth, 56, who died unexpectedly March 30, 2018, will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 19, at the Cooperstown Sportsmen’s Club.