Albany County, New York Obituary and Death Notices Collection
(Searches various funeral homes and newspapers in the Albany, Altamont, Berne, Bethlehem, Coeymans, Cohoes, Colonie, Green Island, Guilderland, Knox, New Scotland, Ravena, Rensselaerville, Slingerlands, Voorheesville, and Watervliet areas.)
Thelma Knuetter Brock
PETERSBURGH - Mrs. Thelma Knuetter Brock, 57, of Route 2, died Saturday at Albany Medical Center Hospital.
Born in Berlin, Mrs. Brock was a 1957 graduate of Berlin High School.
She was a former member of the Petersburgh Methodist Church.
Survivors include her husband of 32 years, Ronald L. Brock; a daughter, Jenine R. Brock of Petersburgh; two sons, Ronald E. Brock and Karl D. Brock, both of Berlin; two brothers, William Knuetter and Fred Knuetter, both of Berlin; and five grandchildren.
A graveside service will be held at 3 this afternoon in Berlin Community Cemetery. There will be no calling hours.
Arrangements are by the Thomas M. Barber Funeral Home, 66 Armsby Road.
[Published 23-Jun-1997]
Victor Cillis
NEW PALTZ - Victor "Vito" Cillis, 86, of New Paltz, formerly of Scotia, died Sunday at the New Paltz Nursing Home.
Mr. Cillis was born in Pietragalla, Italy. He lived on Riverside Avenue in Scotia before moving to New Paltz last year.
He was a patternmaker at the General Electric Co. in Schenectady for 17 years, retiring in 1974.
His first wife, Rose Shearer Cillis, died Sept. 26, 1956. He was married to Doris Thelen Cillis until her death on March 27, 1996.
Survivors include two daughters, Janet Cillis Mitchell of Tillson, Ulster County, and Jean Cillis Poague of Woodland Hills, Calif.; a stepdaughter, Margaret Hugerich Pickett of Colchester, Vt.; a brother, Tony Cillis of Hobart, Delaware County; 13 grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
A service will be held at 9:45 a.m. Thursday at the White Funeral Home, 264 N. Ballston Ave., Scotia, followed by a graveside service at 10:30 in Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, Niskayuna.
Calling hours will be 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at MacArthur's Funeral Home in Hobart and 6 to 8 p.m Wednesday at White's Funeral Home.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 488 Main St., Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Arrangements are by the Copeland Funeral Home.
[Published 23-Jun-1997]
Wilma Uzzell Smith
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. - Mrs. Wilma Uzzell Smith, 84, of 309 Brandon Road, Hendersonville, died Sunday at the Westminster Towers Health Care Center in Rock Hill, S.C.
Mrs. Smith was born in Snow Shoe, Pa.
She was a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church.
She was married to Robert H. Smith until his death.
Survivors include three daughters, Kay S. Marshall of Brookfield, Wis., and Susan S. Williams and Barbara S. Chenette, both of Rock Hill; a sister, Margaret Leader of Tucson, Ariz.; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial services will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Westminster Presbyterian Church Chapel.
Burial will be in Memory's Garden, Colonie.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 2535, Rock Hill, S.C. 29732. Arrangements are by the Bass Funeral Home, 331 E. Main St., Rock Hill.
[Published 23-Jun-1997]
Rev. Dr. J. Dean Dykstra, was minister in Schenectady church
SCHENECTADY - The Reverend Dr. J. Dean Dykstra died April 29 in Kennebunkport, Maine, after a long illness.
The Rev. Dykstra was a graduate of Hope College, Holland, Mich., where he subsequently received an honorary doctorate. He also was a graduate of New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey. He held an honorary doctorate from Union College.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Patricia Dykstra; a son, Dr. Jon Dykstra of Washington, D.C.; two daughters, Pamela Dykstra of Homewood, Ill., and Patricia Felix of Spring Lake, Mich.; and seven grandchildren
A memorial service will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at First Reformed Church of Schenectady, where the Rev. Dykstra had served as senior minister for 25 years before retiring in 1984.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Lee and Bill Huntley Garden at First Reformed Church or to the American Cancer Society.
Arrangements are by the Jones Funeral Home, 1503 Union St.
[Published 10-May-2000]
Joseph D. Panetta, 74, former owner of Panetta's Restaurant
LOUDONVILLE - Former restaurant owner Joseph D. Panetta, 74, of Loudonville, died Monday at Albany Memorial Hospital after a short illness.
Born and educated in Albany, Mr. Panetta had been a Loudonville resident since 1958.
He was a graduate of Christian Brothers Academy and attended Siena College.
Mr. Panetta was an Army Air Forces veteran of World War II.
He had been proprietor of Joe's Liquors in Malta for the past 25 years. Previously, he was the owner of Panetta's Restaurant in Menands.
Mr. Panetta was a communicant of St. Pius X Church. He was a member of the Watervliet Elks Club and Wolfert's Roost Country Club.
Survivors include his wife, Lois Moylan Panetta; a daughter, Mary Ellen Higgins of Colonie; three sons, Dominick "D.J." Panetta of Loudonville, Kenneth L. Panetta of Guilderland and Gregory J. Winkler of Gainesville, Fla.; four sisters, Catherine Burke, Anna Zumbo, Rosemary Daly and Marion Neil, all of Latham; a brother, Charles Panetta of Oxford, Miss.; and eight grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Pius X Church.
Calling hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Bowen Funeral Home, 97 Old Loudon Road, Latham.
Burial will be in St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands.
Memorial contributions may be made to Children's Hospital at Albany Medical Center, 43 New Scotland Ave., Albany, NY 12208.
[Published 10-May-2000]
Iva Kling Larkin, 91, longtime hospital volunteer, school clerk
LAWYERSVILLE - Mrs. Iva Kling Larkin, 91, of Lawyersville, died Monday at home after a long illness.
Born in Lawyersville, Mrs. Larkin was a lifelong area resident.
She was a 1926 graduate of Cobleskill High School.
Mrs. Larkin worked as a secretary at the Harder Refrigerator Co. from 1927 to 1933. In 1933, she went to work for Cobleskill Central Schools, first as a secretary, then as a senior account clerk and later as clerk of the board of education, retiring in 1971.
She was a member of the Lawyersville Reformed Church, where she served as treasurer and volunteered as organist for 50 years. She was the first female member of the church's consistory.
Mrs. Larkin was a member of the Ruby Unit, Community Hospital of Schoharie County Auxiliary, where she served over 17,000 hours as a volunteer. She also served as second vice president of the women's auxiliary and received the Community Service Award in 1992 from SUNY Cobleskill.
Her husband, Charles D. Larkin, whom she married in 1934, died in 1977.
Survivors include a son, Charles D. Larkin of Lawyersville; two granddaughters; and a great-granddaughter.
A service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Lawyersville Reformed Church.
Calling hours will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Robert A. Guffin Funeral Home, 1 Chapel St., Cobleskill.
Burial will be in Cobleskill Rural Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Lawyersville Reformed Church, Cobleskill, NY 12043; or to the Animal Shelter of Schoharie County, P.O. Box 40, Howes Cave, NY 12092.
[Published 10-May-2000]
David W. Williams, 90, was longtime civil rights judge
LOS ANGELES - Judge David W. Williams, a tough sentencer who became the first black federal judge west of the Mississippi, died at 90 Saturday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The cause of death was pneumonia, said his son, David W. Williams of Orono, Minn.
Williams was a lifelong Republican who fought civil rights battles for blacks in the 1940s and 1950s and took on difficult assignments as a judge, including presiding over 4,000 criminal cases stemming from the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles.
Although he took senior status 20 years ago, meaning he could work as little as he wanted without jeopardizing his pay, Williams remained an active member of the U.S. district court in Los Angeles until his death. He was hospitalized in late March after returning from a Caribbean cruise, but continued to review cases - habeas corpus petitions from inmates - in his sickbed.
"He was a beloved figure on this court . . . the epitome of what a senior judge can be," said Chief U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr.
Williams was a native of Atlanta, but grew up in South-Central Los Angeles. After graduating from high school in 1929, he worked his way through the University of California, Los Angeles and law school at the University of Southern California by mopping bank floors and running errands at the Pantage's Theater in Hollywood. He was admitted to the California bar in 1937.
As a lawyer in the 1940s, he joined a small group of black attorneys who worked with Thurgood Marshall, then head of the legal defense arm of the NAACP, to fight the restrictive covenants that barred minorities from residence in many parts of Los Angeles.
Williams was appointed to the Municipal Court in 1956 and to the Superior Court in 1963. He was elevated to federal district court in 1969 after his nomination by President Nixon. He took senior status in 1981.
He volunteered to handle the bulk of the criminal cases that arose from the Watts riots, a massive job that many judges happily avoided. But to Williams, it was "a badge of courage to take on this Herculean task that was also so emotionally charged," Hatter said.
Hatter, who knew Williams for more than two decades, recalled that they once handled the trials of two former nuns accused of bank robbery. Hatter said he sentenced his nun to eight years in prison while Williams gave his the maximum - 20 years. "He was a tough sentencer - no doubt about that," Hatter said.
Although Williams did not agree with mandatory sentencing - "Some of us judges," he once said, "feel we are made to be like robots who cannot decide for themselves" - he did not flinch from a 1988 federal narcotics trafficking statute that called for vastly harsher sentences for defendants with two or more prior drug offenses.
In 1989 he became the first judge in California and the second in the country to impose a life sentence under that federal law. The defendant was a small-time drug dealer convicted of possessing only 5.5 ounces of crack cocaine.
It was the first time in 35 years as a judge that Williams had given a life sentence without possibility of parole.
Williams is survived by sons Vaughn, of New York City, and David; and two grandchildren.
[Published 10-May-2000]
Michael Morano, Conn. senator
GREENWICH, Conn. - Michael Morano, a former state senator known as "Mr. Highway Safety," died Sunday. He was 84.
Morano, a Republican, was an advocate of transportation safety during his 28 years in the General Assembly.
In 1992, the bridge on Interstate 95 over the Mianus River was dedicated to Morano. He had worked with town, state and federal officials in the aftermath of the 1983 Mianus River bridge collapse, in which three people died and three others were seriously injured.
Morano was co-chairman of the General Assembly's Transportation Committee from 1984 to 1986.
His political career began in 1960, when he beat former Gov. Lowell Weicker Jr., then a Greenwich lawyer, for the Republican nomination for state representative.
[Published 10-May-2000]
Rudolf Stohler, mollusk expert
BERKELEY, Calif. - Rudolf Stohler, an international authority on mollusks who helped develop rules for collecting mussels safely, died April 24 of heart failure. He was 98.
In the 1920s, Stohler helped pinpoint the organisms that made mussels unsafe to eat at certain times of the year.
He joined the UC Berkeley staff in 1933 and taught cytology, zoology and biology. He was also curator of the invertebrate zoology museum .
[Published 10-May-2000]
`Mae' Cervenka
CLIFTON PARK - A graveside service for Mary "Mae" Cervenka, who died on Jan. 21, will be held at 2 p.m. Friday in the Jonesville Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of one's choice.
Arrangements are by the Gordon C. Emerick Funeral Home, 1550 Route 9.
[Published 10-May-2000]
