Margaret J. Kinn

Margaret Josephine Marie Kinn,  a former resident of Berlin, NY, died peacefully  on Monday, May 16, 2011, at the Village at Fillmore Pond, Bennington, VT, her residence for the last six years. She was 100 years old, three weeks shy of her 101st  birthday.
Margaret was born in Union City, NJ, on June 4, 1910. She was the daughter of William Adolph Kinn and Mary Louise Canfield. She spent her summers in Berlin, and, when she was 15, her parents bought the Colonial Inn in Berlin and moved the family to the Inn.  Margaret graduated from Berlin High School in 1929 and Albany Business College in 1930. She became employed as a secretary for the New York State Civilian Conservation Corps Forestry Office.  That department became part of the US Forest Service, and she was transferred to Philadelphia and then Washington D.C.  In 1947, she moved back to Berlin and became the bookkeeper for the Henry J. Seagroatt Co. After 28 years, she retired in 1975.  She had a 45-year business career. Margaret had been a communicant of the Sacred Heart Church in Berlin since 1923 and a member of their Rosary Society.
Margaret traveled extensively throughout her life, visiting the western United States and Hawaii, the Caribbean, Canada and Europe.  For many years, New Smyrna Beach, FL,was her winter home. She enjoyed painting, ceramics, bridge, golf, any card game, word search puzzles, gardening, coin and stamp collecting and flower arranging.  She loved visiting with friends, at camp and at the family home on Main Street in Berlin.
Margaret was very involved in Berlin town affairs as Director of the Library, Treasurer of the Cemetery Association and of the Bicentennial Commission, Town Historian for 40 years, Director of the Taconic Valley Historical Society and Treasurer and Historian of the Women’s National Farm and Garden Association.
She is survived by her cousins, Richard Ryan and his wife Betsy of Carver, MA,  John Ryan and his wife Judy of Plymouth, MA, Claire Kinn of Riverdale, NJ, and Ruth Luthin of Old Tappan, NJ.  She is also survived by her very close friends, Michael and Lynn Sedgwick of Bennington, VT, and their children Eric of Astoria, NY, and Alice of Enfield, NH. Margaret is pre-deceased by her parents and her brothers, William, John and Robert Kinn.
A Liturgy of Christian Death and Burial was celebrated by Rev. Kenneth Gregory on Thursday, May 19, at noon in the Sacred Heart Church, 15 N. Main Street, Berlin. Interment followed in the family lot in the Berlin Baptist Cemetery.
Relatives and friends were invited to the Church for visitation on Thursday from 11 to 11:45 am. Memorial contributions in Margaret’s memory may be made to the Sacred Heart Church Memorial Fund.