Vivian M. Close

Stephentown – Vivian Mary Jandrow Close, 87, formerly of NY Route 43, Stephentown, NY, died on Tuesday, July 31, 2012, at the Vermont Veterans Home in Bennington, VT, where she had resided the past two years.
Born in Whitehall, NY, on May 31, 1925, she was the daughter of the late John and Olive Deo Jandrow. She was the loving wife of the late Sylvester C. “Si” Close, who died on March 9, 2010. They were married in St. Joseph’s Church in Stephentown on February 5, 1949. She had resided in Stephentown since 1948 and was a communicant of St. Joseph’s Church.
Educated in Berlin schools, she worked for the Pownal Tannery in Pownal, VT, from 1945 to 1947, Reis’s Shirt Shop in Berlin, NY, from 1947 to 1949 and the W.C. Sykes Store in Stephentown from 1954 to 1966. She served as the Deputy Town Clerk for the Town of Stephentown from 1974 to 1993. Vivian was a member of the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department Belles from 1963 to 1978, serving as President from 1964 to 1966, the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department from 1978 to the present and was a dispatcher from 1950 to 1987 when the phone system was replaced by a county paging system. She served refreshments to firemen during fire calls, was a Boy Scout den mother from 1961 to 1964 and was a substitute election inspector from 1996 to 2009. Vivian also ordered and distributed flags to local cemetery leaders for Memorial Day tributes to local deceased veterans, was a member of the Stephentown Republican Club and, along with her late husband, printed prayer cards and memorials for Hall & Higgins Funeral Home.
Survivors include her son, Rev. John L. Close, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Stephentown and the Church of the Immaculate Conception in New Lebanon, her daughter, Jean M. Close Kosche and her husband Stephen of Shaftsbury, VT, a granddaughter, Vanessa Lynn Amidon and her husband Howard and their son Austin of Shaftsbury, along with three nieces and their families, Arlene Putnam, Sharon Jandrow and Linda Billert. She is pre-deceased by two brothers, Hubert and Elmer Jandrow.
A Liturgy of Christian Death and Burial will be celebrated by Vivian’s son John on Friday morning, August 3, at 11 am in St. Joseph’s Church, NY Route 43, Stephentown, with burial to follow in the parish cemetery.
Relatives and friends are invited to the Hall & Higgins Funeral Home, 457 NY 43, Stephentown, on Thursday from 4 to 7 pm for visitation. Memorial contributions in Vivian’s memory may be given to either the Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department, the Vermont Veterans Home Activity Fund or St. Joseph’s Church Memorial fund in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 9, Stephentown, NY, 12168.