The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Front Page

Helen P. Willbrant

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Petersburgh – Helen P. Knauer Willbrant, 85, of Willbrant Road, Petersburgh, NY, died on Monday, April 8, 2013, at the Center for Living and Rehabilitation in Bennington, VT, where she had been a resident for three years.
Born in Troy, NY, on January 5, 1928, she was the daughter of the late Nicholas and Anna Heinike Knauer. Helen was the loving wife of Robert F. Willbrant, whom she married on June 2, 1946, in St. Lawrence Church in Troy. She was a communicant of the Immaculate Conception Church in Hoosick Falls, NY.
Helen was raised and attended schools in Troy. In her earlier years she worked for Montgomery Ward in Menands, NY. She met her future husband, Bob, at a dance where their courtship started. After their marriage, they moved to Cherry Plain, NY, and in 1955 purchased the Maple Lane Farm in Petersburgh. She became a “farmer’s wife,” helping around the farm while raising their children. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and aunt who will be dearly missed.
Survivors include her husband of 66 years, Bob, her three children, David R. and wife Diane Willbrant of Oklahoma City, OK, Nancy H. and husband Charles Stearns of Petersburgh, Anna M. Willbrant-Rice and husband Steven of East Nassau, NY, her sister, Celia, who was married to the late Arthur Allen of California, her brother, Lawrence and wife Dorothy Knauer of Troy, her grandchildren, William, Warren and Robert Willbrant, Steven Stearns, Audrey Kuhn and Dustin Rice, and her great-grandchildren, Lana Willbrant and Conner Kuhn, along with many nieces and nephews. She is pre-deceased by siblings, Theresa Cote and Nicholas, Henry and Anna Mary Knauer.
A Liturgy of Christian Death and Burial will be celebrated by Rev. Thomas Zelker at the Immaculate Conception Church, 67 Main Street, Hoosick Falls, on Saturday, April 13, at 10 am. Burial will follow in the Berlin Community Cemetery.
Relatives and friends are invited to the visitation on Friday, April 12, from 4 to 7 pm in the Thomas M. Barber Funeral Home, 66 Armsby Road, Petersburgh. Memorial contributions in Helen’s memory may be given to the Center for Living and Rehabilitation Activity Fund, 160 Hospital Drive, Bennington, VT, 05201.

Funeral Notice For John A. O’Dell

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Berlin – John A. O’Dell of Brookside Park, Berlin, NY, died peacefully at the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Hoosick Falls, NY, on Tuesday evening, April 9, 2013.
Funeral services will be on Tuesday, April 16, at 2 pm in the First Baptist Church of Berlin. Inurnment with full military honors will follow in the Berlin Baptist Cemetery. Relatives and friends may visit with family at the Church on Tuesday starting at noon. Memorial contributions may be made to the Church. Arrangements are under the direction of the Thomas M. Barber Funeral Home.

Regina Hubbard

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Hoosick – Regina (Jeanie) Hubbard, 81, passed away on Saturday, April 6, 2013, at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, NY. She was the wife of the late Richard Hubbard, who died in 1994. Jeanie resided in the Town of Hoosick, NY.
Born on September 5, 1931, in Cambridge, NY, she was the daughter of the late John and Teresa (Rimkunas) Wirmusky. She graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in Hoosick Falls, NY. Jeanie and her husband Dick, along with her family, owned and operated the American House in Hoosick Falls for many years until its closing in 2001. It was there she welcomed, enjoyed and touched so many lives.
Survivors include her daughter, Teresa and husband Jim Brennan and grandson Christopher Brennan, all of Watervliet, NY, her nephews, A.J., Richard, Frank and Peter Wirmusky, and her dear friend, Nancy Martelle. She is pre-deceased by a sister, Helen Van Estline, a brother, Anthony Wirmusky, and a nephew, Stephen Wirmusky.
A Mass of Christian Burial was offered on Wednesday, April 10, from the Immaculate Conception Church on Main Street in Hoosick Falls. Burial followed the Mass in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Hoosick Falls.
Relatives and friends called at the Mahar Funeral Home, 43 Main Street in Hoosick Falls, NY, 12090, on Tuesday from 5 to 8 pm. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Mary’s Academy through the funeral home.
The family would like to express their sincere appreciation to the doctors and staff at St. Peters Hospital Cardiac and Vascular Center for their compassion and care for Jeanie.

Higher CHIPs Funding For Local Highways

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by Alex Brooks
This year Town and County Highway Superintendents have successfully pressured the State government to increase funding for local highway aid known as CHIPS (Consolidated Highway Improvement Program).
The CHIPS money, which provides State funding to municipalities for construction and repair of local highways and bridges, has been level-funded at $363 million statewide for the last five years.
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Highway Superintendents – Heroes Or Goats?

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by Alex Brooks
This is the time of year when people complain about their Town Highway Superintendent. When we get a blizzard in the winter and the highway crews plow us out, they are heroes. When a summer mega-rainstorm washes out a road and the highway crew rebuilds it, they are heroes. But when the snow melts and the spring wind starts blowing up dust from sand left on paved roads, and the spring thaw cycles leave dirt roads soft and muddy, highway superintendents come in for criticism.
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