Obituary of Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Patience

MARY ELIZABETH "BETTY" Patience -passed away peacefully at the age of 91 on January 9, 2013 at Eddy Village Green in Cohoes, NY. She had been a resident of Kingston, NY for over 50 years before moving to assisted living in Cohoes in late 2008. Betty was born on May 16, 1921 at 1004 Albany Street, Schenectady, NY, the first of the four children of William B. Pomeroy and Elizabeth V. McEvoy Pomeroy. In 1924 Betty and her parents moved to 305 Hulett Street, where her grandparents had lived since 1909. As girls, she and her sister Alice took toe dancing lessons from Mrs. Orloff next door, but as Betty often said, she always aspired to acrobatic ballet. As a girl, Betty, her sisters and brother always looked forward to spending time at her Uncle Joe Pomeroy's camp at Mariaville Lake together with their parents and grandparents, joyfully swimming, boating and fishing there for many years. She attended St. Columba's School on Craig Street, and in 1939 graduated from St. Columba's High School, where she had been Secretary of her senior class.After high school she graduated from the Spencer School of Business, which later closed in 2000 after 107 years of operation. In the early 1950s she attended Siena College in Loudonville, NY. In 1942, with help from her Uncle Joe Pomeroy, Betty began working at General Electric in the Personnel Employment Office, working in Building 1. She screened employment applications and interviewed applicants. She always said she loved her job and enjoyed meeting people, making lifelong friends while working there, and she continued to meet with her friends for luncheons and birthdays right through 2004. She was a member of the GE Woman's Club and also the Schenectady County Republican Woman's Club. She became a member of the Beta Omicron sorority in 1946. She was a member of the National Secretaries' Association, and served as Corresponding Secretary for the Schenectady Chapter for several years. She met Victor Patience at General Electric and they were married on May 8, 1954 at St. Columba's Church. They moved to the Kingston area in 1957 after Vic had begun working for IBM. The Patience family was one of the pioneer residents in the Whittier development in the Town of Ulster.Betty and Vic together owned and managed nine rental properties there and in Schenectady. Betty played a key role, handling ad placement, responding to calls, showing houses, cleaning houses between tenants, and keeping the rent books. Betty was one of the first parishioners of St. Philomena's Church in Lake Katrine which became St. Catherine Labourè Church. She was a member of the Altar-Rosary Society there, and served as Treasurer of the Parish Council for several years Having been active in politics in Schenectady, in Kingston Betty became a member of the Ulster County Republican Club and she served on the Town of Ulster Republican Committee as Committeewoman for District 12. For many years she served each election day as an election inspector, and friends recall that she was always a cheerful presence to greet them when they voted. Betty's sons and her three grandchildren were her greatest joys. She was a loving and extremely devoted mother. She worked tirelessly as a volunteer at St. Catherine Labourè School where her sons attended, and also at John A. Coleman Catholic High School from which her sons graduated. In 1966-67 she was a Den Mother in Cub Scout Pack 39. She drove constantly to take her sons to served early morning Mass at St. Catherine's, to participate in after-school activities, and take them back and forth to Scout camp.In 1992, Betty and Vic established the Victor F. Patience and Mary Elizabeth Patience family Scholarship endowment for the benefit of students attending John A. Coleman Catholic High School in Kingston. Since the endowment's creation, over 75 scholarships have been granted per the endowment's charter. Betty had an adventurous spirit, driving to Miami in 1951with her friend Marion and then taking a boat to visit Havana, Cuba. Later on she would eventually travel to most of the states in the nation, and she also travelled to England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and Germany, Bermuda and cruised aboard the Oceanic to the Bahamas. She had sound judgment and was quick thinking and safety-minded: she twice saved the lives of people choking . Neighbors also remember her other constant acts of kindness, calling to see if they needed groceries or transportation, or simply checking on older neighbors to see how they were doing. Up through the 1990s Betty greatly enjoyed reading, and often shared books with her sisters and her daughter-in-law Janet. She is survived by her three sons:Victor Russell (married to Janet) of Apple Valley, Minnesota, Francis William, of Latham, New York, and Thomas Michael of Raleigh, North Carolina (married to Lisa), three grandchildren: Colin William Thomson Patience of Apple Valley, Minnesota, William Thomas Patience and Hannah Elizabeth Patience of Raleigh, North Carolina: her brother WilliamB. Pomeroy of Clifton Park, NY and four nephews. Predeceased by her sisters, Alice Pomeroy and Ruth Tyndall and her former husband Victor F. Patience. Calling hours will be held of Sunday, January 13, from 4PM to 8PM, at Jones Funeral Home, 1503 Union St. (at McClellan St.), in Schenectady, NY 12309 . Funeral will be on Monday, January 14 at 10:00 am at St. Catherine Labourè Church,200 Tuyten Bridge Rd. in Lake Katrine, NY 12449. Interment will be on Tuesday, January 15 at 10:00 am at St. Joseph's Cemetery, Kings Road, Schenectady, NY.Contributions in memory of Mary Elizabeth Patience may be made to John A. Coleman Catholic High School, 430 Hurley Avenue, Hurley, NY 12443.