Stephentown – Isabel Joan Krebs of Stephentown, NY passed away at the age of 89 on March 13th, 2024 in East Greenbush, NY. Isabel was born on March 19th, 1934 in Davao City in the Philippines, to Edwin and Helen Cogan who were British citizens.
In December of 1941, Isabel and her parents were captured by the Japanese Army and placed in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in the Philippine capital of Manila. The family survived incredibly harsh conditions for over three years before being liberated by the U.S. Army in February of 1945. Afterwards, Isabel and her parents immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago. Isabel attended Northwestern University and later the University of Chicago where she received a master’s degree in education. She went on to a long career in education, teaching english, social studies, and Latin.
Isabel married Neil Krebs in 1970 and gave birth to a son, John, in 1972. Isabel lived in multiple towns in the Albany, NY suburbs before moving to Marion, MA and then Guilford, CT where she retired from teaching in 1997. She then moved to Stephentown where she raised chickens, ducks, llamas, and alpacas on a farm that has been in her family for the past 260 years. Isabel was known for her kindness and love of animals and will be deeply missed by all those who knew her.
Isabel is survived by her husband Neil, her son John, daughter-in-law Amy, and grandchildren Jacob and Sarina. Isabel did not want a funeral and requested that a celebration of life be held by her friends and family. The celebration is planned for July 21st, 2024 at the family farm in Stephentown. Condolence book and memorial page at parkerbrosmemorial.com.
