Obituaries

Berlin – Ronald D. “Ron” Kaczor, 82, of Berlin, NY, passed away peacefully at his beloved home on Dyken Pond on Monday, March 10, 2025, of natural causes.

Born on May 28, 1942, in Amsterdam, NY, Ron was the son of the late John M. Kaczor and Josephine Kaminski Kaczor. He grew up in Amsterdam and then in Mayfield, alongside his siblings, while cherishing childhood memories and lifelong friendships in the community he called home.

After graduating from Mayfield High School in 1960, Ron proudly entered the U.S. Navy the very next day, serving four years with the esteemed Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seven. His time in the service, including during the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, was a source of lifelong pride, particularly the memory of enduring several days in a foxhole during that historic standoff. [Read more…] about Ronald D. Kaczor — Obituary

May 24, 1949 – March 13, 2025

Dear friends, family, and anyone reading this out of curiosity:

I am writing my own story, so it’s one less thing to do when I pass away. I was born May 24, 1949, at the now-closed St. Luke’s Hospital on East Street in Pittsfield, MA. My poor dad spent hours in the smoky men’s waiting room as the nuns forgot to tell him I’d been born earlier!

My older sister Margo (Penny) and I were raised in the baby boom; a simpler life. It was an era of playing with dolls, croquet, horseback riding, biking to Pontoosuc Lake, volunteering at the local hospital, singing for years in South Congregational church choir, playing guitar, later donating 93 pints of blood at Red Cross Drives, and being a member, with my dad, at the Berkshire Museum Camera Club. As a teen, I bought a ‘57 Chevy and loved such freedom! I was so devastated by the assassination of President Kennedy. The Beatles’ arrival lightened the sadness and I became a huge fan. I was a member of Pittsfield High School’s class of 1967. It was too large a class to fit all of us, so many of us attended freshman year at Crosby Jr. High for double sessions. [Read more…] about Judith L. (White) Quackenbush

Niskayuna – Bertha Anna Marie (Piritz) Alden passed away Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at St Peter’s Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Albany, NY.  She was just five months shy of her 98th birthday. Born on July 30th, 1927, she was the daughter of the late Reinhold F. and Anna Marie Piritz and had fond memories of the small farm in West Hoosick where she grew up.

Following graduation from Hoosick Falls High School (and at the urging of her older brother Otto) she moved to Schenectady and took a job at General Electric. Her first husband, Earl Griswald who she knew from high school, died in an industrial accident in 1957. She subsequently married John Alden and together they built one of the first homes on Trottingham Drive in Niskayuna. John passed in 1976, but she continued to reside there until moving into assisted living at Ingersoll Place in February, 2019. [Read more…] about Bertha Alden — Obituary

BERLIN – Marilyn M. Homiak passed peacefully from this life, surrounded by the love of her family, and entered into the arms of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Monday, February 24th 2025 at the age of 83 years.

Marilyn was born into the loving family of Harold and Della (DeGraw) Rea in Paterson, New Jersey on March 6, 1941. She grew up in Singac, NJ, with her five siblings, and was a graduate of St. Bonaventure High School. Soon after graduation she married the love of her life, Nicholas S. Homiak and began a family. In 1971 Marilyn and Nicholas, with a love for the Taconic Valley, relocated to Berlin, New York to reside and raise their family. Once her children were in school, Marilyn took employment as bookkeeper with Berlin Lumber Company where she worked for many years. Marilyn retired to care for her ailing husband prior to his passing on July 26, 2014. [Read more…] about Marilyn M. Homiak — Obituary