Obituary of Evelyn C. Palmateer

Mrs. Evelyn Donalda Cameron Horning Palmateer of Gloversville and Saratoga Springs, NY, died peacefully at the age of eighty-eight on December 31, 2008. For the last thirty years, Evelyn was known by her immediate family as Boom, a name dubbed first by her only grandson and carried on by the whole family with supreme affection. Born December 15, 1920 in Trenton, NY County of Oneida, Evelyn was raised along with her brother and two sisters to possess a gentle spirit balancing personal responsibility with fierce family loyalty. These qualities served Evelyn well when, around 1938, she left home to attend the State Home Economics School in Cobleskill, where she earned a degree in nursery education. Soon after, Evelyn was hired to serve as Director of the Utica Day Nursery, where she managed the care of children whose mothers worked to support War efforts. Anyone who has ever seen Evelyn with children knows that she was a natural for the job. In 1945, Evelyn left her post to marry her first and best love, George C. Horning, Jr., whom she remembered until the very end as someone who "tickled me at every turn." Together, they moved to Albany, NY, where they had two beloved children, Donald and Jane Anne. When George died suddenly at age 27, Evelyn moved with the children to Gloversville, NY, to be near her late husband's sister Arlene DiPalma and her husband, Louis. There Evelyn lived for more than fifty years, raising her two children and supporting her family through her rewarding work for the Social Security Administration until she retired. She was deeply committed to her faith and to St. Mary's and Mount Carmel Churches, as well as to the Gloversville Senior Citizens Center of Fulton County. For her innumerable good deeds and service towards others, Evelyn was named Woman of the Year by Fulton County in 1987. Evelyn moved to Saratoga Springs around 2000 to be nearer to family, but Gloversville remained her heart's home until she died. That Evelyn was predeceased by George as well as by her siblings, her second husband, Leroy Palmateer, many dear friends, and her beloved daughter Jane Anne Horning Hapeman helped define her driving world view: that life is for the living. Evelyn's survivors, including her son, Donald and his wife, Patricia of Saratoga Springs, NY, and her son-in-law Kenneth Hapeman and his wife Kathryn Gallien, also of Saratoga; six grandchildren, Nicole Hapeman, Craig Horning, Melinda Cameron Hapeman Rose, Alison Horning Connors, Katherine Hapeman Myer, and Cary Elizabeth Horning; and five nearly six! great grandchildren, hold on to that mantra now. They are buoyed by everlasting memories of a woman whose humor-filled, no-nonsense values, whose intuitive understanding of human need, whose stalwart resilience, and whose lovingly humble approach to matriarchy define a family. Amen! Family and friends are welcome to call at the Walrath & Stewart Funeral Home, 51 Fremont Street, Gloversville on Sunday, January 4 between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m; where a Prayer Service will be held at 9:15 a.m. Monday, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 a.m. at St. Mary of Mount Carmel Church in Gloversville. Memorial Contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to Community Hospice of Saratoga, 179 Lawrence St., Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 or the American Heart Association, 440 New Karner Rd., Albany, NY 12205 or the American Cancer Society, 260 Osborne Rd., Loudonville, NY 12211.