WEST BERNE — Arlene Helen Baxter Schoonmaker of Helderberg Trail, West Berne passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013 at St. Peter’s Hospice in Albany after a brief illness. She was 87.

Mrs. Schoonmaker was the daughter of the late Lloyd and Florence Emily Montanye Baxter.

Mrs. Schoonmaker was born on April 30, 1925 in Central Bridge, Schoharie County, in the house that was the birthplace and boyhood home of George Westinghouse. She grew up there and attended the Schoharie Central Schools.

The family later moved to Sloansville where they owned and operated a general store for about ten years. After that time, the family moved to Palatine Bridge and Arlene became employed by the Beech-Nut Packing Co. in Canajoharie. She worked there as an office worker until marrying Everett Schoonmaker, Jr. in 1951. She then moved to the Schoonmaker Farm in West Berne where she became a homemaker and raised their three daughters.

****

Her husband, Everett “Bud” Schoonmaker died before her in 2007, as did her brother, Rodman Fred Baxter in 1935.

Mrs. Schoonmaker is survived by her daughters, Cheryl Furman and her husband, Clarence, of West Berne, Janet Schoonmaker of Guilderland, and Karen Merritt of Rensselaer; her grandchildren, Sarah Furman and her boyfriend, James Thomas, Matthew Davis and his wife, Dawn, and Angie Merritt; her great-grandchildren, Elijah Davis, Leah, and Heavenly Angel Morrison.

Funeral services will be private. Interment will be in the spring at the Woodlawn Cemetery, Berne, N.Y. Arrangements were by the Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont, N.Y.

The family thanks the staff at St. Peter’s Hospice for all their care and support.

Memorial contributions may be made to the First Reformed Church of Berne, 1664 Helderberg Trail, Berne, N.Y. 12023 or the American Cancer Society, 260 Osborne Road, Albany, N.Y. 12211.