HUNTERSLAND — A homemaker who sewed brightly-colored quilts and kept her cookie jar full for her grandchildren, Daisy May Schanz was a caring and social woman.

Her pies, which she gave to people on happy or sad occasions, were made from scratch with lard, and she knitted mittens and quilts by hand.

“She always had a smile for everyone,” her daughter, Mary Lou Palumbo, said of a recent remembrance of Mrs. Schanz. “She would give the shirt off her back. If she could help you, she would.”

Mrs. Schanz died on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at her home following a long illness. She was 81.

She married Carl B. Schanz on April 26, 1952, their marriage ending only with her death. They lived on his family farm on the remote High Point Road, in the higher elevations of western Berne, throughout her adult life but she kept active in the community as a member of the Huntersland Volunteer Fire Department Ladies’ Auxiliary for more than 40 years and a leader in the Huntersland Roses 4-H Club for over a decade, in a nearby hamlet in the town of Middleburgh.

She taught girls in the club skills like sewing and cooking. “Most of us made our prom gowns, our brides maid dresses,” Mrs. Palumbo said.

Born on March 17, 1933 in Oak Hill, in Greene County, Mrs. Schanz was the daughter of James and Nina (née Filkins) Gifford. The family moved to Rensselaerville as she grew older; she spent her adolescence in the active hamlet and learning in a schoolhouse that now holds a post office and a café.

Social gatherings in the hamlet centered around Lake Myosotis, the creek, and Friday-night square dancing at Conkling Hall.

There, her daughter presumed, Mrs. Schanz may have worked in a crafting group with her mother.

She enjoyed knitting and crocheting, and made winter hats and mittens for her four grandchildren as they grew. When Mrs. Palumbo recently asked them of their strongest memories of their grandmother, they each mentioned her cookies — rich peanut-butter cookies and chocolate-chip cookies that were kept in a large, globe-shaped white jar on a side table in her kitchen.

The colorful quilts made by Mrs. Schanz’s hand were, however, for display, each periodically stored in a drawer for another to be shown in her home.

“She was never dull,” Mrs. Palumbo said later. “If it was orange, it was neon orange. It was really bright.”

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Mrs. Schanz is survived by her husband, Carl B. Schanz; her two children, Mary Lou Palumbo and her husband, Daniel, of Olean, in Cattaraugus County, and Stanley C. Schanz of Huntersland; her four grandsons, Adam Schanz of Huntersland, Daniel Palumbo and his wife, Erin, of Olean, Michael Palumbo of Buffalo, and Brian Palumbo and his wife, Elizabeth, of Orlando, Florida; and two great-grandchildren, Trenton Palumbo and Brooke Palumbo.

Her brother, John Gifford, died before her.

Calling hours will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27, at Palmer & Shaylor Funeral Home, 134 River St., Middleburgh, with a funeral service to follow. Rev. Carol Coltrain of the Huntersland United Methodist Church will preside.  Interment will be in the spring in the Middleburgh Cemetery.

Mourners may go online at palmershaylorfuneralhome.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Huntersland Volunteer Fire Department, 1337 Huntersland Rd., Middleburgh, NY 12122.

— Marcello Iaia