Blanche Schmidt

Shady-

Blanche E. Schmidt, 99, of Shady, died Saturday February 12, 2022, at the Golden Hill Nursing Home in Kingston.  She was born in Woodstock on Dec. 3, 1922— the daughter of Herbert Keefe and Beatrice Howland— and lovingly raised by her adoptive parents Frederick R. and Charlotte D. Reynolds.  She was a native and lifelong resident of Shady where she was a member of the local United Methodist Church and its chapter of the King's Daughters of the UMC.  Blanche was a graduate of Kingston High School (Class of ‘39) and Houghton College (Class of ‘43). She earned a Master's in Education at Syracuse University (Class of ‘47).  She briefly taught social studies in Treadwell, NY, before embarking on a forty-one-year career teaching mathematics at Friends Academy— an independent, coeducational, Quaker preparatory school serving students from nursery school through the twelfth grade— located in Locust Valley, NY.   She traveled extensively through the Caribbean, Europe, North Africa, Canada, and the United States; and demonstrated a keen talent for horticulture.  She also enjoyed Broadway plays and musicals, knitting, and solving all types of puzzles. Blanche is remembered for her strength, intelligence, and independence, as well as her loyalty to students, family, and the local community.

     Surviving are her adoptive niece and nephew, Susan B. Hoch and Steven F. Reynolds, and nieces and nephews, Ruth Riley, Herbert Wilber, Mary Zimmermann, Kenneth Keefe, Timothy Keefe, Clayton Keefe, and Barbara Fairbanks.  She was predeceased by her adoptive brother, Frederick W. Reynolds, and adoptive nephew, William M. Reynolds, as well as sisters, Jeanette Keefe and Pauline Wilber, brother, Maynard Keefe, and nieces, Rowena Koester, Beatrice Shader, and Donna Keefe.

     A Memorial Service celebrating Blanche’s life will be Saturday May 21st at 11 am at the Shady United Methodist Church 13 Church Road Shady 

Burial will take place at the Woodstock Cemetery.  Memorial arrangements are under the direction of the E. B. Gormley Funeral Home, 87 Main St., Phoenicia. Memorial contributions may be made to the United Methodist Church of Shady, PO Box 61, Lake Hill, NY, 12448. You may share a special memory or condolence with the family on Blanche's Tribute Wall at www.gormleyfuneralhome.com.

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