COOPERSTOWN – Helen Wilbur, a long-time resident of Cooperstown, died Friday morning, July 11, 2008, at Otsego Manor with her loving family in attendance. She was 106.
Born June 7, 1902, in Newark, N.J., Helen was a daughter of August and Anna (Englehardt) Riegelman.
Helen married Walter Otis Wilbur on Sept. 1, 1931, in Poland, N.Y. Mr. Wilbur died Aug. 30, 1957.
Raised in Remsen, she later lived and worked in the Utica area. During her years in Cooperstown, she held many positions, concentrating mainly on raising her family.
Helen led a quiet life-style, and her 106 years of life on this earth were realized through gardening and love of animals, especially her loving dogs, Buffie and Shasta.
Helen is survived by four daughters, Betty Ditchfield and her husband Jim, of Rochester, Dawn Chapman and her husband Perry, of Belmont, Mass., Lois Augenstein and her husband Paul, of Rochester, and Joan Wilbur and her companion Leslie Day, of Cooperstown; one son, Herbert W. Wilbur and his wife Rose (“Tobie”), of Voorheesville; nine grandchildren, Lisa Augenstein and Lynne Reeves, Anne Doran, Susan Houy and Jennifer Chapman, Shirley Ditchfield, Kathryn Peterson, David Wilbur and Sean Wilbur; four great grandchildren, Natalie Reeves, Sam Doran, Lee Doran, and Axel Houy; one sister, Ruth DeGroat of Johnson City, and several nieces and nephews.
In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by four brothers, Herman, Albert, Herbert and Edward, and three sisters, Marian, Ella and Tessie.
Graveside services were private in the Fly Creek Valley Cemetery, with the Rev. Paul R. Messner, pastor of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hartwick Seminary, officiating.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy in the form of memorial gifts may be made to Susquehanna SPCA, 4841 State Highway 28, Cooperstown, NY 13326.
Funeral arrangements were by the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.

Labels: Helen Wilbur, Obituaries