All Obituaries

Shirley A. Kile, 89, of Clinton St., Homer, passed away following a brief illness on May 17, 2022 in the Guthrie Cortland Medical Center. Shirley was born August 23, 1932 in Utica, a daughter of the late Wheeler and Harriet Saunders Watkins. She had many fond memories of childhood on the family farm and growing up in a small town. She graduated from West Winfield High School in 1951 and Morrisville School of Nursing in 1953. She relocated to Cortland to work as a nurse at the Cortland...

Michael K. Smith, 68, of Route 41, Scott, passed away following a period of declining health on May 17, 2022. He was born March 2,1954, a son of the late Donald and Lorene O’Donnell Smith. Mike was a car enthusiast, he enjoyed driving through car lots to see the new models of vehicles, securing old car parts and talking cars with anyone. Surviving is his wife of 47 years, Lorraine Hill Smith; a daughter, Amanda (Dan) Platt of Preble; brother, Mark (Susan) Smith of Cortland; two...

Sharon R. Beerman, 87 of Cortland, died on May 16, 2022.  She was born on April 8, 1935, in Cortland, the daughter of William Riley and Teresa Comerford Riley.  Her early childhood was spent in Truxton where she experienced family farm life.  She attended Truxton Central School graduating in 1953.  She continued her education at Nazareth College in Rochester, majoring in Social Work.  In the summer of 1956, she sailed to Europe with her classmates.  She...

Elinor J. Schrader, 61, formerly of Homer passed away on May 13, 2022 in Binghamton.

On March 15, Darwin Johnson Passed away at 80 years old, at his home in Edgewater, Florida. Darwin was the fifth son of Mary and Hjalmar Johnson. He was born in Bismarck, North Dakota and grew up in Everett, Washington. He was a veteran of the US Army, having served in various stateside pots and ultimately in Mannheim, Germany. After his honorable discharge in November 1963, he settled in Homer, NY. Darwin was employed by E.O. Edwards in Syracuse and the Cortland Smith Corona. He was the...

James Andrew Gray of Homer, NY passed away peacefully on May 4th, 2022. Jim’s love of nature and animals began when he was a young boy where he lived on Cold Brook Road outside of the village of Homer. He would tell stories of exploring the countryside with friends and even sledding to the one room schoolhouse that he attended to the end of third grade. After his family moved into the village of Homer, some of his fondest memories as a teenager were fishing, hunting, cross-country...

Beatrice A. Wright, 90, went home to be with the Lord on May 1st, 2022, at Cortland Memorial Hospital. She was pre-deceased by her husband Richard, parents Herman and Virgil Hackbart, and sister Betty Samsow. She is survived by her loving children and their spouses, Linda and Dave Opie, David and Heather Wright, Chris and Therese Wright, her Grandchildren, Alex and Eric Opie, Rebecca Burke, and Sarah Wright. She leaves behind one brother and his wife, William and Elsie Hackbart of...

Cecile J. Lyon, 84, of Syrian Hill Rd., McGraw, passed away on April 26, 2022.

Patricia J. Griswold, 84, of Preble, passed away on April 18, 2022 in the Guthrie Cortland Nursing Center. A lifelong area resident, Pat was born August 22, 1937, a daughter of the late Robert and Leona Reynolds Stone. Pat was an active and faithful member of St. Margaret’s Church, Homer. She was employed for several years at Little York Plantation and had been a substitute secretary for the Homer Central Schools. Surviving are her four children, Peggie (Ed) Miller of Cortland;...

Patty A. VanGorder, 60, of Grant St., Cortland passed away on April 9, 2022. A calling hour will be held on from 6:00 – 7: 00 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, 2022 at the Donald L. Barber Funeral Home, 5016 US Route 11, Homer.