Obituaries

George Firment Jr., 86, a resident of Shavertown in the Town of Andes, died Monday July 23, 2012 at Fox Hospital in Oneonta.

George was born on July 23, 1926 on the family farm in Shavertown, the son of George Firment Sr. and Mary Pekala.  He married Barbara Klindt on August 21, 1949 at Margaretville.

George was born and farmed on the family farm in Shavertown where he has spent all of his life. He enjoyed being around lots of his friends, country music and dancing at the community hall. He liked to watch local sports and games in which his son Stephen played.

Raymond A. Place, 86, a resident of Fleischmanns for the last five years, and a longtime resident of Marvin Hollow, Walton, passed away on Wednesday morning, July 11, 2012 at Fox Hospital of Oneonta, following a long illness.

Regina ‘Gina’ Marie Ashman, 59, beloved wife of Larry A. Ashman of Margaretville, went home to be with Jesus on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, after bravely battling an illness.

Regina was born on February 22, 1953, in Waltham, MA, to Alfred Francis Brown and Claudia Gertrude (Brosnihan) Brown, both deceased.

Margarita De la Rosa, 99, of Fort Lee, NJ died on July 4, 2012 at Mountainside Residential Care Center in Margaretville.

Mrs. De la Rosa was born in 1913 in Cuba and came to the U. S. soon after the Communist revolution.  She loved the U.S. from the day she arrived. One of her proudest moments was when she became an American citizen.

Margarita is survived by her husband, Bob; her daughters, Lola Kurtzer of Roxbury Run and Mireya Samson; and her grandsons, Alex Samson of Michigan and Steven Samson of Texas. She was predeceased by a son, Efren Valens.

Seymour “Shimmy” Kaplan. Beloved husband, father, and grandpa. Born in Brooklyn, NY, on February 7, 1928, and passed away in Miami, FL, on Sunday, July 8, 2012, surrounded by family.

Seymour is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years, Sharon (Davis) Kaplan, and their four children, James (Ellen), Beth (David), Dana (Stephen), and Joshua (Alia), as well as all five of his (favorite) grandchildren: Kevin, Kara, Melissa, Dunahay, and Lily. He is also survived by his devoted sister and a large extended family.

Richard W. Paradies, 84, of Claryville, formerly of Margaretville, died at his residence on Saturday June 30, 2012 after a long courageous battle with cancer.

Richard (Pop) was born on December 13, 1927 on Staten Island. He was the son of the late Richard and Hanna (Westbrook) Paradies.

Raymond Arthur Maxim, 73, of Waycross, GA passed away peacefully at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL on Sunday June 24, 2012 after a brief illness.

Raymond was born on March 30,1939 in Fleischmanns to Chloe Vermilyea and Hiram Maxim.
He was predeceased by his wife, Bonnie Sue West; a son, Scott James Maxim; a sister Chloe Pebler, and brothers Robert and Burton.

Vivian “Pat” (Meredith) Smith, 88, died June 16, 2012.

Pat was born in Kingston on April 14, 1924 to Katherine Ann and Thomas Walter Meredith of Allaben.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Pratt Institute and a Master’s Degree from Columbia University. In 1950 she married Donald Munro Smith and they had three children; Kevin, Gregory and Kathy.

Phillip R. (Flipper) Finch, 81, of Roxbury, died Thursday, June 14, 2012, at his residence with his family by his side.

Phil was born January 6, 1931, at Oneonta, the son of LeRoy and Beatrice (Hamm) Finch. He married Barbara Krieger on November 11, 1949, in Roxbury.

Graduating from Roxbury Central School in 1948, Phil served in the United States Air Force. He was a member of Ralph S. Ives Jr. American Legion Post 1785 and an honorary member of the Roxbury Fire Department.

Claude Neilson, 84, died at his home in Margaretville on June 8, 2012.

Claude was born in Crawhills, Scotland on October 17, 1927. He and his bride Agnes, who he married on March 26, 1948, immigrated to the United States on the Queen Mary in 1950. Before moving to Margaretville, which he called God’s country, he lived for many years in Kearney, NJ.
Claude was a self-employed butcher for many years.

He is survived by his wife, Agnes (Hamilton) Neilson; his children, Robert Neilson, Elizabeth and Arlindo Texiera and Andrew Neilson; six grandchildren and four great grandchildren.