Douglass Funeral Home

Ruby E. Marcotte Northampton, MA ? Ruby Marcotte, 90, died on October 21, 2023 in Northampton, MA where she had resided since 2019 having previously lived in Amherst, MA since 1959. She was born on November 22, 1932 in Bratt, Florida to the late Eugene Hall and Annie Kate Godwin Hall, and was raised in Atmore, Alabama. Ruby completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama, and she earned a Master of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts in 1967. Ruby was employed as a reading teacher in the South Hadley, MA Public Schools. After her retirement, Ruby volunteered in the ESL program at the First Baptist Church of Amherst. Ruby is survived by her husband of 68...

AMHERST, Joseph A. Waskiewicz, Sr., 93, a lifelong resident of North Amherst, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Joe owned J & J Farms and was well-known for his sweet corn, potatoes and onions. A Mass of Christian Burial will be Monday, July 3rd at 10:00 in Most Holy Redeemer Church, Hadley, with burial following in Holy Rosary Cemetery. Calling hours will be Sunday, July 2nd from 1-4pm at the Douglass Funeral Service, Amherst. Full obituary and register book at www.douglassfuneral.com.

Elisa Katz Landers, age 57, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family and friends on January 13, 2023. She was born on December 22, 1965 in Brooklyn, NY to Trudy and Irving Katz. Elisa grew up in Brooklyn and attended college at UMass Amherst where she studied fine art and met her beloved husband, Patrick. She built her life in the Pioneer Valley, where she continued her artistic pursuits as a hair stylist and account executive in the beauty industry. Elisa shared her love of life and contagious laughter with everyone she met. In addition to Patrick, she leaves behind her cherished daughters, Ariel and Eva. She is survived by her parents, sister Michelle Fowler, mother-in-law Diana...

Elisa Katz Landers, age 57, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family and friends on January 13, 2023. She was born on December 22, 1965 in Brooklyn, NY to Trudy and Irving Katz. Elisa grew up in Brooklyn and attended college at UMass Amherst where she studied fine art and met her beloved husband, Patrick. She built her life in the Pioneer Valley, where she continued her artistic pursuits as a hair stylist and account executive in the beauty industry. Elisa shared her love of life and contagious laughter with everyone she met. In addition to Patrick, she leaves behind her cherished daughters, Ariel and Eva. She is survived by her parents, sister Michelle Fowler, mother-in-law Diana...

Arthur W. Mundt of Hadley Massachusetts passed away peacefully at his home in Hadley on January 28, 2022. He was 93. Arthur was born May 23, 1928, in Springfield Massachusetts to Katherine and William Mundt, immigrants from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Ukraine), respectively. He and his sister Evelyn (now in Agawam) grew up in Springfield. Arthur graduated from Technical High School in 1948 and was hired by Foster Machine Company where he worked as a draftsman. In 1952 he enlisted in the US Army National Guard and was honorably discharged in 1955. In 1960 Arthur joined his cousin Carl H Psholka as a partner in Berkshire Plastics Company, Inc. in East Longmeadow...

TK (John) Janardhanan passed away at home in Amherst, MA on August 11, 2022, after a long illness due to end stage kidney failure. He was 76 years young. Born in 1946, TK was raised in Mumbai, India. He had fond memories of the two years he lived with his grandparents as a youngster in his ancestral village of Palamadai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, running barefoot on dirt roads behind the rare car passing through. He attended undergraduate school at the V.J.T.I. College of Engineering in Mumbai and traveled in 1966 for graduate study at the University of Wisconsin in mechanical engineering. He quickly traded in the tailored suits his parents insisted he take to the U.S. for...

Charles (Chuck) Nathan Roys, 82, of Leverett, MA passed away on Monday, July 25, 2022 at the Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst, MA after a courageous battle with cancer. He was born in 1939 in Lafayette, IN to the late Carl and Ursula Purinton Roys. After moving to Leverett, MA, Chuck attended Leverett Elementary School and Amherst Regional High School lettering in football, basketball, and baseball. Attending Springfield College, he was their starting catcher for 3 years. Chuck served in the US Army from 1961-63 and was stationed at Fort Lee, VA. While in VA he met his life-long partner and wife, Sarah. During his stint in the military, he was the starting catcher for the USA...

Dwight W. Dorrell, 83, of Hadley, MA, passed away unexpectedly at home on Tuesday, May 10, 2022. He leaves behind his beloved wife of 59 years, Donna L. Dorrell of Hadley, his daughter Linda (Dorrell) Goulet, of Springfield, MA, his daughter Brenda Dorrell of Worcester, MA and his beloved grandchildren Jennifer Goulet of Chicopee, MA and Elijah Smith from RI as well as his great grandson Parker. He was born in Amherst, MA June 24, 1938, the son of Alton and Jesse Dorrell both who predeceased him. He attended Amherst schools until high school when he then attended and graduated from Smith Vocational High School. He then began his long career as a skilled mechanic starting first at...

Ronald Kenneth Hambleton was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on June 27, 1943, the elder son of Kenneth Hobson Hambleton and Ethel Marion Ralph. His father was serving in Hamilton, Ontario with the British Royal Air Force and his mother, Ethel, had immigrated to Canada with her parents from England as an infant. When Ron was one year old, he traveled to England with his mother and his younger sister, Carol (Carr) in a naval convoy, returning to Canada in 1950. He grew up in a world of hockey, soccer, church groups, the Boy Scouts, and the RAF Club. He was a Queen's Scout. He received a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Waterloo in 1966 and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto...

Barbara Elizabeth (McKemmie) Jacque, 89, passed away peacefully on Sunday April 10th, 2022. Born in South Amherst, MA on December 5th, 1932 to the late John E. McKemmie, Sr. and Ebba (Tidlund) McKemmie. Funeral Services will be held on Friday at 11:00 AM at the Douglass Funeral Home in Amherst, a calling hour will precede the service from 10:00 to 11:00. She will be interred with her husband at South Amherst Cemetery following the service. Full obituary and memorial guestbook at www.douglassfuneral.com

Margaret Orwell Krzystofik, 93, passed away after a short illness, at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. She was born in 1928, to the late Michael and Alice Wallace. Margaret grew up and was educated in Chicopee. She was a graduate of AIC, where she earned BA and Masters Degree. Margaret was a long time employee at the Amherst Regional High School and Holyoke Community College, where she was a typing teacher. She loved tending to her flower garden, Travel, reading and listening to Irish music. She is survived by her husband of 70 years, Anthony, son James and daughter in-law Kathleen. Margaret was predeceased by her son Michael. She leaves behind three grandchildren, John and wife Sarah, Anne...

Arthur W. Mundt of Hadley Massachusetts passed away peacefully at his home in Hadley on January 28, 2022. He was 93. Arthur was born May 23, 1928, in Springfield Massachusetts to Katherine and William Mundt, immigrants from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Ukraine), respectively. He and his sister Evelyn (now in Agawam) grew up in Springfield. Arthur graduated from Technical High School in 1948 and was hired by Foster Machine Company where he worked as a draftsman. In 1952 he enlisted in the US Army National Guard and was honorably discharged in 1955. In 1960 Arthur joined his cousin Carl H Psholka as a partner in Berkshire Plastics Company, Inc. in East Longmeadow...

Faith P. Conlon, 94, passed away Friday, January 21,2022 at the Arbors at Amherst. A 64 year resident of Amherst, Faith was born on March 28, 1927 in Pittsfield, the daughter of the late James H. and Emma L. Pelton. Growing up in the Berkshires, Faith was an avid and skilled skier, and a strong swimmer, serving as both a local swimming instructor and waterfront director. A 1944 graduate of Lenox High School, Faith was Salutatorian of her senior class. Following a post grad year at Northfield School for Girls, she enrolled at UMASS Amherst in 1946. She would graduate in 1949 with a degree in English and Sociology, and a minor in Education. While at UMASS, she was a member of Chi...

On Thursday, November 25, Elizabeth Alice Harris peacefully joined the angels in heaven. Born on January 22, 1937 in Warrington, England during World War II, she survived countless German rocket attacks and air raids. During one air raid she hid in a radio cabinet and fell asleep until after the air raid was over. Her family had thought that she had become a victim of the air raid, until she awoke later and came out. During another air raid she almost drowned in a bomb shelter. She, along with her siblings, had to scavenge for food and coal to survive. In her late teens she met and married an American Serviceman who brought her to the United States. She mothered seven children by him until...

Mario S. De Pillis, Sr. passed away from cancer and complications incident to old age In Amherst on November 18, 2021. He was pre-deceased in 2013 by his first wife, Freda Rustemeyer. He is survived by his second wife, Constance M. McGovern. Mario was the second of three sons of Vincent Carmine De Pillis and Giacinta Angelucci De Pillis. He was born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 22, 1926, and baptized in May of that year at the old English-Irish church of Saint Rita on Broad Street. Just before the Crash of 1929 his father bought a house in West Philadelphia on the edge of the city. Around 1937 his father was admitted to one of Pennsylvania's tuberculosis sanatoriums, where...

Robert (Bob) Mitchell Schmid of Leverett, Massachusetts,t died September 24, 2021 at Linda Manor Extended Care Facility after a long struggle with CIDP and Parkinson's Disease. He was born on December 25, 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland to Doris and Orville Schmid. He was a 1966 graduate of Gettysburg College where he majored in History and received his MEd from the University of Massachusetts in 1974. He is survived by his wife, Georgiana (Bollard) Schmid, his son, Ethan Haines Schmid, and his daughter, Lena Katharine Schmid. He was predeceased by his infant son, Erik Vanderbrouk Schmid. He leaves his sister, Kathi Grant of Evanston, Ill. and her family as well as his wife's extended...

BELCHERTOWN (MA) Roy Wentworth Owen, 82, of Jon Drive passed away peacefully at his home September 24 after a sustained battle with heart and kidney disease. All funeral services will be private, but a celebration of life event is planned for Spring 2022. In lieu of flowers, donations in Roy's name may be made to either Friends of the Belchertown Fair, Inc. [email protected]; or New England IH Collectors Chapter #18, 201 Oak Street, Franklin, MA 02038. For a full-length version of the obituary, please visit www.DouglassFuneral.com

Lianne Fleury-Casey, a longtime resident of Amherst, MA passed away in the early morning hours of June 5th, 2021 with her family by her side. She was 61 years old. She grew up in South Hadley and graduated from South Hadley High School with the Class of 1978. She then attended Assumption University where she received both her bachelor's and master's degrees. Specializing in vocational rehabilitation and psychology, she entered the worker's compensation, disability and managed care industry with a relatively new company called General Rehabilitation Services. It became her second family and she was one of the company's rising stars. As the company was bought and sold several times, she...

Hadley - Alice Vollinger Bishko, 88 passed away Tuesday April 6, 2021 at her home in Jacksonville, Florida. Born in Northampton July 18, 1932, she was born the daughter of the late John and Bridget (Donoghue) Vollinger. Alice was a dedicated employee at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for over 25 years and also their biggest sports fan. Alice married Thomas Michael Bishko in July of 1957. Alice is survived by her three children; sons Theodre E. Bishko and Timothy M.(Charity) Bishko and daughter Theresa (William) Smoot; her grandsons Bryant and Timothy; her sister-in-law Grace (Sessions) Vollinger; her nieces and nephews Cathy Vollinger, Mary Vollinger, Mike Vollinger and Bob...

Shirley Anne (Williams) Cowles, 91, of South Amherst died Monday, April 5, 2021 of natural causes at the Fisher Home for Hospice Care in Amherst. Shirley was born August 29, 1929 in Pelham, Mass. at Mrs. Hamilton's "Lying In Home" on Harkness Road. She was the daughter of Leon Eugene Williams and Myrtle Lillian Olds of Belchertown. She married Homer W. Cowles (deceased) of South Amherst where they raised eight children; Michael Cowles (Nancy Cominoli) of Belchertown, Robert Cowles of Amherst, Susan Crutch (Donald) of Amherst, Dan Cowles of Florida, Andrew Cowles (Jacqui) of Amherst, Nancy Kopec of Turners Falls, Deborah Zonca (Wayne) of Galena, Illinois and Tim Cowles (deceased) of...

Shirley Anne (Williams) Cowles, 91, of South Amherst died Monday, April 5, 2021 of natural causes at the Fisher Home for Hospice Care in Amherst. Shirley was born August 29, 1929 in Pelham, Mass. at Mrs. Hamilton's "Lying In Home" on Harkness Road. She was the daughter of Leon Eugene Williams and Myrtle Lillian Olds of Belchertown. She married Homer W. Cowles (deceased) of South Amherst where they raised eight children; Michael Cowles (Nancy Cominoli) of Belchertown, Robert Cowles of Amherst, Susan Crutch (Donald) of Amherst, Dan Cowles of Florida, Andrew Cowles (Jacqui) of Amherst, Nancy Kopec of Turners Falls, Deborah Zonca (Wayne) of Galena, Illinois and Tim Cowles (deceased) of...