Alice Ruth Engels Willard

1912 - 2010

A former resident of the Canastota area, Alice Ruth Engels Willard was born on May 23, 1912 and was brought up on her parents' farm on the New Preemption Road in the northeast corner the town of Phelps, Ontario County, N.Y. The fourth of five children, Alice outlived each of her siblings.
Through eighth grade, she walked 1-1/2 miles each way to a one-room school. She boarded in the village of Lyons to attend high school, after which she attended Geneseo Normal School receiving her teaching degree there in 1932.
She taught for a year in Blue Point on Long Island, N.Y., where she met her future husband, Charles F. Willard. They were married in Clyde, N.Y. on July 16, 1933 and remained so until Charles' death in 1977. They had five children.
At the close of World War II, they bought a 20 acre farm (known as the "Old Taylor Farm") on New Boston Road, west of Canastota, N.Y. An auto accident in 1956 forced Charles out of work, and for several years Alice went back to teaching in the Canastota schools. When Charles started his own distributorship business in 1959, Alice kept the books. They ran this business from the farm, along with raising a wide variety of animals, until Charles' death.
From that time forward, Alice spent each school year in Hilo, Hawaii with her daughter, Catherine and family where she provided care and love to the household. Each summer she returned to the farm on New Boston Road and entertained her friends and family. She was well known for her annual 4th of July get-togethers and loved to see people enjoy themselves.
Alice had a number of hobbies and quiet passions. She loved poetry, could recite numerous poems, the books of the Bible and the counties of New York State by heart. She braided and hooked rugs from old scraps of clothing. She loved bird watching and often kept a daily country log of bird sightings, weather and happenings on the farm. She loved crossword puzzles. In later years her forte was creating dried, pressed flower/plant arrangements on note cards. Her friends and family received these regularly for birthdays and other occasions. Many survive in their collections.
In 1996, at age 84, she sold the New Boston Road farm, having lived there nearly 52 years. Even then, she continued to return to New York State each summer to visit her family and friends. Her last trip was in 2007.
She passed away Aug. 15, 2010, in Hilo, surrounded by her Hawaiian family. She was 98. She is survived by her five children and their spouses, Charles F. Jr. and Lynn of Honeoye Falls, Ellen R. and Frederick (Muller) of McCormick, S.C., Catherine E. and Robert (Rhodes) of Hilo, Hawaii, Janet B. and David (Petrick) of Endwell and William LeB. and Margaret of Troy, 14 grandchildren and 13 great- grandchildren.
A Life Celebration Service will be held at the Westminster Hall and Chapel in Mendon, N.Y. at 11 a.m. on July 2, 2011.