Helen Minners, age 85, a longtime Cold Spring resident, died on Tuesday, April 7, 2015, at her home, surrounded by loved ones, after losing her battle with pancreatic cancer. Born on Oct. 1, 1929, in the Bronx, she was the daughter of the late Dominic and Antoinette (Sabatino) Spallone. She was predeceased by her husband, John R. Minners, in 1981.
Minners worked at the former J.L. Butterfield Memorial Hospital in Cold Spring from 1971 to her retirement in 1995, where she started as a switchboard operator and retired as a medical biller. She loved puttering around her garden, reading on her Kindle and designing and painting birdhouse gourds. Her gourds can be seen around Cold Spring, bought by admirers at local craft fairs. Each year she delighted her neighbors with her home-baked Christmas cookies. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her.
Surviving Minners are three sons, John (Debra) Minners and Robert (Diane) Minners, both of Hudson, New York, and Peter (Kristina) of Anthem, Arizona; two daughters, Pauline Minners and Dorothy Jackson, both of Cold Spring; 15 grandchildren; 22 great grandchildren; a sister, Rose Macchi; and a brother, Frank Spallone.
Predeceasing her in addition to her husband were two sisters, Grace Farino and Mary Laudanno, and a brother, Emilio Spallone.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 11, at Our Lady of Loretto Church, 24 Fair St. in Cold Spring. Interment will follow in the Cold Spring Cemetery on Peekskill Road. Friends may call at the Clinton Funeral Home, at the corner of Parrott and Pine streets (21 Parrott St.) in Cold Spring, on Friday, April 10, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.
Our condolences to Pauline, Ashley, Peter and family. We have known Helen for a number of years, and always felt that she was a gracious lady, and a top-notch gourd painter. We will miss her.