Philipstown Obituaries

Marie Klubnick Baranowski (1922-2017)

Marie Klubnick Baranowski, 95, of Cold Spring, died May 16, 2017, surrounded by her family.

Marie was born in Cold Spring on April 7, 1922, to William and Zaite Reilley. She graduated as salutatorian of her class at Haldane High School and worked for several years in New York City before enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II as a member of the Spars, where her duties included playing French horn in the Coast Guard orchestra to entertain the troops.

After the war, Marie returned to Cold Spring and married Francis J. Klubnick. Marie and Frank were active in many Cold Spring organizations, including Our Lady of Loretto, the Girl Scouts, Little League, CYO and Knights of Columbus.

Marie and Frank were married for 52 years and had four children.

Marie worked for Dr. Hall and Dr. Joseph Klein and was later a teller and assistant manager at the Fishkill National Bank in Cold Spring. She later become the manager at the Brinkerhoff branch.

In retirement, Marie and Frank moved to Englewood, Florida, spending many delightful years at their beloved Polynesian Village. After Frank’s death, Marie attended a grief support group, where she met her second husband, Raymond Baranowski.  Ray and Marie spent the next 16 years traveling, attending concerts and watching sunsets from their favorite bench on Englewood Beach. Upon Raymond’s death, Marie moved back to the Hudson Valley to be near her children.

She is survived by her children: Kathleen DeCaro (Louis) of Cold Spring; Patty Klubnick-Vogt (Ron Vogt) of Stormville; Michael Klubnick of Cold Spring; and Dennis Klubnick (Maaike) of Putnam Valley; and her grandchildren David DeCaro (Heather), Mark DeCaro, Luke DeCaro, Coralyn Klubnick Simone (Adam), Hannale Klubnick, Emmelia Klubnick, Drew Scecina (Laura) and Will Scecina (Julie).

She also is survived by her great-grandchildren David DeCaro II, Shea Marie DeCaro, Abigail Simone, Oliver Simone, and Nathanial Scecina.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, May 23, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Clinton Funeral Home, 21 Parrott St., in Cold Spring. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on May 24 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Loretto in Cold Spring, with interment at Cold Spring Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105 (stjude.org), or to the Alzheimer’s Association, 2 Jefferson St., No. 103, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.

Diana Bechelli (1948-2017)

Diana F. Bechelli, 69, a 50-year resident of Cold Spring, died May 11, 2017, at Hudson Valley Hospital.

Born Jan. 1, 1948, in Valhalla, she was the daughter of Dominick DeMilio and Isabelle DeMilio Dawson.

Diana was a longtime caregiver to many families in Putnam County. She married Anthony P. Bechelli Sr. who died before her.

She is survived by her children Anthony P. Bechelli Jr. of Cold Spring, Christina A. Alvarez of Poughkeepsie and Andrew V. Bechelli of Wappingers Falls. She also is survived by her sisters, Carol Mocerino and Judy Robstad.

A memorial mass will be held on Saturday, May 27, at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Loretto in Cold Spring.

Dorothea Lang

Dorothea Maria Lang, 84, of Garrison died May 16, 2017, at home.

Dorothea earned a bachelor’s in nursing at Reading Hospital School of Nursing (1956) and Albright College (1957) and her nurse-midwifery education in 1959 from the combined Maternity Center Association / Johns Hopkins University affiliate program. In 1965, she received a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University.

She was a tireless promotion of the value of midwives for women and families in New York state. In 1965, at a time when fewer than 50 people in the U.S. practiced full-scope midwifery, she was working as a nurse educator in the New York City Maternal-Infant Care (MIC) Project and convinced the city that midwives were integral to improving maternity care. She developed a separate department and developed programs that provided midwifery care from prenatal clinics, through the hospital, and back to the community.

Expanding midwifery coverage from two hospitals to 23, and leading the most comprehensive midwifery care in the U.S. at the time, Dorothea overcame the problems inherent in big city finance, politics, and logistics to provide health care to underserved populations. She later stimulated discussion of non-nurse pathways in the 1970s and into the late 1990s when a single standard of midwifery, entered through post-nursing or post-health science pathways, became the law in New York with enactment of the Professional Midwifery Practice Act of 1992. She was honored with Midwife License #001.

Her leadership and influence extended worldwide. Born in Japan to missionary parents, Ms. Lang returned there in the early 1960s. There she observed midwifery in a hospital setting, with the midwife an integral part of the maternity team. She was determined to replicate this model in New York City. She later served as a midwifery consultant in Puerto Rico, and throughout the U.S. and world.

In her long relationship with the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), she co-chaired the fundraising for the only ICM Triennial Congress held in the U.S. in 1972, represented the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) and North America as an executive committee member of the ICM, and represented ICM as a nongovernmental organization at the UN. Her commitment to interprofessional education and practice was demonstrated by her serving as a member of the committee that developed the first ACNM Joint Statement with American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

As a leader in midwifery and the ACNM, she mentored countless midwives into and through their professional education and practice.  The 62nd ACNM Annual Meeting in Chicago, held on May 21 to 25, will be noted by her colleagues as the first that Dorothea Lang missed since she began her professional career in the late 1950s. Her mandate to midwives stated: “Yes, go where opportunities are already great! But, also go to places where conditions are terrible! That is where you will show what you as a midwife can truly bring to health care and the community.”

She is survived by her siblings Ernst Fried, Ehrhardt Lang, Martin Lang, Heidi Brewer and Ted Lang. Funeral services will be private.

Memorial donations may be made to the ACNM Foundation (midwife.org/Charitable-Contributions).