11/07/2005

Obituaries: 11/07/05

Helen M. Pratt

BALLSTON LAKE -- Helen M. Pratt, 86, died suddenly on Friday, Nov. 4, 2005, at her home in Ballston Lake, N.Y.

Born April 16, 1919, in Port Henry, she was the daughter of Harold P. and Luraine (Hedding) Kelley. Helen graduated from Port Henry High School after completing her studies in three years.

Helen married Beverly H. Pratt, "the boy up the street," in September 1943 in Chicago, Ill. After Bev's discharge from the U.S. Navy, they moved "back home" to settle in Port Henry. After 13 short years of marriage, Helen lost the love of her life tragically in 1956. She remained in Port Henry and raised her five children.

Helen moved to Ballston Lake and was employed at JC Penney for 10 years until her retirement. She was a faithful communicant of St. Mary's Church in Ballston Spa until her death. She was a strong and devoted member of the Catholic faith and was unwavering in her devotion to the Blessed Mother. She began and ended each day of her life with prayer through her rosaries and novenas. Anyone who knew her and felt they needed a prayer would give her a call. She once said she had so many people to pray for that she didn't have time to pray for herself.

She enjoyed listening to the radio and keeping abreast of current events. Other enjoyments included planting and taking care of her flowers, her yearly trip to Atlantic City with her daughters, spending time in Port Henry with her son and just simply being with her family.

Besides her parents and her husband, Helen was predeceased by her beloved granddaughter Christie Tolosky; three brothers, William, Robert and Jack Kelley; and three sisters, Frances Roach, Jeanne Stahl and Joan Gladd. She leaves behind her devoted family, which includes one son, William H. Pratt, and his wife, Sherry, of Port Henry; four daughters, Jeanne Burk of Malta, Judith Gonyeau and her husband, Richard, of Hudson Falls, Beverly Nichols and her husband, Francis, of Corinth, and Barbara Tolosky and her husband, Craig, of Ballston Lake; 12 loving grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; her brother and "best pal" Thomas (Joe) Kelley and his wife, Charlotte, of Ballston Lake; numerous very special nieces, nephews, brother- and sisters-in-law; and close friends.

Helen will be remembered most for her twinkling Irish eyes and her "pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps" personality. She will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure to know her.

Calling hours will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Harland Funeral Home in Port Henry. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Patrick's Church in Port Henry. Burial will be in the parish cemetery in Moriah.

Donations in Helen's memory may be made to the Christie Tolosky 2003 Memorial Scholarship, Siena College, Alumni College, 515 Loudon Rd., Loudonville, NY 12211, or to the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome (SADS) Foundation, 508 East South Temple, Suite #20, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102.

Deaths: 11/07/05

GARY F. CLUETTE, 61, of Beekman Street, Plattsburgh, died Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005, at the CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh.

He was born in Plattsburgh on April 14, 1944, the son of Francis "Frank" and Marjorie M. (Merrihew) Cluette.

Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by the Hamilton Funeral Home in Peru.

SUSAN "SUE" DASHNAW, 96, of Sentinel Road, Lake Placid, died at her home on Nov. 5, 2005. She was born in AuSable Forks on Nov. 29, 1908, the daughter of James Henry and Elizabeth (Thwaits) Stevens. She was the wife of Delancy F. Dashnaw, who died in 1975. Calling hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005, at the Clark Funeral Home in Lake Placid. There will be a brief prayer service that evening at 7:45 p.m. A funeral service will be held at Adirondack Community Church in Lake Placid on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. The Rev. James Sorley will officiate. Burial will be in North Elba Cemetery at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her memory be made to Feed the Children, P.O. Box 36, Oklahoma City, OK 73101 or High Peaks Hospice, P.O. Box 840, Saranac Lake, NY 12983.

MARY LOUISE LaBOUNTY DONALDSON, formerly of Will Rogers Drive, Saranac Lake, and Lake Clear, died Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005, at the Eastern Star Home in Oriskany.

Calling hours will be from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. The funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church in Saranac Lake. Interment will follow in St. John's Cemetery, Paul Smiths.

A full obituary will appear Tuesday.