Richard P. O’Brien, Jr.

1949 - 2018

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

MILFORD – Richard Perry O’Brien, Jr., 69, a lifelong area resident, passed away unexpectedly Sunday night, September 23, 2018.

He was born July 28, 1949, in Cooperstown, a son of the late Richard P. (“Dixie”) O’Brien, Sr. and Helen Gorney. He was raised on the family farm on Panther Mountain in Fly Creek Valley by an aunt and uncle, Joseph and Ruth Peplinski, whom he considered parents. He attended Cooperstown schools and graduated with the Class of 1967.

On October 3, 1968, Richard enlisted in the United States Navy and proudly served his country at the Alameda Naval Air Station in California. Upon receiving his Honorable Discharge in 1969, Richard returned home and helped run the family farm. 

On February 19, 1977, Richard married Deborah Lourdes Tilbe in a ceremony at St. Patrick’s Church in Clayville. After they were married and began raising a family, he worked as a logger and shingle mill operator, and at one point he enrolled in the criminal justice program at Herkimer County Community College and worked nights at Remington Arms in Ilion. Following Debbie’s death at the age of 38 due to cancer, Richard continued to raise their four children and worked as an oil truck driver for W.L. Taylor & Son, Inc. and Bruce Hall Corp. in Cooperstown. 

In his leisure, Richard enjoyed fishing, hunting and trapping and was currently a licensed Commercial Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator. 

Richard eventually met Marcelle Joussé and the two were married in Schuyler Lake on July 13, 1991. She was the love of his life and she will miss him more than words can ever express. 

In addition to his beloved wife, Marcy, Richard is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren, who called him Pop Pop: Robert Joseph O’Brien and wife, Beth, and their children Abigail, Hannah, triplets Hunter, Noah, and Lucas and Robert Jr.; Patrick Daniel O’Brien of Hartwick; Meagen Beth O’Brien of Brooklyn; and Katie O’Brien Cannistra and husband, Steven, and daughter Isabella of New Hartford; and step daughters Marcelle Denninger of South Jersey and her daughter, Makayla Love Denninger, and Dawn Malin and husband, Matthew of Brooklyn. He is further survived by a brother, John K. Cankar; two sisters, Carol L. Boulay and Joanne K. Tarbox; three step sisters, Judy Brown, Janet (Robert) Adam and Irene Young; and many nieces and nephews. 

Richard was predeceased by his first wife, Deborah L. O’Brien who died November 7, 1989; his father, Richard P. “Dixie” O’Brien, Sr. who died September 29, 1990; and his mother, Helen M. Cankar who died April 29, 2003.

Friends may call at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home, 82 Chestnut Street, Cooperstown from 2-4 p.m. Thursday, September 27, 2018.

Immediately following the visitation there will be a celebration of Richard’s life at his home at 1202 County Highway 45, Milford. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hartwick Emergency Squad, PO Box 208, Hartwick, NY  13348.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.


If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.

Robert W. Huddleston

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO – Robert Webb Huddleston, 87, passed away September 11, 2018, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

He was born in East Orange, New Jersey, the son of Surada Webb and Robert E. Huddleston. As a teenager he used to spend his summers in Roseboom with his maternal grandmother, Inez E. Webb, and his aunt and uncle, Badgley and Mary Webb.

He graduated from Williams College and joined the Foreign Service serving both with the U.S. Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). His thirty-year government career took him to Dar es Salaam, Nariobi, Rio de Janerio, Freetown, Bamako, Mali and Washington, D.C.

While stationed at Sandia Base as an Army intelligence officer in 1956, he came to love the Southwest. He and his wife retired to Santa Fe in 2015. 

Bob is survived by his wife, Ambassador (ret.) Vicki Huddleston, his children Michele, Stuart, Robert and Alexandra, four grandchildren, and three great grandchildren, as well as a cousin, John Webb of Cooperstown. 

A graveside service will be offered at 11 a.m. Saturday, September 29, 2018, in Roseboom Cemetery, with the Rev. Elsie A. Rhodes, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown officiating. Military Honors will be accorded by members of the New York State Military Forces Honor Guard and local veterans. 

Local arrangements are entrusted to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown. 


If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.

Harold J. Berry, Jr.

1941 - 2018

WESTVILLE – Harold John Berry, Jr., a business owner in Westville, died Wednesday afternoon, September 12, 2018, in his office at the stone yard. He was 76.

Born October 16, 1941, at Montclair Community Hospital in Montclair, New Jersey, Harold was the son of Harold John and Helen (Pontus) Berry, living first in West Orange and later in Wayne, New Jersey. 

After graduating from Wayne Valley High School, Harold enlisted in the United States Army and served his country with Battery B, 7th Guided Missile Training Battalion. He later served in the Army National Guard of New Jersey until February 1965.

In the 1960s he and his brother, William, owned and operated Berry Brothers, a trucking company in Wayne, New Jersey. At that time Harold also built stock cars and raced them at Middletown. 

He married Connie Kaist in Totowa, New Jersey, on November 22, 1967.

In 1972, they moved to the Cooperstown area, and Harold opened H.J. Berry & Daughters Bulldozing, doing mostly farm work such as land clearing, ponds and diversion ditches. 

In the late 1980s, he began selling locally sourced bluestone and fieldstone, in addition to top soil, stone dust, mulch, slate and granite cobbles. He also created custom-made stone tables, benches, trees, bird baths and other stone items, doing business as H.J. Berry & Daughters Stone Company, later H.J. Berry Stone Company LLC. 

Harold will be greatly missed, especially in Westville where he could always be counted on to help his neighbors. Never needing to be asked, Harold just showed up when he saw a need. 

Harold is survived by his wife, Connie K. Berry of Westville; daughters Dawn Bruns (Chris Bruns) of Haleiwa, Hawaii, and Tammy Henn (Jeffery Carter) of Niagara Falls, and granddaughters, Kaitlyn Fern and Isabella Sage. 

In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brother, William.

Family and friends may call from 4-7 p.m. Friday, September 21, 2018, at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home, 82 Chestnut Street, Cooperstown.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages you to plant a little “stone garden”, as a way to honor Harold and beautify the world.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.


If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.

Karl Dykstra

1961 - 2018

COOPERSTOWN – Karl Dykstra, a local contractor who built many fine homes in the Cooperstown area, passed away Monday afternoon, September 10, 2018, at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown. He was 57. 

Born July 28, 1961, in Suffern, he was one of six children of Fred and Fernande “Nonnie” (Deligny) Dykstra. 

Karl was a strong and loving husband and father. He made family gatherings memorable with his wonderful sense of humor and antics. Karl’s hobbies included fishing, camping and golf. He enjoyed skiing with his children in winter and evenings on his boat with family in the summer. 

In March 1977, his father and mother moved the family from Campbell Hall to Otsego Hills Farm in Pierstown. Karl worked on the farm with his siblings until graduating from Cooperstown Central School with the Class of 1979. From there he went to work for Bundy Concrete. In 1984, Karl and his brother Fred started Dykstra Construction with their father and mother, and through the years were responsible for many of the beautiful homes in the Cooperstown area. Karl’s creativity and care is woven into every home he built. 

On November 19, 1988, Karl married Catherine “Kitty” Coleman in a ceremony at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown. They enjoyed 30 years of marriage and were blessed with four children: Karl Dykstra, Jr. and his fiancée, Becky, William Dykstra and his fiancée, Hilari, Julie Dykstra and Elizabeth Dykstra. He is also survived by his mother, Nonnie Dykstra; two brothers and sisters-in-law, Fred and Dolores Dykstra, Jr., and Eric and Maureen Dykstra; three sisters and brothers-in-law, Joanne and Bruce Osterhoudt, Jeanine and Jason Harter and Jerilynn and Bruce Bachanas; many nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins; his mother and father-in-law, Cathy and Bill Coleman; and his wife’s siblings, Susie Coleman and Donna and Bobby Clifford.

He was predeceased by his father, Fred Dykstra, who died December 4, 2014. 

Friends may call and pay their respects from 4-6 p.m. Friday, September 14, 2018, at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home, 82 Chestnut Street, Cooperstown. At 6 p.m. that same evening there will be a service at the funeral home with Deacon Randy Velez officiating. 

Burial will be private in Lakewood Cemetery, Cooperstown. 

His family would like to thank all of the wonderful and caring people from Cooperstown EMS and Bassett ICU who cared for them during this time. 
In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Cooperstown Emergency Squad, PO Box 322, Cooperstown, NY 13326. 

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.


If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.