COOPERSTOWN – Louise Clark Hulse, a native of Cooperstown, died early Sunday morning, November 14, 2021, at Cooperstown Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing. She was 104.
Born Louise Frances Clark on September 21, 1917, at The Thanksgiving Hospital in Cooperstown, she was the only child of John Vincent Clark and Louise née Hanlon Clark. At the time of her birth, her family was firmly embedded into the fabric of Cooperstown: her maternal grandfather, Michael Hanlon, served as Mayor of the Village in the early 1900s and owned three hotels, and one uncle owned a printing press and another a shoe store.
During World War I Louise and her parents moved to Church Street in Oneonta. As a young girl she grew up swimming in Oneonta’s Wilber Park and going to the circus on the Sixth Ward Booster Club fields. She could recall tense times during her childhood, such as when the Ku Klux Klan would burn crosses up in the hills. And when Al Smith ran for President of the United States – the first Catholic to do so – her mother put his picture in the window of their house and someone threw a brick through it into their living room.
After attending St. Mary’s School in Oneonta, she graduated from Oneonta High School in 1935. She received her undergraduate degree from Hartwick College in 1939, and earned a master’s degree in French from Syracuse University. For several years, she taught language in Bellport on Long Island, where she met her husband, Richmond L. Hulse, who was from Westhampton Beach. The couple was married January 30, 1944, in a ceremony at St. Mary’s Church in Oneonta.
At the time, Mr. Hulse, a pharmacist, was serving in the US Navy as an analytical chemist, so Louise and he lived in Brooklyn for two years until he was assigned to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. To be nearer to her family, Louise took a teaching job at Morris Central School. After the War, they returned to Long Island where they raised their family. They spent their summers in Oneonta.
The Hulses retired to Cooperstown in 1982, largely because of the Leatherstocking Golf Course. Both avid golfers, Louise played until she was 89. They also enjoyed attending productions of the Glimmerglass Opera, were active members of St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown and the Leatherstocking Golf Course, and spent their winters in Stuart, Florida. Louise was also active with the Bassett Auxiliary and the Cooperstown Women’s Club, did expert needlepoint, and enjoyed playing Bridge and arranging flowers. Throughout her life, she was always devoted to her family and her faith.
After Mr. Hulse passed away on January 4, 2001, Louise continued to maintain the family home in Lakeland Shores. In October of 2018 she moved into Cooperstown Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing.
Louise is survived by two sons and a daughter, Richmond J. Hulse, Sr. and Donna Thomson Hulse of Cooperstown and Kiawha Island, South Carolina, Christopher Hulse and Patricia of Cos Cob, Connecticut, and Pamela Lotito and Alan, of West Hempstead, Long Island; six grandchildren, Richmond J. Hulse, Jr. (Christine) Christopher P. Hulse (Jennifer), Stephanie Gannon (Michael), Alan Lotito (Suzanne), Kristin Lotito, and Kimberly Horowitz (Phil); and 12 great grandchildren, Ryan and Leah Lotito, Richmond Matthew Hulse, Betsy, Chip and Jane Hulse, Liam, Bradley and Morgan Gannon, and Erica, Mason and Hayden Horowitz.
Family and friends may call and pay their respects from 4-6 p.m. Thursday afternoon, November 18, 2021, at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Friday, November 19, 2021, at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown with Fr. Michael Cambi, pastor officiating.
The Service of Committal and Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Index, where Louise will be laid to rest.
In lieu of flowers, Masses or contributions to the charity of one’s choice would be greatly appreciated.
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.
