Connell, Dow & Deysenroth, Inc.Funeral Home: May 2025

Mary E. Dunkle

1929 - 2025

COOPERSTOWN – Mary E Dunkle passed away peacefully on May 23, 2025, just shy of her 96th birthday.

She was born on May 30, 1929, to Kenneth Edwards & Mildred Gregg Edwards in Sussex, NJ. When Mary turned one, they moved to manage a family farm in Wayne County, PA. She graduated from Damascus High School and then from East Stroudsburg State University and became a teacher.

She married John Kiernan in 1950, and divorced in 1969. They had 2 daughters. She taught in Ithaca and Sherburne, but finished her career in 1978 in North Salem Schools in Northern Westchester County.

In 1972 she married Edwin Dunkle of Katonah. With Ed she purchased a camp on Lake Otsego where they would spend weekends and summers. Ed passed in 1979. Mary then sold the camp and purchased her home in the Village of Cooperstown, where she retired in 1984.

Mary had many interests. Sailing with the Otsego Sailing Club, skiing, and hiking each Tuesday with the Susquehanna Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club. She enjoyed sewing with the Presbyterians, knitting, overnight education trips with grandchildren, cooking for friends, volunteering, and was a crossword fanatic. Mary was involved in the beginning of the Glimmerglass Opera Guild and was President of Opera Guild International. She also was a great Friend of Bassett. She loved arranging fundraisers and was known for her fabulous parties. She was a master of entertaining.

Mary traveled the world and would collect ornaments from all over. She would decorate her home every Christmas with the ornaments and recruit her friends to assist. Her collection is close to 1000 pieces.

Mary was predeceased by her parents, her sister Eleanor Edwards Pallis, brother Arthur Edwards, and nephew Daniel Pallis. She is survived by her daughter Sandra Kiernan Fowlston (Tim) and her daughter Meg Kiernan (Mike), her grandchildren, Clint Fowlston (Vannesa), Jack Fowlston (Bryanna), Kate Haynes (Kenneth), Meg Rathbun (Tom), and Molly Hernandez (Dan). Also survived by her great-grandchildren, Brie, Brooke, Jayden, Camden, Owen, Kiernan, Penelope and Stetson. Also surviving are her step-children Steven, Eric and Denise Dunkle.

We invite her friends to join us for Mary’s last party which will be held Sunday, June 8, 2025, at 4 p.m. at Cooperstown Coworks, 6 Doubleday Court, Cooperstown.

In lieu of flowers we encourage you to donate to the Glimmerglass Opera Guild PO Box 491 Cooperstown, NY 13326 or the Friends of Bassett, One Atwell Road Cooperstown, NY 13326.

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

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.

Marlene J. Malone

1932 - 2025

COOPERSTOWN – Marlene J. “Lee” Malone, a long-time Cooperstown resident who was actively involved in many aspects of village life as a business owner and dedicated public servant, passed away Friday evening, May 23, 2025, at Cooperstown Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing . She was 93.

Born April 17, 1932, in Chicago, Illinois, Lee was a daughter of Vincent J. and Margaret M. (Demy) Pacini. After graduating from high school, she attended Loyola University.

On January 8, 1953, Lee married Thomas William Malone in Greenwich, Connecticut.

A licensed insurance agent for many years, Lee began her career with Allstate Insurance Company in Huntington on Long Island.

In 1971, the Malones moved to Cooperstown when Tom purchased the Hotel Pratt on Pioneer Street. Lee continued in the insurance industry, first as an agent and later as a marketing representative, with the Lewis L. Wilson Insurance Agency, which was purchased in 1988 by Colonial Insurance and located at 169 Main Street in Cooperstown. Lee also assisted her husband in owning and operating the Hotel Pratt until he retired in 1992.

For many years Lee served the Cooperstown community, a place she truly loved. She served on the Village Board of Trustees for several terms, and also served through the years on the Village’s Finance and Personnel Committee, Planning, Publicity and Entertainment Committees, the Board of Park Commissioners and as Deputy Mayor. One of her proudest accomplishments was spearheading the renovation of the bandstand in Lakefront Park. Lee served twice as President of the Criterion Club, and she also served the wider community as a three-term member of the BOCES Board of Directors and as a Hospice volunteer for six years.

Despite her years of community activity, Lee was always quick to say that her proudest achievement was her family, of whom she was extremely proud.

Lee is survived by her four daughters, Susan Trainor of Ronkonkoma, Gwen Malone of Cooperstown, Nancy Tallman and husband, Jim of Cooperstown, and Carol Jennings and husband, Chip of Cooperstown; grandchildren Eamon Trainor and wife, Megan, Meaghan Rose Trainor, Clayton Weeks and wife, Hiromi, Ryan and Michael Jacobson, Brooke Tallman, Jared Tallman and wife, Allison, Adam Jennings, and Kerri Jennings Graber and husband, Chad; great grandchildren Abigael Trainor, Finn and Kai Weeks, Colin, Riley, Molly and Andrew Bowen, Claire and Nolan Tallman, and Ella and Everly Graber; plus several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Tom Malone, who died October 30, 2002, and her son-in-law, William F. Trainor, who died March 1, 2013.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown, with the Very Rev. Michael G. Cambi, pastor, officiating. Immediately following the Mass there will be a time for refreshment and fellowship in the Parish Hall.

The Service of Committal and Burial will be private in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Index.

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

Donald P. Brown

1948 - 2025

Donald P. Brown, a former resident of Schoharie County who most recently had been residing at Heritage at The Plains at Parish Homestead in Oneonta, entered into eternal life Friday night, May 16, 2025, at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown. He was 77.

Born January 22, 1948, in Amsterdam, Donald was a son of Gordon Stewart Brown and Erma (Edens) Brown.

In recent years, Donald was a delivery person for Meals on Wheels in Schoharie County.

He is survived by a sister, Jean A. Brown of Amsterdam, and a good friend, Shirley Cole of Summerville, SC.

There will be no services.

Mary Lou Friedlander

1933 - 2025

SLINGERLANDS—Mary Louisa (Cloon) Friedlander passed away peacefully on April 29, 2025, at Little Falls Hospital following a brief illness.

Mary Lou was born on May 15, 1933, in Ironwood, Michigan to the late Mary Louisa (King) and William Gabriel Cloon, and was very proud of her childhood in the UP. After graduating from Northwestern University and Chicago Wesley Memorial School of Nursing in 1955, Mary Lou worked as a clinical nurse at Chicago Lying-in Hospital, where she met her future husband, the late Robert L. Friedlander, M.D. While in college, Mary Lou pledged Alpha Chi Omega and remained a very proud supporter throughout her life. She was also fiercely devoted to the Northwestern University Wildcats football team.

Mary Lou and Bob were married in Ironwood, Michigan, on November 27, 1960, and settled immediately in Norfolk, Virginia, where Mary Lou worked as a nurse while Bob, a naval medical officer serving with the 6th Fleet, rejoined his ship, the USS James C. Owens, then touring the Mediterranean. After two years’ active service, Mary Lou and Bob moved to Albany when a former mentor asked Bob to join him at Albany Medical Center Hospital as an instructor and chief resident in obstetrics and gynecology (a noted OB-GYN, Bob would eventually serve as dean and president of Albany Medical College). Except for a brief stay in Salt Lake City, Utah, where Bob completed post-doctoral work in steroid biochemistry, Mary Lou and Bob remained life-long residents of Delmar and then Slingerlands.

Mary Lou’s early years in Upstate New York were spent supporting her husband’s busy, on-call obstetrics and gynecology practice and raising their two daughters (Suzan, Cooperstown and Rebecca, Reno, Nevada). Mary Lou also invested her energy and time ensuring that future generations of girls and women had more opportunities. Her impressive volunteer work included supporting the Delmar Dolfins Swim Club, fundraising with the Pan-Hellenic Council to help provide young women with college scholarships, and ensuring that the local high school was Title IX-compliant by helping establish a girls’ varsity swim team.

Some of Mary Lou’s favorite things included reading (particularly British history), receiving travel-related refrigerator magnets from friends and family, licorice, watching collegiate football and basketball, and cats. In fact, she often quipped that her obit could simply say “she loved cats” and that would be enough. Her Wildcats football faith was ultimately rewarded when her husband paid out a bet he never thought he’d lose—a dream trip to watch her beloved Wildcats play in the 1996 Rose Bowl. In her final years, her greatest delights were following Suzan’s career as a museum professional and being Rebecca’s number one competitive swim fan.

Mary Lou was predeceased by her husband; brother William G. Cloon Jr.; and brother- and sister-in-law Joe and Margaret (Friedlander) Cohen.

She is survived by her daughters, Suzan and Rebecca; sister-in-law Leonora “Nony” Cloon; nephews William Gregory Cloon (Melissa, William G., and Robert G.), Daniel Cohen (Wendy Wallace), David Cohen (Michelle Kaplan, Joshua, Samuel, and Olivia); and niece Alicia (Cohen) Lynn (Phillip, Griffin). Mary Lou was especially proud of her grand-nephews, grand-niece, and grand-canine Addie. She loved their visits and phone calls, and hearing about everything they were accomplishing!

Suzan and Rebecca would like to thank the staffs at St. Peter’s Hospital (Emergency; Surgical; McAuley) and Little Falls Hospital (Emergency; 3 East) for their exceptional care; and “The Debbies” for their bi-monthly visits, often with Wyatt, Mary Lou’s special canine friend.

No services will be held.

Donations to honor Mary Lou and her commitment to education, the arts, and animals can be made to Northwestern University, Alpha Chi Omega, Glimmerglass Opera, or the SPCA of your choosing.