Obituary of Ethel Mary Foote

ATTN:  FUNERAL LOCATION HAS CHANGED FROM ORIGINAL NOTICE 

Ethel Mary Boyd Foote, 100, formerly of Old DeKalb Road, Canton passed away peacefully at United Helpers Maplewood on Monday, January 8, 2024.

Calling hours will be Friday, January 12 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM at Lawrence Funeral Home, Canton. Her funeral will be held Saturday, January 13th at 10:30 AM at the Canton Seventh Day Adventist Church, 52 Court St., Canton, New York.

Graveside services will be held May 24, 2024 at 10:00 AM in the Foote Family Cemetery on the Old DeKalb Road, Canton.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Church and Community Program of Canton, 30 Court Street, Canton, NY 13617.

Ethel was born September 13, 1923 in the Town of Lisbon, a daughter to the late Esmond Arthur Boyd and Edith Henrietta (McKenzie) Boyd.  She graduated from Rensselaer Falls High School in 1940 at the age of 16.  Ethel then attended Atlantic Union College in Lancaster, Massachusetts, graduating in 1942 with her teaching degree.

Ethel started her career as a teacher in Jamestown, New York in the early 1940’s but returned to the North Country in 1945 to marry William Henry Foote in the Canton Seventh Day Adventist Church June 24, 1945. The couple helped operate the Foote Family Farm on Miner Street Road, Canton before purchasing a farm in Rensselaer Falls.  In 1958 the couple moved to the farm on the Old DeKalb Road, in Canton.

Ethel assisted on the farm and took care of the finances.  Sometime later she cleaned homes in the Canton area, including the home of Dr. Stretton. Later Ethel worked for Banford Elementary School where she was employed as a cafeteria and playground monitor. Ethel immensely enjoyed working with all of the students.

She was predeceased by her husband William in 2003; three sons David (1987), Henry (1993) and John (2022); three siblings Dorothy McPhersen (2008), Arthur Boyd (2002) and Evelyn Hitchcock (2022); and a granddaughter Katherine Fischer (1982).

She is survived by four sons and a daughter Daniel (Julie) Foote of Taberg New York, James (Rhonda) Foote of Canton New York, Benny Foote of Canton New York, Joan (Steve) Fischer of Canton New York and Carl (Kerry-Jo) Foote of Canton New York; two daughters-in-law Teri Foote of Union Springs NY and Carol Foote-Bley of Canton NY.  She is also survived by 21 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, 5 great-great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Ethel was a member of the Canton Seventh Day Adventist Church, to which she dedicated a majority of her life. She served the church in many different roles including treasurer for 20+ years. Ethel was also a member of the Church and Community board for many years and ended her volunteer work for that organization at the age of 88.  Ethel had a fondness for birds, her flowers, her gardens and precious time spent with family. She enjoyed traveling; some of her travels took her to Mexico, Arizona, Florida, Las Vegas, Washington D.C. and a cruise to Alaska. 

Ethel will be remembered for her warm smile, her love of God, her green thumb, her love of nature, her inventive repurposing of plastic containers, and her special "grandma juice". As well as her love of family and her incredible strength. She served as an amazing role model for those she left behind and they will hold the memory of her with them fondly forever.