Obituary of Josephine Schermer
GREENVILLE - On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, Josephine Schermer, 106, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by her family. She was born on March 29, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York to the late John and Aniela Gawel. She graduated from Bay Ridge High School at the age of 16. She then went on to earn her RN at the Brooklyn Hospital School of Nursing where as the Supervising Training Nurse she was included in a photograph in Look Magazine featuring a story on nursing in wartime.
While living in Brooklyn, she met and married her one love, Reinhold Schermer in 1942. In 1948, they moved to Greenville to take over the family boarding house from his parents. Together, they built and created a family resort known as Pine Lake Manor in which she worked until her retirement in her mid-70s. She was like a second Mom to many and affectionately called “Gram” by most of her former employees.
She was active in many community groups including the Greenville Quilters, the Friends of the Greenville Library Book Club, the Fundraising Committee for the Greenville Library and the Rosary Altar Society of St. John the Baptist Church. She also volunteered at the OldTimer’s Party for many years but would never attend as she felt she was not old enough. Never completely giving up her nursing career, she volunteered for the local Bloodmobiles and the Immunization Clinics.
She is survived by her two daughters, Joanne (Thomas) Baumann, and Gayle Schermer; her three grandchildren, Amy Short, Kevin (Julianne) Baumann and Jacqueline (James) Fitzmaurice and her six great-grandchildren, Olivia, Amelia and Thomas Baumann and Ava, Tess and Bryn Fitzmaurice and many beloved nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband, Reinhold and her son, John, her parents, her sister, Genevieve Sullo, and her twin brothers, Joseph and Andrew Gawel.
Calling hours will be Friday, May 3rd from 4 to 7 p.m. at A.J. Cunningham Funeral Home, 4898 State Route 81, Greenville. Funeral Mass will be offered on Saturday, May 4th at 10 a.m. in St. John the Baptist Church, 4987 State Route 81, Greenville, followed by burial in Greenville Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Greenville Library, P.O. Box 8, Greenville, NY 12083, or to Community Hospice, 47 Liberty Street, Catskill, NY 12414 will be appreciated. Condolence page is available at ajcunninghamfh.com.
A special Thank You to her caregivers for the many years of attention and affection that you gave her which allowed her to stay in her own home until her passing.