Margaret Foster

Margaret Y. Foster

1921 - 2010

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Obituary of Margaret Y. Foster

Margaret Y. Foster, 89, a former resident of Bacon Hill, died Friday, September 17, 2010 at the Wesley Health Care Center in Saratoga Springs. Margaret was born July 9, 1921 in Barrow-in-Furness, England, the daughter of Michael G. Yatsevitch and Isabel Thomas Yatsevitch. When she was five years old, Margaret and her family moved to the United States and settled in Watertown, MA. Her father believed that living a simple, rural life with few amenities would build character and protect his children from polio epidemics, and so he sent his daughter to live on their farm in Cornish, NH, when she was a teenager. Margaret graduated from Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH, in 1938. She then attended Radcliffe College and the University of New Hampshire before returning to Cornish to care for her ailing mother. Margaret married Robert L. Foster on December 12, 1945, soon after he returned from his army service in Europe during World War II. In 1953, Bob and Margaret moved to a dairy farm on Bacon Hill, where they raised their seven children as well as lots of cows, corn, hay, luscious melons and berries. Margaret loved to garden, and her perennial beds burst with color during the spring and summer. She was known to sing German lieder and Russian folk songs while attending to the many chores of daily life with a big family—cooking dinner, cleaning house, washing dishes, and putting up the summer harvest of vegetables and fruits. The Bacon Hill farmhouse often overflowed with extended family members and young family friends who called the Foster Farm their second home. In addition to her busy life on the farm, Margaret was a member of the Bacon Hill Reformed Church, the Saratoga County Farm Bureau and the Co-operative Extension Service. She sang in the church choir and did translation work for several Russian families who lived in the area. During their retirement, Margaret and Bob enjoyed traveling and spent parts of several winters with Mary Foster, Bob’s sister, in Tucson, AZ. Margaret was predeceased by her parents, her husband, Robert L. Foster, and her brothers, Gratian and Michael Yatsevitch. She is survived by her seven children—Betsy Andersson of Old Chatham, Kathy Foster of Canaan, NH, Ruth Foster Morgan of Ashaway, RI, Jack Foster and Tom Foster of Schuylerville, Ellen Foster of Nassau, and Mary Anne Foster of East Greenbush—as well as 16 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. Visiting hours will be held at the Bacon Hill Reformed Church from 3:00—5:00 pm on Friday, September 24th, followed directly by a funeral service at 5:00 pm. The Rev. Janet Vincent will officiate. Interment will be at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville at a later date. In appreciation of the loving care Margaret received during her years at the Wesley Health Care Center, Margaret’s children request that memorials in her name be made to the Neil Roberts Staff Enrichment Fund or to the Meinhardt Partnership Fund at Wesley Health Care Facility, 131 Lawrence Street, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.
Monday
20
September

Interment at: Mt. Anthony Crematory

Monday, September 20, 2010
Mt. Anthony Crematory
Bennington, Vermont, United States
Friday
24
September

Funeral Service

Friday, September 24, 2010
Bacon Hill Reformed Church
Schuylerville, New York, United States