Margaret (Hoatland) Wood Boehmer

Loudonville - Margaret Hoatland Wood Boehmer, age 97, of Loudonville, passed from this life, on to the next, on Friday, December 10, 2021 in her room at Loudonville Assisted Living with her family by her side. She was born in Newark, New Jersey on March 24, 1924 to Henry Hoatland (f/k/a George Weyer) and Grace Radney. She graduated from West Side High School in Newark, NJ in January, just before her 17th birthday and had to wait until age 18 to start nursing school. She took on a part time job as a billboard girl handing out cough drops for Prudential Life Insurance, and went to Rutger’s University nights until she could start at St. Barnabus’ Nursing School. While at St. Barnabus, she joined the cadet nursing corps. She graduated in 1945 just as WW2 was ending, and went to work in a doctor’s office in Spring Valley, NY. She stopped working in 1948, when her first child was born and didn’t go back to work until her last child started full time kindergarten in 1965. She worked as the School nurse and Health/Sex Education teacher for the West Canada Valley High School (WCVHS) in Newport, NY from 1966 until after her last child finished high school in 1978. In 1966 she started going to college nights and 2 summers to get her B.A. (SUNY Oneonta) and M.A. (Empire State College) in Education so she could teach health and sex education at WCVHS. She was a pioneer. She believed there would be fewer unwanted babies if high school kids had a good sex education and learned about birth control. In 1983 she moved to Troy, NY to be near her daughter and went to work at Samaritan Hospital where she worked until 1989. She took a couple of months off, then went to work for Vanderheyden Hall in Troy as a Teachers’ assistant and substitute teacher until 2006, when she retired at age 82.

Margaret married the first love of her life, James Wood, in 1947 in Clarkstown, NY and they resided in Spring Valley, then Fish Kill, then Whitesboro, then Newport, NY. They had four children. In 1987 she married the second love of her life Frank Boehmer and they lived in Troy, NY until 2008 when they moved to Coburg Village in Rexford. There she joined the Writers’ group and took up art, specializing in colored pencil drawings of birds and other wildlife. In December 2014 she moved to Loudonville Assisted Living where she spent her last 7 Years. Margaret thrived living on the farm in Newport, baking bread, canning and freezing all of the foods from their garden. She  cherished her summer visits to the Adirondacks with her families, which is where she wants her ashes to be placed. She had fun working with the Brownies to get their merit badges. She enjoyed working with the high school kids both at West Canada Valley High School and at Vanderheyden Hall, hoping to make a difference in their lives. She treasured her time traveling the world with her husband Frank. They visited many National Parks in the US and Canada. They went on a variety of  trips to Europe, and several Mediterranean and Caribbean cruises. They cherished the knowledge, experiences and friends they gained in their travels. She took pleasure in writing short stories about her adventures. At various stages of her life she also enjoyed reading, sewing, embroidery, knitting, crocheting, gardening, dancing, drawing, writing, crosswords, etc. But most of all, she loved spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren, and the past year, her great grandchildren.

She is predeceased by her parents Henry and Grace (Radney) Hoatland; her first husband, James A. Wood; her second husband, Frank Boehmer; her son, Albert E. Wood; her baby siblings Edwin and Jane Hoatland; her sister and brother-in-law, Grace (Hoatland) and Rudolph Knutson; and her brother and sister-in-law Charles and Gloria (Mance) Wood. She leaves behind her children, Emily Wood (Gordon) Peters of Rexford,  Steven A. (Christine M. Shahin) Wood of Earlton, and James A. (Dawn M. Rossman) Wood, Jr of Newport; her daughter-in-law, Margaret M. (Yule) Wood of Averill Park; her stepson, John T. Boehmer; her grandchildren, Jamie DuBois Dermon, Steven A. Wood Jr., Elena H. Wood, Radney H. Wood, Christopher B. Wood, Trevor C. (Audrey Normand) Wood, Shadia F. (Jon Warnow) Wood, Anne K. Wood, Duncan J. Wood, Meghan M. Wood (Matthew) Whitney, Andrew J. (Samantha Evans) Wood, Zackary W. Wood, and KileNycholas A. Wood; her step grandson, Kyle M. Boehmer; her great grandchildren, Meadow, Shafiqa and Lorelai; nieces, Kristin (Jeffrey) Korn, Lingard Knutson, Jean (Robert) Mumper, and Edythe (Martin) LaCatena; and grand nieces and nephews Janelle LaCatena, Jarod LaCatena, David (Nadia) Mumper and Sarah Mumper.

The family would like to thank the staff at Samaritan Hospital, St. Peter’s Nursing and Rehab Center, and Hospice. But most of all we’d like to thank her friends and staff at Loudonville Assisted Living Residence for their loving care the past 7 years.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Margaret some time in the Spring. Please leave your contact information or condolence message on the family guest book at www.Brycefh.com and we will contact you in the spring. 

The family requests memorial donations be made in the name of Margaret H. Boehmer to The Nature Conservancy  https://www.nature.org/en-us/membership-and-giving/donate-to-our-mission/other-ways-to-give/honor-and-tribute-giving/  or the World Wildlife Fund https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/Donation2?df_id=13830&13830.donation=form1 .   

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