Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Charlotte Hoose Murphy

AMENIA — Charlotte Hoose Murphy, 98, of Amenia, passed away peacefully with her family by her side at home on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. Charlotte was a life-long resident of Amenia, born on June 26, 1926, to Fred and Fanny Carpenter Hoose. She graduated from the Amenia High School in 1944 and from Middlebury College, Class of 1948. She worked part-time as a teller for the First National Bank of Amenia and its many successors, retiring in July, 2000. On Oct. 2, 1948, she married James Maroney Murphy in Amenia. He passed away in 2004 after 56 years of marriage.

Charlotte is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law; Cathleen (Michael) Homrighaus of Cortland, New York, Adrienne (Mark) O’Brien of Weaverville, North Carolina, and Elizabeth (William) Kanauer of Helena, Montana. Sons and daughters-in-law; Dr. Robert (Marie) Murphy of Cornwall, Brian Murphy of Millerton, Lawrence (Nancy) Murphy of Wassaic, and Andrew Murphy of Amenia.
She is also survived by 12 grandchildren; Jerry Murphy, Jay Murphy, Alicia Peterson, Nicholas Kanauer, Justin Murphy, Greta Murphy, Jason Homrighaus, Zachary Homrighaus, Noah Homrighaus, Brian J. Murphy, Kimberly Dolan and Marjorie O’Brien. She is also survived by 9 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson. In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by a granddaughter, Laurel Hayes Murphy, a great-granddaughter, Stephanie Amber Murphy, and sisters, Jane Bentsen and Margaret Pulver.

Charlotte was very active in many organizations area wide. She was a 72-year active member of the Amenia Fire Co. Ladies’ Auxiliary, served many years as a trustee and treasurer for the Amenia Free Library, the Junior Women’s Club of Amenia, a trustee and treasurer for the Violet H. Simmons Scholarship Fund, and was a Board member of the Rex Brasher Association. She also served as Court Clerk for her husband, James, during his 46 years as Amenia Town Justice.

Calling hours will take place on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Ave., Millerton, New York. The Amenia Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary will conduct a service at 6:30 p.m. A Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at 10 a.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Amenia.

Memorial donations may be made to The Amenia Free Library Association, PO Box 27, Amenia, NY 12501, or The Amenia Fire Co. Auxiliary, PO Box 166, Amenia, NY 12501, or the Violet H. Simmons Summer Enrichment Scholarship, c/o Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, PO Box 400, Sheffield, MA 01257 or Hudson Valley Hospice Foundation, 80 Washington St., Suite 204, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. To send an online condolence to the family, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com

Latest News

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

L. Tomaino

When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

Keep ReadingShow less
Crescendo’s 23rd season speaks to the heart and mind

Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, conducts the audience at a performance.

Steve Potter

For Christine Gevert, founding artistic director of Crescendo, music from centuries past is anything but a relic. It is a living, breathing art form, full of drama, emotional complexity and, occasionally, surprises. As the regional choral and period-instrument ensemble launches its 23rd season, Gevert is once again bringing forgotten masterpieces into the present.

“Early Music has been my lifelong passion and the focus of my specialization in Europe and South America,” Gevert said. “Bringing this repertoire to our audiences in a nuanced way that does justice to its incredible depth, intensity, and beauty is deeply important to me.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Close Encounters with Music celebrates 35 years of musical discovery

Close Encounters with Music’s 35th season opens with “Saluting the Clarinet” featuring clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein.

Provided

For 35 years, cellist Yehuda Hanani has been inviting audiences to experience classical music in unexpected ways. As founder and artistic director of Close Encounters with Music, Hanani has built a concert series that goes beyond the music itself, exploring connections to literature, history, politics and the human experience.

This year, Close Encounters celebrates its 35th season with “Celebration & Discovery,” a seven-concert series that opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.