William Charles Reamer

Boght Corners – William "Bill" Charles Reamer, 92, passed away peacefully at St. Peter's Hospital after a brief illness on Friday, March 5, 2021, due to complications from COVID-19. Born in Cohoes Hospital on September 16,1928, Bill was the son of the late Clarence W. and Helen Cornes Reamer. He was the devoted husband of the late Marion E. (Deuel) Reamer, whom he married on October 12,1957. They were married 53 years.

Bill first attended school at The Boght School, a one-room schoolhouse in Boght Corners. He then attended school in Latham, formerly located not far from the present-day Latham Fire Dept. off Old Loudon Road and, later, attended Cohoes High School, where he left school sometime after the age of 16.

Bill was the first in this area to be drafted into the Army during the Korean War on November 27,1950. He was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was assigned as the General's personal driver and escort. He often told stories of when he was on leave, he would drive "90-100 mph" from Virginia and back to come home for a visit. He served until he was honorably discharged on November 26, 1952.

Before and after his time in the Service, he held various jobs. In the late 40's, he worked for his good friend, Charles Guptill, Sr., and told of hauling the lumber that was used to build the floor in the roller skating arena. He also worked as a mechanic at Neary's Ford in Cohoes. There is a Model T car displayed on the stage at Guptill's Roller Skating Arena and the former owners of that Model T would bring it to Neary's Ford for Bill to do the oil changes and service it. He also worked for Albany Packing, later known as Tobin Packing. In addition, he worked for Burns Trucking, owned by a gentleman who was the caretaker of St. Patrick's Cemetery in Watervliet. In 1956, Bill joined the Town of Colonie Highway Dept. as an equipment operator. Early on, he ran a shovel in the gravel pit. He also hauled blacktop in the summer and spent many winters snowplowing all over the Town of Colonie. Many times, he would work over 24 hours snowplowing. He would take a short break for a meal and then get right back out there. We remember him missing some Thanksgiving dinners because of it. He retired from the Highway Dept. in 1990 after 34 years.

Bill's passion from an early age was owning beautiful cars and keeping them in pristine condition. As a mechanic, which he learned from his father, he did all his own work, not only maintaining them, but also rebuilding some. His first car was a 1935 Ford, followed by a 1947 Ford, then a 1949 Ford Club Coupe in seafoam green. Around the time he was dating Marion, he owned a 1952 Mercury and then a 1955 Ford Fairlane in aqua tone blue and white. He even owned the infamous Edsel, a 1959 Edsel Ranger. He owned many more cars over the years. He loved his Fords, Mercurys, Lincolns, Oldsmobiles and his 1970 Buick LeSabre Custom, which started as a family car and then became his "classic" car. Back in the day, he loved going to the races, such as Burden Lake Speedway and Pine Bowl Dirt Track in Poestenkill. He was an avid car enthusiast. He was a member for at least 20 years, and a past Vice President, of the Automobilists of the Upper Hudson Valley (AUHV auto club) and also a long-time member of the Early Ford V8 Club. He had many dear friends in these clubs and cherished the camaraderie. He helped to plan many outings for the AUHV due to his vast knowledge of places to go and how to get there. Bill enjoyed attending many car shows and cruise-ins with his Buick, even up until last year's car show season. One of his favorites was faithfully attending every cruise-in at Hemmings in Bennington, Vermont, where he had many friends there who always looked forward to seeing him. He also loved displaying his Buick at all the Guptill's car shows and most recently, he frequently attended the Kohl's cruise-ins off Central Ave. in Colonie. In 2010, shortly after Marion passed, he, along with his grandson, David, and wife, Stephanie, drove the Buick to Detroit, MI to attend the Detroit Dream Cruise, something he always wanted to do.

Bill loved to drive and knew the roads like the "back of his hand". We often laughed that he never took the same route twice. When his beloved wife, Marion, was alive, their favorite thing to do was take rides. Some of their favorite places were going up to Lake George and beyond to the Adirondacks, going to Vermont, Maine and also to the Schoharie Valley, where they would often go to the Carrot Barn and Barbers Farm to buy delicious butternut squash and potatoes for the winter. Bill continued the tradition of going to Schoharie right up until this past year.

Bill built his own house in Boght Corners, doing all the electrical and plumbing himself. With the help of a few friends and his father-in-law and brother-in-law as the carpenters, he, Marion and oldest daughter, Susan, who was only a little over a year old at the time, were able to move into their new home in July 1963. Bill often spoke of how he graded the land around the house by hand with just a shovel and wheelbarrow (and this was after working all day). He was very proud of his property and, over the years, added landscaping and an additional two-car garage, among other things. We never really needed any kind of repair man to come to the house…Bill could fix ANYTHING with his vast knowledge of the trades and his wonderful mechanical mind. He always had all the tools for any job and lots of hardware on hand.

For many years, Bill enjoyed taking the family to Eighth Lake Campground off Route 28 near Inlet, NY in the Adirondacks. We had a four-person pop-up Apache camper that he would tow behind his Buick LeSabre. Even the family cat, Goldie, would go with us. Marion would pack everything up, Bill would get out of work at 4:30 and off we'd go to set up camp in the dark.

In Bill's early years, he enjoyed ice skating, bowling and rollerskating. He enjoyed watching NASCAR, especially the #3 Dale Earnhardt days. After Marion passed in 2010, Bill did not let anything get him down. He continued to be very active and independent. Even up until recently, no one could believe he was 92 because he looked and acted so much younger. His mind was still "sharp as a tack". He certainly saw a lot of technological changes in his 92 years. He learned to use the computer and even had a "smart phone". Daughter, Susan, recalls the first time he rode on a plane and she went along to "show him the ropes". He was amazed at the power of a plane. That was all it took and he was off making many more trips on his own to Arizona, Texas, Vegas, and even went on a Caribbean cruise. Oh, how he loved to cook and bake. We often joked that "Mom" would be amazed at all the meals he put on. He made the best homemade baked beans, macaroni and cheese, homemade soups, roast beef dinners, fresh blueberry pancakes…to name a few. He loved putting on delicious full course meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas and did all the shopping himself ahead of time to get everything he needed. He even baked his own pumpkin and mince pies, not to mention, his cakes and chocolate chip cookies. He loved peanuts and cashews and was known to chop them up and put them in his cookies. He also loved black licorice. He didn't know how to make small portions and we always had leftovers for days, but they were even better the second time around. It sure was hard to lose weight with his good cooking because everything he made was so delicious.

Bill was a communicant of the Reformed Church of the Boght and later, the United Church of Cohoes. He was a lifetime member of the Boght Community Fire Department and also a member of the Colonie Elks.

Bill is survived by his loving daughters, Susan E. Clarke (Robert Drobneck) and Wendy L. Mushorn; his grandchildren, Teresa L. (Christopher) Phillips, David P. (Stephanie) Clarke, Erika S. Mushorn (Derek Matala) and April M. Mushorn; his great grandchildren, Derek, Jr., Nathan, Dominick, Nina and Grace Mushorn. Bill is also survived by his brothers, Edward (Lorna) Reamer and Clarence "Tooter" (Lorna) Reamer; his sister-in law, Diane Deuel; as well as many loving nieces, nephews and dear friends. Bill was predeceased by his brothers and sister-in-laws, John "Jack" (Ethel) Reamer and Donald (Joan) Reamer.

Our family would like to thank Dr. Jijin Thomas Chacko and all the other doctors, nurses and staff at St. Peter's Hospital for their compassionate care of William while he was there.

Calling hours will be held at New Comer Cremations & Funerals, 181 Troy Schenectady Rd., Watervliet, on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm. A funeral service will be held at the funeral home at 2:00 pm. Interment will follow the service at Memory Gardens, 983 Watervliet Shaker Rd.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bill's memory to the United Church of Cohoes, 123 Mohawk St., Cohoes, NY 12047 or to the Albany Fisher House (affiliated with the Albany Stratton VA Medical Center) at 113 Holland Ave., Albany, NY 12208