Obituary of Beverly J. Stressel

Beverly Jean (Harrison) Stressel of Clarks Mills, NY passed away on Thursday, May 2nd, 2024 in Hamilton, NY at the fabulous age of 97. Bev was born to Daniel and Mary (Parsons) Harrison in Canastota, NY on October 2nd, 1926. She lived nearly her entire life in the Westmoreland and Clarks Mills area, where she met the love of her life Otto Stressel, and married on July 24th, 1948.

Bev is survived by her daughters and son-in-law’s Spring and Dave Graham of Norwich, NY, and Lynn and David Kozak of Utica, NY; three grandchildren and their spouses Amber Graham (Seth Weith-Glushko) of Rochester, NY, Alina Capria (Luke Capria) of Syracuse, NY, and Steven Kozak (Sarah Kozak) of Fairport, NY; great-grandsons Carter and Beckett Weith and Graham and Harrison Capria; and her brother James Harrison (Verna Myers) of Bracey, VA, as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins.

She is welcomed to heaven by Otto, her mother and father, brother Leroy Harrison, sister Justine Ano, and a chorus of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

Bev and Ottie embraced music, dancing (especially the jitter bug), ping pong, local “adventures” (usually involving Ottie driving on some back road and getting them lost) and spending time with their families. She loved to take her family camping, even with all of the spiders in the tent. She and Ottie eventually owned a small camper, which their grandchildren would use to play “drive-thru” diner.

Bev was an active performance musician with the Floyd Band, the Shriners, the Mohawk Symphony Orchestra, the Clarks Mills Band and the Old Timers Band. She was also a fixture at the Clarks Mills United Methodist Church, playing both organ and piano from the 1950s until the mid-2010s. One of the defining features in her home was a singing teapot mosaic in the floor tiles of her kitchen, piano keys tiled down the hallways, and sheet music curtains. While primarily a clarinetist and pianist, she also picked up the baritone and played in multiple regional Tuba Christmases, a tradition now carried on by her grandson Graham. She loved music across all genres, from hymnals to her family’s favorite, Hernando’s Hideaway, which she played the bass line on her baritone with gusto, if not always accuracy, at family events.

Far from a traditional 1950s housewife, Bev worked as a court stenographer and at Hamilton College in the financial aid department. Wanting to advance her career, she enrolled at Utica College in her 60s, earning her bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1989. She advocated for higher education for her entire family, including sending small amounts to her grandsons “for their college accounts” and inspiring her daughters and granddaughters to advanced degrees. An avid genealogist, she traced her family’s ancestry back to Governor John Bradford of the pilgrim’s crossing, the Bennetts of England, and even the Viking era. She would routinely introduce new rituals at the Thanksgiving dinner table, including her last involving five pieces of corn on a paper plate to remind everyone that was all the pilgrims would have to eat, while her family tucked into the bounty of the harvest season. She was also known for her gigantic purse, which held everything from notepads

(she was fluent in shorthand), decorated pens, office supplies, a stapler, a full medical kit, dark chocolate, and paper towels.

Bev was also known as a collector and spreader of her “joys.” She would scour the news and the internet to find the good news stories; some of her favorites included the Good News Network, Upworthy, Reader’s Digest, Scientific American, and the local news. She would bring these to share in church, in family print newsletters that eventually turned into emails, and with anyone who she decided needed cheering up.

Calling hours will be held Monday, May 6th at Owens-Pavlot & Rogers Funeral Services from 10-11 am, with a service at 11 am. A private family burial at the Westmoreland Cemetery will follow. In lieu of flowers, for those attending please bring a personal story, positive news tidbit, or favorite song we will play over the speakers. For those more remote, donations in Bev’s name can be made to the Siegenthaler Center for Hospice & Palliative Care in New Hartford, where she volunteered for a number of years.