Obituary of Arlene E. Gajowski

Arlene Gajowski passed away at the age of 98. Born in Johnstown, and raised first on a farm in Ephratah, Arlene attended Fort Plain High School, but transferred to Sharon Springs, where she graduated in 1940. During WWII she joined other young women working for General Electric. She moved to NYC where she worked for the phone company (NY Telephone and Telegraph), living with roommates on the upper east side. She met her future husband, John Gajowski, who was in the Navy. After he was shipped to the Pacific she traveled to San Francisco, working for the phone company there, Pacific Tel & Tel., living on Haight Street. After he (and thousands of other sailors) sailed home under the Golden Gate Bridge, the two set off for the East Coast, by bus. In Salt Lake City a local Mormon Bishop married them on October 31, 1945. They lived in VA, where she worked at the US Treasury. After John was discharged from the Navy in 1946, they moved to Massachusetts. In 1950, they moved to New York, first to Sharon Springs, then to Palatine Bridge, where they worked together to make a go of dairy farming. Like many others, Arlene worked for Beech-Nut in addition to handling farm and homemaking chores. She was a supremely skilled seamstress who could recreate anything, from a copy of a Jackie Kennedy suit for her daughter to a Nehru jacket for her son. Her husband died in 2007. She leaves a daughter, Cheryl; son, William and his wife, Linda; three grandchildren, Carrie Ann, Christian, and Joshua Gajowski; three great-grandchildren, Izaak, Ty, and Luke; and grand nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband, her parents, Alton and Katherine Heron Empie; and all of her siblings, William, Edward, Michael, Robert, Betty (Elizabeth Carpenter), Joan (Searles), Jean (Lettis), Leo, Patricia, Jack, and Richard predeceased her. Due to the restrictions of Covid, services will be postponed, with interment to be arranged at Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.