Obituary of Margaret E. Schlotzhauer

Margaret Elisabeth Schlotzhauer, 79, of Old Mckinley Road, Palatine Bridge, NY passed away on March 31, 2022. Margaret was born in Amsterdam, NY on March 10, 1943 to Robert Karl Schlotzhauer, Sr. and his wife Elisabeth (Hillger), and was the youngest of 4 siblings. Margaret attended area schools and graduated from Canajoharie High School in 1961. She continued her education and earned a degree in Elementary Education from SUNY Cobleskill. Margaret had a warm and welcoming manner, enjoyed helping others, and was an active and engaged member of her community. She was a member and former treasurer of the Stone Arabia Preservation Society, and a member of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, where she served on the Church Council and helped restore the New York State Historical sign on Route 10. She also served as Co-Historian of the Town of Palatine’s Town Board, helping to have some local cemeteries restored, and was a member of the Board of Assessment Review for the Assessor of the Town of Palatine. Margaret and her partner Rick Ellis also fostered and maintained a wonderful relationship with the local Amish community, offering rides, assisting with errands and shopping trips, and providing telephone service to their neighbors. Margaret enjoyed country living, from the fertile farm fields and historic stone house of her youth and later life in Palatine Bridge to the wilds of western Maine, where she raised two adventuresome sons in an old farmhouse with towering lilac hedges and wild blueberries in the backyard. She also explored the wider world, with trips to the UK and western Europe, highlighted by two trips to Germany to meet her German relatives, and tours of Alaska and several western states. Margaret was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Charlie. Survivors include her sister Anita Capps and her brother Robert K. Schlotzhauer, Jr. (Kathy); her son Robert Wales (Joanna); her son Adam Wales (Jen) and her grandchildren Evelyn and Sasha Wales; and her loving partner Rick Ellis. A funeral service will be held on April 11, 2022 at 1:00PM at The Chapel of Houghtaling & Smith Funeral Home, Inc., 20 Otsego Street, Canajoharie, NY 13317. The family will receive relatives and friends prior to the service on April 11th from 11:00-1:00PM at the funeral home. Following interment after the service, a reception with refreshments and drinks will be available at Trinity Lutheran Church, 5430 Route 10 North, Stone Arabia, NY. In lieu of cards or flowers, please consider a gift to Guiding Eyes for the Blind – Guide Dogs for People with Vision Loss, 611 Granite Springs Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 (800) 942-0149 and/or a charitable organization of your choosing in honor of Margaret and her life.