Obituary for Joyce Marie Stone (Kniffen)
East Greenbush – Joyce Marie Stone passed from this life on October 9, 2022 at the age of 76.
Born in Catskill she was the daughter of the late George Rouse Kniffen and Edna Blanche (Ames) Kniffen. She was raised in Coxsackie and was a 1964 graduate of Coxsackie High School.
Joyce worked for much of her life and started with the State Department of Motor Vehicles in 1965 as a keypunch operator. She spent a part of her life dedicated to raising her children following which she returned to the State in the Office of General Services at the Alfred E Smith Building in Albany followed by a brief time with Military Naval Affairs and lastly with the Watervliet Arsenal from where she retired after twenty years of service. She spent many years in Cohoes before moving to Latham and then East Greenbush.
Joyce enjoyed league bowling in the Colonie Girl’s League, playing softball for the Co-Op of Cohoes, bingo, music, taking walks, the outdoors, cats, going to concerts and hosting her family for Christmas brunch.
She was wife of the late Thomas F. Graham, Sr. and Gerald W. Stone, Sr.; mother of Sheila (Patrick) Bleau, Thomas (Kelly) Graham, Jr., Tammy (Kevin) Carney and Gerald Stone, Jr.; grandmother of Samantha (Anthony Weeks) Graham, Kirsten (Sean) Ratigan, P.J. (Amber) Bleau, Wyatt Bleau, Adam Graham, Jordan and Michael Egan, Kasey, Kylie, Matthew and Michael Carney, Tyler, Bryan, Raychel and Elyzabeth Stone; sister of the late Adeline “Sis” Madsen and Earl Kniffen. Also survived by her eight great-grandchildren; Bennett, Emmarie, and Elloise Ratigan, Natalie, Nicholas, and Jackson Bleau, Delilah Weeks and Zoey Stone; and her niece Karen (Paul) DeFrancisco and nephew Chris (Laurie) Madsen as well as other nieces, nephews and friends.
Friends are invited to visit with Joyce’s family on Thursday from 4 until 7 pm at the Parker Bros. Memorial, 2013 Broadway, Watervliet. A graveside service will be held on Friday at 9am in the Gerald B.H. Solomon-Saratoga National Cemetery. Reverend Nicholas TeBordo will officiate. It is requested that family and friends who wish to attend gather and meet inside the cemetery gate at 8:45 am and not wear black as Joyce loved all things colorful.
Donations in her memory may be made to the United Church of Cohoes, 123 Mohawk Street, Cohoes NY, 12047.
Born in Catskill she was the daughter of the late George Rouse Kniffen and Edna Blanche (Ames) Kniffen. She was raised in Coxsackie and was a 1964 graduate of Coxsackie High School.
Joyce worked for much of her life and started with the State Department of Motor Vehicles in 1965 as a keypunch operator. She spent a part of her life dedicated to raising her children following which she returned to the State in the Office of General Services at the Alfred E Smith Building in Albany followed by a brief time with Military Naval Affairs and lastly with the Watervliet Arsenal from where she retired after twenty years of service. She spent many years in Cohoes before moving to Latham and then East Greenbush.
Joyce enjoyed league bowling in the Colonie Girl’s League, playing softball for the Co-Op of Cohoes, bingo, music, taking walks, the outdoors, cats, going to concerts and hosting her family for Christmas brunch.
She was wife of the late Thomas F. Graham, Sr. and Gerald W. Stone, Sr.; mother of Sheila (Patrick) Bleau, Thomas (Kelly) Graham, Jr., Tammy (Kevin) Carney and Gerald Stone, Jr.; grandmother of Samantha (Anthony Weeks) Graham, Kirsten (Sean) Ratigan, P.J. (Amber) Bleau, Wyatt Bleau, Adam Graham, Jordan and Michael Egan, Kasey, Kylie, Matthew and Michael Carney, Tyler, Bryan, Raychel and Elyzabeth Stone; sister of the late Adeline “Sis” Madsen and Earl Kniffen. Also survived by her eight great-grandchildren; Bennett, Emmarie, and Elloise Ratigan, Natalie, Nicholas, and Jackson Bleau, Delilah Weeks and Zoey Stone; and her niece Karen (Paul) DeFrancisco and nephew Chris (Laurie) Madsen as well as other nieces, nephews and friends.
Friends are invited to visit with Joyce’s family on Thursday from 4 until 7 pm at the Parker Bros. Memorial, 2013 Broadway, Watervliet. A graveside service will be held on Friday at 9am in the Gerald B.H. Solomon-Saratoga National Cemetery. Reverend Nicholas TeBordo will officiate. It is requested that family and friends who wish to attend gather and meet inside the cemetery gate at 8:45 am and not wear black as Joyce loved all things colorful.
Donations in her memory may be made to the United Church of Cohoes, 123 Mohawk Street, Cohoes NY, 12047.