Obituary of Carole S. Foster

FRANKFORT - Carole S. Foster, 83, of Frankfort, NY, passed away after a short illness, at St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital, on Wednesday, February 8th. 2023. Carole was born on March 24th. 1939, in the Town of Columbia, NY, to Lynn and Anna Saunders. She was the oldest of four children, followed by her three younger brothers, Eugene, Donald and Gary Saunders. She grew up on a small family farm and worked alongside her parents and siblings raising dairy cows and other animals. Raking hay, fetching cows for milking and many farm chores was daily life. It was hard work, but she remembered it fondly. Carole often shared stories about her time growing up on the farm. Some of the most infamous included the time she once teased a bull, only to be chased up the silo by him. She also had many stories about the old car she and her brother Gene used to drive around the fields. Humming Fargle was its name. She would tell about the time they got in and drove around the field after it had been sitting, only to discover bees had nested in the seats forcing them to jump out and let it run into a hedgerow. Thus began her fear of bees, something she passed onto her son, Jon. Carole loved animals and wildlife as well. As a young girl, she was a member of the Happy Hill Folks 4H club, receiving a certificate of achievement in 1954. In 1955, alongside her calf “Sweetheart,” she became the first girl to ever win first prize ($75.00) in a calf contest from the Oneida-Herkimer Bankers Association at the Herkimer County Fair. She enjoyed school so much so that in the 1954-55 school year she won an award for being neither tardy nor absent. Carole graduated from Mohawk Central School, in 1957. After graduating high school, she became the secretary for the elementary supervisor at her alma mater. She also served as the school’s official photographer, present when anything special was going on. This led her to a love of photography. She cherished every photo and over her lifetime, she collected tens of thousands of photographs. She kept photos of wildlife, nature, friends and most of all, family. Carole loved her hometown dearly. She appeared in the local news paper in an article called “Belles Across the Valley.” She was married to Stanley Cady, in 1961 and together they had a son, Brian, before later divorcing. In 1966, while she worked at W.T. Grants in Herkimer, NY she met the love of her life, Fred Foster. They married in 1966 and had two sons, Jon and James. Aside from a few other jobs, she dedicated much of her adult life to being the heart of the home. There was always some kind of goodie baking in her oven. Those who had the opportunity to try her famous apple pies or pineapple cookies will never forget them. She took cake decorating classes and passed on that love to her granddaughter, Sarah, who now studies baking and pastry arts at the Culinary Institute of America. Her heart knew no limits. Carole and Fred even opened up their home, serving as foster parents to other children in need. At the family home, her love of animals flourished with many chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits. She took classes in ceramics, learning all the steps to clean, paint and fire the work. A lot of that work is still present in her home. This would later inspire her to take classes on making porcelain dolls, a hobby she grew to love. She had the talent and patients to pour, clean, paint, fire and assemble them. She also took joy in sewing and she designed and sewed hundreds of unique dresses and other outfits for her porcelain doll collection. Her home in Anderson, South Carolina was filled with countless displays of that cherished doll collection. While she loved living on Lake Hartwell, in Anderson South Carolina, her heart was always in the country. She loved riding 4-wheelers around the property. She could always be found following her sons around and taking photos as they mowed fields and weeds on the tractors. Despite her love for animals, the only “indoor pets” she ever owned were several parakeets, throughout the years, but that all changed in 2022. After a lifetime of swearing she was not a cat-person, she and Fred opened their hearts and their home in Litchfield, NY to a stray barn cat, Thomas. Thomas quickly became her best friend and could always be found sleeping on her lap. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Fred L. Foster, Jr.; and their three sons, Son, Brian Cady and his wife, Deborah Cady; their daughter, Hope Howard and her husband, Jim Howard and their daughter, Natalie and their daughter, Heather Reid and her sons, Logan and Xavier; Son, Jon Foster and his wife, Heather Foster; her daughter, Jazzmyne Constable and her daughter, Vivian Sage; and her son, Sier Ferrell; Son, James “Jim” Foster and his wife, Jennifer Foster, their daughter Elizabeth Foster and her fiancé Benjamin Olsen and their daughter, Sarah Foster. She is also survived by her brothers, Brother, Donald Saunders and his wife, Donna, Brother, Gene Saunders and his wife, Catherine and Brother, Gary Saunders and his wife, Lori. Carole is also survived by many nieces and nephews, including great-nieces and great-nephews. Among them are Laura and Linda Saunders, Mike Saunders, Morgan Saunders, Madison Moskvich, Bonnie Holderby, Robert Saunders and Gail Jones, all of whom over her lifetime she was especially close to. Her extended family on Fred’s side, in Maine, include sisters-in-law, Cindy Foster, Sally Foster Goyette, Midge Levesque, Mary Foster and Josie Quimby; and brothers-in-law, Scott Foster, Preston Foster and Jim Quimby. She is survived by many nieces and nephews on Fred’s side of the family as well, among them, Amanda Walsh, who has become a center point of contact to bring the Foster Family together for several reunions, memories of which lasted a lifetime. She is also survived by her special friends, Shirley Mahedy and Susan Lasley who she created the dolls she so loved to display. She was predeceased by her parents, Lynn Saunders and Anna Saunders; Aunts and Uncles, Vernon and Florence Eddy, Ernest and Irene Diehl, Einar and Nellie Rasmussen and George and Ida Diehl. A Memorial Service will be held and announced by the family, to be determined, at a later date in the spring or early summer. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in her honor to your local cancer center or charity of your choosing. For someone who always thought of others first, this would greatly honor her life. Whether you knew her as a friend, “Mom”, “Aunt Carole”, “Miss Carole” or “Gramma,” Carole will be loved and missed by all. The family would like to thank the staff at Bassett Healthcare, MVHS and Sitrin, for all their support, especially the staff at St. Luke’s for their special care and support given in these last few days. Carole’s funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the Enea & Ciaccia Family Funeral Home, 4309 Acme Road, Ilion (Town of Frankfort) (315) 894-8000.