EARLVILLE – Reginald Stanley Card, of Earlville, passed away Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at home and encircled by his loving family.
He was born May 28, 1936 in Syracuse to the late Reginald G. and Leona Brown Card. He grew up in Erieville on the lake and graduated from Cazenovia Central School in 1956. In 1957-1958 he enjoyed racing stock cars. In August, 1959 he was drafted into the military and served in the 1st Armored Division, 4th Army, 173rd Artillery at Fort Hood, Texas and learned to be a telephone man. He was hired in 1963 by Cazenovia Telephone Co., which became Midstate Telephone Co., then Continental, then AllTel, and now Windstream. He was a telephone man for a total of 29 and a half years and was an original Telephone Pioneer.
Besides his regular employment, he was self-employed with logging, sawmills, construction and excavation work. A heard attack in 1986 stopped his work. In 1962 he married Beverly Jones. In 1992 he married Leta Card and established “Earlville Forks,” which became a home for many family members and friends through the years.
In addition to his wife and eternal companion, he is survived by his children, Marsha (Pat) Massett and Reginald Card Jr. (Betsy), of Erieville; Cindy Sanders (Luke DeGroat) of Pratt’s Hollow; Valerie (William) Hughes of Newnan, Georgia; Marcus Cordero of Utah; Cindy (Scott) Moss of Salem, Oregon; and Amy (Preston) Lessley of Earlville; and an “adopted daughter,” Marlyn Duarte of Manhattan; a brother, David Coons, of Ilion; a sister, Vivian Sitterly, of Weedsport; 25 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was predeceased by one brother and four sisters. Reg was a volunteer in the Erieville Fire Department, serving as Fire Department Historian and for seven years as Assistant Chief; he was also a member of the American Legion Post #236. He was the town of Nelson Historian, President of the Erieville Cemetery Association, and President of the Erieville-Nelson Heritage Society, which he co-founded with Carol Stauring. He also mentored the founding of the Georgetown Historical Society. After moving to Earlville in the town of Sherburne, he co-founded and was chair of the committee of what is now the Sherburne Historical Park Society, where he and his wife, Leta served as the first co-presidents. In addition to “Hillbilly Heaven” farmstead, Reggie was famous for his skills in woodworking, metalworking, blacksmithing, and broommaking, as well as his huge gardens every year and his maple syrup production. The last three years, he demonstrated the history of making maple syrup throughout the area, crafting new models for the last year to replace those lost in his fire. He was always known as honest, generous, unselfish, and kind, a true friend to everyone he ever met.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. on July 20, 2013 at from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1 Cole Drive, Norwich, NY. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery, Erieville with full military honors. Friends are invited and may call from 4 to 7 p.m. on July 19, 2013 at the church. At the conclusion of visitation, the Erieville Fire Department will conduct services.
Contributions in Mr. Card’s memory may be made to the Sherburne Historic Park Society and Museum, 11 School Street, Sherburne, NY 13460.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Burgess & Tedesco Funeral Homes, Inc.
To send a condolence and sign the Book of Memories online go to www.burgessandtedescofuneralhomes.com.