Obituary of Nathalie Knight Ossenfort

Clifton Park, NY Nathalie Knight Ossenfort passed away on September 19th, 2020 from complications of advanced dementia. She was in the amazing care of Hospice and the wonderful staff at Schuyler Ridge Residential Care in Clifton Park." "Nathalie was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1927 and moved to Lebanon, New Hampshire as a child. Like so many of her generation, growing up amidst WWII shaped her resilience, resourcefulness and a sharp sense of humor. It is this humor that propelled so many of Nathalie’s interactions. We like to think she met up with Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the other side to share a good laugh. She attended Bryant College in Rhode Island and moved to Schenectady, New York to work at General Electric in 1948. Nathalie Knight married Carl Ossenfort in 1949 and together they enjoyed a fascinating journey through life with children, travel, community ~ painted of course, with a synchronous sense of humor and deep love for each other. In May this year, during a window visit at the nursing home, she pointed to Carl and said emphatically, “Tell him I love him.” Their 70th anniversary was celebrated last summer with dozens of family and friends from all over the world. It was a day full of love, laughter and way too much food. Nathalie had a long career as a volunteer with many organizations in and around Schenectady, from garden clubs to school libraries to Boy and Girl Scouts. She volunteered at the town library in North Hero, Vermont every summer for decades. She was celebrated for 25 years of service at Ellis Hospital as an emergency room volunteer, greeting patients, chatting with families, running errands for medical staff. She really loved this job as it gave her the opportunity to truly help and comfort people in need, and to share her palliative sense of humor. Nathalie loved her family immeasurably and leaves behind her cherished husband Carl, children Kurt, Todd, Joel and Gwen and their spouses/partners, 5 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren, lots of nieces and nephews and second cousins twice-removed. A celebration of her life will take place in the summer of 2021, or whenever we can all gather safely again. Please send any anecdotes, memories, photos of Nathalie to their home in Clifton Park or post them here, so we can build a memory book. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your local Hospice."