Obituaries

Caroline Melton Sayre, 1927 Mineola Salutatorian, 102

Sayre was a stenographer at Valentine Insurance Co. in Mineola before moving to Black River.

Caroline Melton Sayre, the salutatorian for the Mineola High School Class of 1927, passed away on Nov. 20, 2012 at Hospice Home of Jefferson County, NY. She was 102.

Born Nov. 30, 1909, in Brooklyn to George A. and Caroline P. Murcott Melton, she graduated in 1927 as the salutatorian of Mineola High School (the middle school served as the original high school in Mineola until the current building was constructed in 1962).

Following school she was a stenographer at Valentine Insurance Co. in Mineola.

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She married George M. Sayre on Oct. 12, 1934, in Mineola, at the home of her parents. The couple moved to Black River in the early 1940s. Sayre was a homemaker, a member of the Black River Home Bureau, typed the church stencil for the Black River Methodist Church and was certified by the Library of Congress to transcribe scripture into brail for the Lutheran Brail Society for over 20 years.

Among her survivors are a daughter, Joan A. Sayre of New York City; a son and his wife, Milton M. and Jane M. Sayre of Clayton; a daughter-in-law, Karen Sayre, Waterbury, CT.; five grandchildren, Benjamin Sayre, Shayne Curtis, Michael Sayre, Judith McDuff, Elizabeth Sayre; seven great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews.

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Her husband passed on May 20, 1998. Besides her husband, a son, Clyde O. Sayre, and three brothers, Robert, George and Arthur Melton, all died before her.

There will be no calling hours.

A graveside service will be noon Saturday, Nov. 24, in Black River Cemetery with Rev. Jeff Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church, officiating.

Arrangements are with Bruce Funeral Home, Black River.

Donations may be made to Meals on Wheels 133 Pratt St., Watertown, NY, Salvation Army 723 State St., Watertown, NY or Hospice of Jefferson County 1398 Gotham St., Watertown, NY 13601.

The information in this obituary was provided by the Bruce Funeral Home.


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