HUDSON FALLS – Stella O. Dumont Couglar – On Tuesday, December 9, 2014, a great sorrow was brought upon our family with the loss of our mother. Stella, known to us as Gram consistently supported her family with getting through the challenges life brings. She was an individual who dreamed big and jumped into new experiences head first and then worked extremely hard to succeed once she realized what she had undertaken. Her dining room table was always surrounded by family and friends, and while she wasn’t a “hugger”, you always knew she loved you and accepted you.
Gram attended school during the 30’s and 40’s in Glens Falls and spoke fondly of her simple childhood on the eastside, including all the hijinks she and her 6 siblings were known for. She married our father George Henry Dumont at the original St. Alphonsus church on August 9, 1942. During WWII, she worked in a Bridgeport CT airplane assembly factory as an infamous “Rosie the Riveter”. She always reminisced of the golden age of Glens Falls, after WWII, with its theatres, bustling stores and hometown spirit. On December 28, 1960, she was no stranger to loss herself as she lost our father and six months later, she lost her 8 year old son, our brother, Gary Fredrick Dumont. Those tragedies are what helped make her so strong and accepting. In 1963 she and some of her children were photographed for an article about the Hudson River at Cooper’s Cave in “National Geographic”. In the 1970’s and 1980’s she owned and operated The Voyager restaurant and Stony Hill Cottages in Lake George and Estelle D’s restaurant in downtown Glens Falls. She absolutely loved being in business for herself, though she often worked 18 hour days. She retired in 1988 and until this past summer, she maintained her own yard and flower gardens.
In her 70’s she jumped rope with her grandchildren despite her “damn ankle”, in her 80’s she went tubing on Glen Lake and when she was 90 she rode a mechanical bull at a family graduation party (with some of us holding our breath in fear she would get tossed). She was never wanting to be the center of attention but always took the challenge we put in front of her. She continued to be very strong throughout her life, something she attributed to her Danish heritage. She always considered herself lucky and over her lifetime she had collected hundreds of real four-leaf clovers.
Stella Oline was born on McDonald St., on January 14, 1923, to Haakon Jharl and Astrid Amelia (Sommer) Antonsen, their fourth child. Her siblings: Edith Carlisle, and Haakon, Olaf & Elmer Antonsen all predeceased her. Her sisters Thelma Edgerly and Ruth Dumas survive her and she is also survived by her brother Elmer’s widow, Hannelore Antonsen, and their families.
Stella leaves behind her four loving children, Linda Jackoski and her husband Roger, Patricia Carl and her husband Edward, George (Georgie), and Dianna Underwood and her children’s father, Ronald. She had 13 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, and 1 great-great grandchild with another on the way, all too numerous to individually mention, but were no less loved greatly by “Gram”.
Mom was the heart and soul of this family and a true inspiration to us all.
Funeral services will be private and at the convenience of the family.
A celebration of her life will be this Saturday at 5 p.m., at no other place than her home, where we find the most comfort in dealing with our loss.
In lieu of flowers or donations, simply plan a dinner of your favorite comfort foods and cherish the time you have with special people in your own life. If Mom taught us anything, it is that simply having dinner together at a big table, makes life just that much better, at least for that hour or two. With all the time we had with her, we all wish there was one more “Let me know when you can come down for dinner.”
