Berkshire, VT/Potsdam, NY

Violette B. Cotellessa, 88, formerly of Potsdam and a resident of Berkshire, VT, moving here after the “ice storm” of 1998, died Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013 in the Franklin County Rehab Center in St. Albans, VT.

Born in New York City, Apr. 29, 1924, she was the daughter of the late Arthur Joseph and Irma (Klein) Foeller.

Violette graduated from Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, NJ, received her bachelor’s degree from Randolph-Macon College in Lynchburg, VA where she was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority and received her Master’s in Library Science from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Until her retirement, she was the Librarian at Potsdam State College. Violette enjoyed quilting, knitting and hiking. She was a member of the Quilter’s Quorum and the Gourmet Club.

She married Robert F. Cotellessa in the Paramus Reformed Church in 1948. He was department chair of the Electrical Engineering Department, and later Provost at Clarkson University. He predeceased her in 1997.

Family members include two daughters. Anne Cotellessa and husband, Dana Anderson and their daughters, Lauren and Meredith of Swamscott, MA, Diane McGarry and husband, Edward and their children, Annora, Robert, Natalie and Brian of Berkshire, VT, a daughter-in-law, Suzanne Cotellessa of Palmyra, VA and her son, Joseph Cotellessa and his wife, Angela of Gordonsville, VA . In addition to her parents and husband, Robert, Violette was preceded in death by her son, Joseph Arthur Cotellessa.

Violette’s family extends special thanks to the staff at Franklin County Rehab Center for their loving care.

In honoring her request, graveside service will be held in the George Washington Cemetery in Paramus, NJ, in the spring. Memorial contributions may be sent to Franklin County Rehab Center, Scholarship Fund, 110 Fairfax Road, St. Albans, VT 0578.

Assisting the family is the Heald Funeral Home, St. Albans, VT where private messages of condolence may be sent to www.healdfuneralhome.com.