Obituary of Joyce Marie Kane

Joyce Marie Kane died peacefully in Campbell, Calif., after a period of declining health. She was 95.

Born May 11, 1929, in Kittanning, Pa., she was the eldest daughter in a family of five children to parents Joseph and Mary Platts. She grew up in Corning, where her father was a bookkeeper for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. As a teenager she played the organ at St. Patrick's Church, and resumed playing years later as a member of St. Benedict's Church in Odessa.

Mrs. Kane graduated in 1947 from Corning Free Academy, where she was the honor society president, and worked her way through college, earning her bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia. She had been teaching first-grade at Addison's elementary school for five years when she met a local dairy farmer, Paul Kane. They were married Aug. 9, 1958, in St. Catherine's Church in Addison, a union that lasted until Paul's death in 1989.

Mrs. Kane stopped teaching a year after marriage to become a full-time housewife and help on the farm in Addison. They moved to a bigger farm near Odessa in 1966. She and her husband raised five children -- all boys -- which later prompted people to say to them "Oh your poor mother!"

She was a wonderful mom. Always caring, forever patient, and innovative in finding ways to stretch a dollar. In summer months she made fried chicken and potato salad for picnics just outside the grounds of Elmira Corning Regional Airport, where her kids could watch the passenger jets take off and land as they ate. Halloween nights she'd sneak out of the house and come back dressed in costume to see if her kids could recognize her. She had them write their Christmas lists on paper that she then burned in the chimney -- unread, of course -- so the smoke from the letters would go to the North Pole and convey their wishes.

She was determined that her children would go to college and find a rewarding career path. They all did, and she was proud of their accomplishments.

As her children began to leave the nest, Mrs. Kane became a social worker for Schuyler County, working with families in the foster children program. She retired in 1992.

In retirement she volunteered for the Schuyler County Historical Society and served on the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities. She continued to be active in her church, particularly on justice and peace issues. She also spoke up for family farmers, worried about how they were being squeezed out by large agribusinesses. She moved to California in 2001 to be closer to her family.

Mrs. Kane loved movies from Hollywood's Golden Age, classical and big band music, and mystery novels and TV shows. It would drive her nuts when one of her sons would proclaim who the murderer was halfway through episodes of "Murder She Wrote." She also had a way with cats, befriending and taking in a stray no one else could get close to. On clear nights she took her telescope outside to watch the stars.

She stayed humble. When her kids trash-talked each other, she'd say, half-joking: "Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back!"

She is also preceded in death by a son, Bob; a granddaughter, Anna; a sister, Mary Kay Bolam, and two brothers, Gene and Dennis Platts. She is survived by a sister, Carol Donovan; four sons and daughters-in-law, Peter and Thai-Hoa Tran, Daniel and Janet Grubber, Timothy and Mary Kay, and Stephen and Cindy; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Relatives and friends are invited to call on Thursday, January 9, 2025 from 4-6 pm at Vedder-Scott & Zinger Funeral Home, 122 N. Genesee St., Montour Falls, NY. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, January 10, 2025 at 10:00 am at St. Benedict’s Church, 304 Speedway, Odessa, NY. Burial will follow in St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Addison, NY. In lieu of flowers the family asks that you make a donation to a local literacy program or animal shelter.