Antoinette T. Willis

July 6, 1924 - September 1, 2013

OBITUARY Woodstock – Antoinette T. Willis, a Wittenberg resident for more than 35 years died Sunday, September 1, 2013at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck. She was 89years old. Born July 6, 1924 in Buffalo, NY, she was the daughter of the late Irving Taylor Thornton and Zinaida Nikolaevna Kritskaya Thornton. Her husband was the late Russell Willis of Manhattan and Wittenberg. She is survived by her two sons, Nicholas Thornton Willis of Kingston, NY and Michael Cameron Willis of Kingston, NY; two step children, Russell Willis, Jr. of Australia and Ann Willis of Pelham, NY; and a step grandson, Harry Devert of West Palm Beach, FL. She was pre-deceased by a brother George Craig Thornton and a stepson, Harry Willis. Mrs. Willis attended Brown University, achieving a degree of Bachelor of the Arts in three years, then continued her studies at Columbia University, earning a Master of Arts degree. She also did post-graduate study at the Sorbonne in Paris, France and at the University of Mexico in Mexico City. Mrs. Willis was employed in Hollywood, CA as a Continuity Editor at ABC radio and television, and then worked at the United States Aid Mission in Saigon, Vietnam, before the Vietnam War. Subsequently she moved to New York City where she worked at the Council on Foreign Relations and at Columbia University Teachers College in the Research and Demonstration Center for the Education of the Handicapped. The Willis family relocated to Wittenberg first as weekenders, then full time after the death of her husband. Long and advocate for the disabled, Mrs. Willis served on the Mayor’s Committee for Handicapped Children in New York City; then after relocating to the Woodstock are she became a member of the Ulster County Community Services Board, where she chaired the Committee on Mental Retardation. Subsequently she also served on the Board of Directors of New Horizons Resources in Dutchess County. Mrs. Willis was an active member of the Woodstock Reformed Church. Cremation services were private. A memorial service at the Woodstock Reformed Church is being planned for a future date. Arrangements are under the direction of Buono Funeral Service, Inc., Saugerties, NY.