Yvonne Forsyth

CARTHAGE - Yvonne O’Connor Forsyth, 91, 25808 Loop Road, died Wednesday, April 1, at Samaritan Medical Center, Watertown, following a one-week hospitalization.

Calling hours will be from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, on Tuesday, April 7, and from 10:00 am to 11:00 am on Wednesday, April 8, at Lundy Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Inc., located at 500 State Street, Carthage, NY 13619. A memorial service will follow at 11:00 am on Wednesday, with Linda Faye Wiltse, pastor of the Natural Bridge United Methodist Church, officiating. Burial will be in Sts. Peter and Paul’s Cemetery, New Boston, at a later date.

Born in Carthage on June 20, 1934, Yvonne Rose Gardner was the eldest daughter of George K. and Mary H. Martin Gardner. She was a graduate of Carthage High School. She married Leo T. O’Connor, the son of Fred W. and Grace J. Pierce O’Connor, on November 25, 1954, Thanksgiving Day. Mr. O’Connor, a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War and a foreman at the former Carthage Paper Makers mill, died on December 5, 1978, at age 50. She married Frederick G. Pierce, a U.S. Navy veteran and retired light trucking business operator, on Jan. 9, 1982; he died June 5, 1984, at 56. She married Richard R. Forsyth Sr., a World War II Army veteran and retired trucker and small engine repair business operator, on Sept. 27, 1986. Mr. Forsyth died May 11, 1998, at the age of 74.

A homemaker her entire adult life, Yvonne raised her four children and, through the years, cared for her husband's parents, and various other family members (both two-legged and four-legged!) in her home outside of Carthage. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, knitting, jigsaw puzzles, country music, favorite TV shows (Lawrence Welk, Gunsmoke, and the Y&R soap opera), bingo, casino visits, spending time with friends and family, and, with her husbands, traveling around the country to visit relatives and friends. For many years, she was a member of Bassett-Baxter Post 789, American Legion Auxiliary.

Yvonne is survived by her beloved cat, Dusty; a daughter, Deborha L. O’Connor, Watertown; two sons and a daughter-in-law, Kevin L. and Diana M. O’Connor and David R. O’Connor, all of Carthage; six grandchildren, Timothy L. O’Connor, Tupper Lake; Jacqueline E. O’Connor Mono, Northern New York; James P. O’Connor (and wife Marie), Natural Bridge; Beverly A. Santamour (and husband Ryan) and Jessica L. Eddy (and husband Shawn), all of Carthage, and Corey M. Barnhardt-O’Connor, North Carolina; several great-grandchildren; a sister and brother-in-law, Linda M. and James F. Rupert, Castorland; a sister-in-law, Shirley A. Gardner, Chaumont; many nieces, nephews and cousins, and her dear friend Son Y. Nicholson, Carthage. In addition to her three husbands, she was predeceased by her father in 1990; her mother in 2008; a son, John (Jack) A. O’Connor in 2004; a brother, Leon K. Gardner in 2018, and a sister and brother-in-law, Gloria M. and Christopher J. Ainsworth, in 2020 and 2017, respectively.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to Santamour Rescue, 4868 Beech Ridge Road, Carthage, NY 13619 (www.SantamourRescue.org); Jefferson County SPCA, 25056 Water Street, Watertown, NY 13601 (www.jeffersoncountyspca.org), or to a charity of one’s choice.

Arrangements are entrusted to the Lundy Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc. Online condolences in her memory may be made at www.lundyfuneralhome.com