Wilma E. Sheffer

Rensselaer- Wilma E. Sheffer passed away on July 22, 2025. Daughter of Elmer H. Cross and Ethel Smith Cross, born December 14, 1926, in Rensselaer, NY. She was the widow of Joseph M. Mirabile and Irving Sheffer.

She graduated with honors from Van Rensselaer High School in 1944, was a draftsman with NY Telephone Co; a calligrapher of professional licenses with NY State Dept. of Education and retired in 1993 from Sterling Winthrop Research Institute in Rensselaer where she was a library Technical Specialist concerned with its book collection. She loved her job there and made many good friends.

For fun and relaxation, she enjoyed painting in oils and pastels and researching her family genealogy. Her grandfather was John R. Smith whose name alone provided hours and hours of probing. She held membership in the Capital District Genealogy Society and in the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy in England.

She was a lifelong member of the First Church in Albany (Reformed) and loved singing in the choir there.

She is survived by daughters: Jane (Daniel) Berical of Wellfleet, MA; Ruth (Frank) Milano of Delmar, NY; Amy (Richard) Schrom of Hoosick Falls, NY, son Eric Sheffer of Eastham, MA; five grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her loving and only sibling, sister Shirley E Cross of Rensselaer, NY. The daughters who live locally looked after her each day making it possible for her to stay in her own home, which she called a blessing.

Relatives and friends are invited to visit with the family on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, from 10:30 am to 12:00pm at the W.J. Lyons, Jr., Funeral Home, 1700 Washington Ave., Rensselaer. A funeral service will be held at 12pm. Burial immediately following in Blooming Grove Cemetery, Defreestville, NY.

Memorial contributions may be made in Wilma’s name to the First Church in Albany, 110 No. Pearl St., Albany, NY 12207-2231 or to The Community Hospice,445 New Karner Rd., Albany, NY 12205.