Obituary of Catherine L Nial

Dateline: Clifton Park, New York

Catherine Nial, 80, of Clifton Park, passed away peacefully, at Ellis Hospital on June 17th.  She died as she lived —bravely, with quiet fortitude.

She was born April 16, 1937 in Albany to the late J. Vincent and Helen Carmody and shared her childhood and youth with her beloved brother, the late Vincent J. Carmody, Esq.

Kay loved learning, literature, and teaching.  She attended Holy Names Academy, graduated from Russell Sage College, and received her Master’s Degree in English Literature from Columbia University in 1961where she studied under such noted scholars as Gilbert Highet and Mark Van Doren.

She began her teaching career in 1961 in Albany at Giffen Middle School; then she taught English literature for several years at Albany High School until in 1970 she married Joseph B. Nial of Troy and put her teaching career on hold to raise her family.

Nothing was more important to her than her family.  Nothing brought her more joy than her three children. She showered that wonderful type of love and care on them that set them free to form happy, fulfilled lives.  Thus, she is survived by her daughter Camille Amodeo of Clifton  Park, an English teacher;  Adrian Nial of Stoneham, MA., a landscape architect; and Devin Nial of Marblehead, MA., a financial analyst.

She returned to her teaching career in 1978, teaching in Guilderland High School for a year before taking a position as the 8th grade English teacher in Hoosic Valley Central School in Schaghticoke, NY.  She taught there for 21 years, and through all the ups and downs, loved it. She loved it because she formed such strong, enduring friendships with her colleagues and because her students loved her.  She taught advanced literary works like Pride and Prejudice to her 8th grade students and they loved it. Book reports were exciting days of character impersonations with costumes and props, and poetic techniques came to life with the writing of humorous metaphors  and tongue twisting alliterations.

She lived with her family from from 1973 to 1994 in Lansingburgh, N.Y. where she was actively involved in historic preservation.  She was a member of the Lansingburgh Historical Society and helped secure a Federal grant for the rehabilitation of the  old Lansingburgh Academy building .  She was a sighthound fancier and owner of Molly, the greyhound, and Tippy, the whippet.  She loved taking her hounds to coursing meets and showing her whippet at dog shows.  A high point of this hobby was showing Tippy at the Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden.

And then there was her beloved book club.  Her greatest pleasure in her later years was reading the selected books and preparing the questions for discussions for her dear friends and beloved sister-in- law Linda Carmody.  Of course, she enjoyed the food too.

She is survived by her husband of 47 years, her cherished son-in-law, Al Amodeo, her dear daughters-in law, Nicole Nial and Coleen Nial, and her eight wonderful grandchildren who shared with her many wonderful moments at Cape Cod, Hampton Beach, and Lake George:  Colin and Nate Amodeo; Katie, Quinn, and Millie Nial; and Finbarr, Alistair, and Eleanor Nial.

Calling hours will be Wednesday, June 21, 2017 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Gordon C. Emerick Funeral Home, 1550 Route 9, Clifton Park.  A funeral mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m., June 22 at St. Edward, the Confessor Church, 569 Clifton Park Center Rd., Clifton Park.

In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to The Foundation for Ellis Medicine, 1101 Nott St., Schenectady, NY 12308-2425.