Cherry Valley, NY - CHERRY VALLEY - Patricia Ford Keegan of Cherry Valley, passed away Monday May 12, 2025 at Albany Medical Center after a long battle with cancer.

She was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut July 28, 1937, the daughter of the late Arthur and Helen (Lockwood) Ford. She married Joseph Keegan Dec. 15, 1962 in Cherry Valley, at St. Thomas the Apostle church. They were married for 55 years until he passed away in 2018.

She grew up on a dairy farm in Cherry Valley, attended elementary school in Salt Springville and graduated from Springfield High School. She attended college at the State University College of New York at Oneonta (SUNY Oneonta), but left school to help take care of her father when he became ill. She later finished her undergraduate degree in education at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in 1964.

While living in the D.C. area, she was a preschool teacher, elementary school teacher, and a federal government employee for both the Department of Defense and the Department of Agriculture. She was also an active volunteer, including in school libraries and committees in Fairfax County Virginia and the Reston Virginia Open Space committee. She also home-schooled her son, Michael for six years, helping to instill in him his love of reading.

After her husband's retirement from the federal government, they moved to Cherry Valley to help care for her parents. In her 50s, she went back to college and received a masters in library science from the University at Albany. She then launched a second career, working for more than 20 years in the SUNY Oneonta library and as a cataloging librarian for the New York State Library in Albany. She retired in 2017.

She is survived by her son, Michael, Michael's wife Bernadette, and her grandson Joey. She is also survived by sisters-in-law, Daisy Ford and Dianne Keegan, as well as nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews in both the Ford and Keegan families. She was predeceased by her brother, Philip Ford.

Calling hours will be held 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 13 at Ottman Funeral Home, 22 Church St., Cherry Valley. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday June 14 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 1 Church St., Cherry Valley, with internment in Cherry Valley Cemetery to follow.

Donations are welcome to the Cherry Valley Fire Department, P.O. Box 502, Cherry Valley, NY 13320.

To send online condolences visit www.ottmanfuneralhome.com

Arrangements were entrusted to the Ottman Funeral Home, Cherry Valley.