Shayne Sarvis

Shayne Irene Mesaris was born on June 8, 1933, at the West Point base hospital. She was the second child of Joseph Allen (Sr.) and Anna Sarah (Kane) Mesaris of Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY.

Shayne, together with her older brother Joseph, Jr., was raised in the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson by her grandparents, Edward and Anna (Rogers) Kane. She attended the Village schools throughout, graduating from high school in June 1951, having been a successful basketball and field hockey player for the girls’ teams.

Upon graduation, Shayne took a job in one of the many garment industry factories still operating in the Hudson Valley at that time. In 1952, one of her cousins set her up on a blind date with a young sailor, Leon Thomas. They married in June 1953, and Shayne left the garment industry behind to become a homemaker. After their two oldest children were born, Shayne and Leon moved to their house in Newburgh, NY, and over time, two additional children were born. _[1]

To help support her growing family, Shayne joined the NYS Department of Corrections in 1961. She originally started as a mental hygiene officer at what was then called “Mattewan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane” and became a Corrections Officer when the facility became the Fishkill Correctional Facility. She worked for NY State for 26 years, logging over 200 hours of continuing professional education while doing so.

Shayne enjoyed many activities outside of her work. She was a member of the Miracle Riders Motorcycle Club, and had a NYS Sportsman’s License for many years, allowing her to fish anywhere in the Catskills. Closer to home, she loved a good pinochle or rummy game, and enjoyed knitting and crocheting, specializing in mittens, hats, and baby sets. She also liked going to casinos and bingo with her closest cousins.

In 2008, Shayne moved to a seniors’ apartment complex in the Town of Newburgh and quickly became the Bingo Queen of her building. She organized and ran the monthly tournaments for residents. She and her friends also knitted hats and afghans for soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2013, Shayne decided that driving was no longer a good idea, and moved to Rochester to live with her daughter Eilleen and son-in-law Rick. While it meant giving up bingo, she had more free time for knitting, crosswords, and reading (especially Stephen King and James Patterson). The resident dog and cats adored her and loved having an extra, warm lap to sleep on.

Shayne did not have an easy life, and many of the things she experienced would have embittered a lesser person. But she either let it roll off her back, or, when appropriate, fought back and prevailed (as the Department of Corrections and the CSEA union discovered the hard way).

Throughout her entire long life, she was a kind, patient, and loving mother, grandmother, and friend.

Shayne is pre-deceased by her parents, her beloved grandparents, her brother Joseph A. Mesaris Jr., and her infant son Leon J. Thomas Jr.

She is survived by her children Eilleen (Rick) Mooney, James Thomas (Robert Leinbach), and Lenora (Joseph Sr.) Holzapfel; her grandchildren Joseph (Jessika) Holzapfel Jr., W. Gennady Poehner, Kurtis Holzapfel, and Rebecca Holzapfel; great-grandchild Liam Holzapfel; sister Gail (Fred) Belen; sister-in-law Joan Mesaris; several nieces and nephews.

Love you forever Mom.

________________________________________________________________________

^{[1] Although the marriage to Leon ended in 1972, Shayne kept her head up and kept going. She met her second husband, James Sarvis, in the mid-1980s. They married in the late 1980s, but unfortunately the relationship lasted only about five more years.)}