Potsdam- The family of Geraldine Mary Atwood McLaughlin, 91, deeply mourns her passing on July 29, 2012 of congestive heart failure. She was born in North Lawrence on January 7, 1921 to Charles Atwood and the former Grace Taylor. The family later moved to Potsdam where she attended grade school and high school.

After graduating from Potsdam High School, where she played in the school band, she attended Potsdam Normal School and graduated in 1942. She also earned a certificate in engineering drawing from Clarkson College. After completing her education, she taught at schools in Potsdam and Norwood for several years.

In 1945, she married Hubert McLaughlin and lived in Norwood for the remainder of her life. She continued to work as a substitute teacher for many years after marrying Hubert. Hubert predeceased her in 1974.

Mrs. McLaughlin enjoyed gardening, reading, solving puzzles, and watching birds and deer in her backyard. She was also interested in her family genealogy. She could trace her family back to John Balch who came to the Massachusetts colony from England in 1624 and, in 1636, built a house in Beverly Massachusetts that is still standing.

Mrs. McLaughlin is survived by her son Peter and his wife Nancy (Massena). Peter graduated from NNCS in 1969 and served in the United States Marine Corps for two years. Subsequently, he attended Mohawk Community College and was then employed by Alcoa in Massena, where he has worked for 39 years.

She is also survived by her son John (Norwood). After graduating as valedictorian of the NNCS class of 1966, he received his S.B. in Physics from MIT (1970) and his PhD in Physics from Harvard (1974). He joined the Clarkson faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1974 and is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering.

Mrs. McLaughlin is loved dearly and will be missed by her sons and daughter-in-law.

A private funeral will be held at the Seymour Funeral Home, Potsdam, on the morning of Tuesday, July 31. There are no calling hours. Burial will take place in Old Pine Grove Cemetery, Massena, NY.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer