Amelia Altamari

Amelia Altamari, 97, of Kingston, NY, passed away peacefully after a short illness at Health Alliance Hospital on August 17, 2023. Amelia was born on March 22, 1926 in Kingston. She was the daughter of well-remembered Kingston confectioner, Michael Altamari and Frances (Cicenia) Altamari.

Amelia was a graduate of the Academy of St. Ursula and the New England Conservatory of Music, from which she received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano and her Master of Music Degree in Historical Research. She completed additional graduate studies at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, the Juilliard School of Music, and Westminster Choir College. After two decades as a private teacher of piano, she studied the Kodaly Method for teaching musical concepts to young children and applied this to her subsequent career as a music teacher for twenty years at Robert Graves Elementary School in Port Ewen. She took great pride in writing and producing musical shows in which every child was given a role or task. She retired in 1988.

While teaching, and following her retirement, Amelia often spent summers in Spring Lake, NJ or could be found aboard one of Holland America Line’s most recently launched ships. Amelia was a parishioner of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church for seven decades, a daily communicant for much of that time. She was a member of the Carmelite Third Order (Secular), a former board member of the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and Junior League of Kingston, and a Music Director for The Stockade Committee, Inc.

Amelia is survived by her loving cousins including, Dr. Michael Giuliano (Karen), Adam Giuliano (Wendy Liu), and Amy Giuliano Britton (Lt. Col. Devon) and their children, as well as William Myers (Kelly), Elizabeth Myers Silvernail (Jeffrey), and Kate Myers Olson (Timothy), children of her late cousin Fleurette Myers (James), and their families. Amelia is also survived by Susan Geuss (Gerard), James III Guiliano (Susan), Elizabeth Robbins (Richard), William Guiliano (Eliane), Mia Zimmerman (Ted), Lisa Guiliano, and Mrs. Joy Guiliano (Major Robert), Donald (Rhonda), Ellen, David (Mima), and Robert (Marcella) Cardone. She will be fondly remembered by Mary Grube, the Eucharistic Ministers and parishioners of St Joseph’s Church, her former students, fellow teachers, neighbors, and friends.

In addition to her parents, Amelia was predeceased by her brother Pvt. Michael Altamari, Jr., who died in action in Northern France on July 26, 1944.

Arrangements are entrusted to Keyser Funeral and Cremation Service, 326 Albany Avenue, Kingston, NY 12401 where family and friends may visit on Tuesday, August 22 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Joseph’s Church, 242 Wall Street, Kingston, NY 12401, on August 22 at 12 p.m. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, Amelia’s family requests that donations be made in her memory to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, or St. Joseph’s Church, 242 Wall Street, Kingston, NY 12401. A tribute for Amelia can be found at www.KeyserFuneralService.com, where you may leave memories and expressions of sympathy for her family.