On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, our mother, our teacher, our shining light, Bernice Gail Andersen Fingar, 87, of Penn Yan, N.Y. passed away at Penn Yan Manor Nursing Home after a brief illness. Gail was born on February 9, 1936, in Penn Yan to Lester and Mildred (Kennerson) Andersen of Benton Center, N.Y. Gail attended country school in Benton Center for grades 1 through 5, then went on to grades 6 through 12 in the Penn Yan school system. She graduated from Penn Yan Academy third in her class, and as a four-year member of the National Honor Society in 1953. Gail married the love of her life, Burt Fingar, on November 20, 1954. Between periods as a stay-athome mother to raise and nurture her children, Gail worked as a secretary and receptionist for New York State Electric and Gas, local attorneys (Paul R. Taylor/Justin Corcoran; Anthony Geraci; Frederick Dugan/Weston Palmer), and in the Yates County Court System, retiring as County Family Court Clerk, and Deputy Surrogates Court Clerk in 1995. As a youth, Gail was a member of Benton United Methodist Church. As an adult, she was a member of Benevolent Patriotic Order of Does, Women of the Moose, and volunteered for many years at the Moose Lodge. Gail was involved with youth as an elementary school room mother, a Cub Scout den mother, a Brownie Scout leader, with the Penn Yan Little League Auxiliary, and with the Yates Day Care Center as a board member and officer. Gail was also a volunteer (Guardian) with the Yates County ARC, and with the Yates County Office of the Aging. Gail enjoyed bowling (as a member in various leagues), doing crossword puzzles and other word games, playing cards, and entertaining family and friends. She especially enjoyed giving gifts and treats to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Gail was predeceased by her husband Burton E. Fingar in 2013, her father Lester Andersen, her mother Mildred Kennerson Andersen Covell, her step-father Ernest Covell, and her sister Joyce (Andersen) and brother-i
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