Alice M. Barnum

Alice M. Barnum, 94, of Watertown, NY, passed away peacefully on the evening of February 1, 2026, at the Jefferson County Hospice Residence at the Ellis Farm, Watertown, NY, with her daughter, Ann, at her bedside. She was born in Montague, NY, on September 14, 1931, the daughter of Jacob and Paiza (Repak) Makuch. She lived with her family on the Gardner Road, where her parents operated a dairy farm and she attended high school at Lowville Academy. She excelled academically and advanced to 11th grade at age 15. In 1947, her brother Tony introduced her to her future husband, LD Barnum, Jr, a local farmer and WWII veteran who served 2 years with the 24th Army Infantry Division with 22 months in the Philippines and Japan. After a proper engagement, she quit school, and they were married at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Lowville on January 25, 1948, with the Reverend Walter Bennett officiating.

After a brief honeymoon in New York City, the newlyweds settled comfortably and together operated his dairy farm with a small maple sugarbush on the Robert’s Road near Deer River, NY until 1959. From there, they purchased and moved to a bigger farm on the Old State Road near Pleasant Lake. This family farm made for a wonderful setting for raising their seven children of four boys and three girls. Alice loved running the business aspect of the farm, especially caring for her dairy cows. The children benefited from their parent’s great example, demonstrating the simple life of hard work and discipline to form an everlasting family bond.

After Alice and Junior retired from their farming business, they moved to Watertown, where Junior worked seasonally for Upstate Tar and Asphalt. Not one to sit idle, Alice earned her G.E.D. and joined the industrial workforce. She was first employed at Chesebrough Pond Manufacturing in Watertown for one year, working the assembly line making mercury thermometers, and subsequently for 25 more years at Chapins Watermatics assembling irrigation tubing designed for crops and greenhouses. She very much enjoyed earning a living and spending her money wisely.

Throughout her life, the family was first, including the bond she shared with her siblings and their families. She maintained close ties with her mother and father, her eight sisters, her eight brothers, their spouses, and numerous nieces and nephews. The Makuch Family Reunions were the best of times for her.

She was a warm and loving wife, a nurturing mother of seven, grandmother of 11, and great-grandmother of 12. They were her sole purpose and her life’s work. She set the example on the importance of her family’s spiritual needs through being a communicant of the Grace Episcopal Church in Carthage, NY, and later the Trinity Episcopal Church in Watertown, NY. Her preparation for celebrating Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter celebrations highlighted the significance in fulfilling their life’s purpose.

Alice is survived by her son Anthony, Antwerp, NY, her daughter, Linda (Terry) Nevil, Ontario, NY/The Villages, FL; her sons Wayne (Margaret) Lake Frederick, VA, and Nathan, Watertown, NY; her daughter Ann (Steven) Adams, Watertown, NY; and her last remaining brother Joseph Makuch, Watertown, NY.

She was preceded in death by her fifth born, an infant son, Steven, who passed shortly after his birth; her parents, Jacob and Paiza, husband LD (Junior); daughter Alice (aka “Peachie”) Richardson; son James (Jimmy); Son-in-law Christopher Richardson; sisters Mary, Anna, Julia, Eva, Helen, and Rose; twin brothers John and Steven (Steven passed as a newborn); sister Marta; brothers, Tony, Theodore (Ted), Peter, William (Bill), Mitchell (Mike), Jacob; and sister Kathryn (Katie).

Alice was born of immigrant parents from the village of Myscowa in the Carpathian Mountains of the Austrian Empire prior to World War I (today a region in southern Poland). She learned to appreciate the values of living in the United States from her parents coming from a region in Europe of high poverty and constant threat of wars. The harsh winters and hard life working the land on Tug Hill did not deter them from the love of this country and they were proud to be U.S. citizens. Alice learned to cook and bake wonderful dishes her mother taught from her Polish heritage. Family favorites included perogies, potato dumplings, and pigs in a blanket to name a few. Nothing was better than a homemade meal. Her cakes with peanut butter frosting, $100 chocolate cake (a recipe from Junior’s oldest sister), and homemade donuts were special treats.

She created wonderful memories preparing holiday celebration meals. For her family’s birthdays, she always baked a cake and made sure her family felt extra special because “it is your day.” Her family can still see her working into the wee hours at night before Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, filling the house with mouthwatering aromas of a festive meal. Several years her family alternated Thanksgiving meals between the Barnum and Tony Makuch family households.

Her family can still see the vivid images of the typical working hands of a wife and mother before the age when advanced household appliances were commonplace. The age of so called “dishpan hands” (hands seemingly always immersed in water) washing dishes (a chore later passed onto her daughter, Linda, for a time to help lighten the load), clothes, floors, bathing the kids, and even washing dairy milking equipment. She was always busy with the household and would send the kids outside to play to have them out of the way, only to have them come in for a drink of water while she was still on her hands and knees just finishing up scrubbing and waxing the kitchen floor. She would sigh and relent reluctantly as the kids walked in. The things mothers put up with out of love.

She was of the generation with the advent of television and quickly became a loyal fan (to this day) of her soap operas. Those were also the days of ordering from the Sears catalog. For a time, she networked via the “telephone party line” with her sister Eva, and sisters-in-law Marie and Georgia, to keep up on the latest news with family, neighbors and the local farming industry. When Junior was elected Highway Superintendent for the Town of Denmark, they converted to a private line for official business purposes. The New York Yankees and Buffalo Bills were her favorite teams, and Neil Diamond, her all-time favorite music artist. She had great admiration for President Kennedy and was completely devastated with the tragedy of his death. Seeing the moon landing in 1969 brought great pride and comfort, remembering Kennedy’s promise.

In recent years she was able to enjoy traveling with her children, witnessing numerous family weddings, baptisms, reunions, birthdays, and holiday celebrations. Alice loved having a dog in the household, especially after retirement and cherished time she could have with family living close by. Her son Nate, daughter, Ann, and son-in-law, Steve, provided much assistance and comfort to her over the last several years.

Alice’s family would like to send a heartfelt “Thank You” to the staff of Jefferson County Hospice, and the many individuals providing friendship, medical and spiritual support, especially The Reverend Molly Payne-Hardin (Mother Molly).

Calling Hours will be held on Sunday, February 15, 2026, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Bezanilla-McGraw Funeral Home, Carthage, NY. Funeral services will be held on Monday, February 16, 2026, at 11:00 am at the Trinity Episcopal Church located at 227 Sherman St, Watertown, NY, with the Reverend Molly Payne-Hardin officiating. A reception will be held immediately after the service at the MacSherry Parish Center, located next door to the church. Burial will take place in the spring at Swinburne Cemetery in Deer River, NY, where she will be laid to rest alongside her family. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of Jefferson County, 1398 Gotham St, Watertown, NY 13601; Trinity Episcopal Church, 227 Sherman St, Watertown, NY 13601; the Glen Park Fire Department, 630 Main St, Glen Park, NY 13601.

Arrangements are under the care of Bezanilla-McGraw Funeral Home, located at 518 State Street, Carthage, NY 13619. To leave an online condolence in her name, visit www.bezanillafh.com