Marlene E. Hammond

Marlene E. Hammond of Albany, New York, passed away on March 11, 2026, surrounded by her loving family.

She was born on June 29, 1935, in Hudson, New York to the late Robert Wesley and Dorothy Louise Sheldon. Marlene was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin and friend. She touched the lives of many with her profound sense of humor, warmth, determination, and devotion to faith. Marlene was a compassionate friend and possessed an uncanny ability to connect to just about anyone, building community wherever she went. She laughed, loved, and lived life to its fullest, with a strawberry lemonade in hand.

Marlene was a graduate of Chatham Central High School and received a B.A from Russell Sage College. She was a devoted student who pursued her college education over 19 years and ended up graduating simultaneously with her daughter.

At the advisement of her father, Marlene pursued a career with New York State at the Office of Taxation and Finance. She was then promoted to the Division of Criminal Justice and then on to the Office of Court Administration where she retired in 1993.

Marlene was the oldest of eight children, and the first to start commuting from the Chatham family farm into the big city (Albany) on the Beeliner. Her commitment to public service influenced her six sisters to follow careers in state service. The number of years her and her siblings had spent in state service total up to more than two centuries of service.

She is survived by her only daughter Gail Louise Hammond (Michael Walters); and her two loving grandchildren, Aaron and Alexandra Walters and her four sisters, Beverly J. Norwood, Joan M. Sheldon, Kathleen J. Kruzinski (Robert); She is also survived by several great-nieces, nephews and cousins and a host of very dear friends. Marlene is predeceased by her husband, the late William L. Hammond, her parents, Robert Wesley and Dorothy Louise Sheldon; sisters, Claudia A. Pugh, Sharon Brown, Dorothy Roberta Haith and brother, Robert Wesley Sheldon Jr.

Services will be held on Saturday, March 21 at The Cathedral of All Saints, 62 South Swan Street in Albany, NY. Calling hours will be held from 9:00-11:00AM. Funeral Services will follow at 11:00AM. The private interment will be held on a later date.

In lieu of flowers, Marlene requested that donations be made to the Marlene E. Hammond Fund at The Cathedral of All Saints.

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