Daniel W. Foster

Eagle Bridge, NY-It is with great sadness that the family of Daniel W. Foster (Danny) shares the news of his passing on Thursday, March 24, 2022 at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, New York. Danny was a long-time resident of Cambridge and later North Hoosick, New York.

Danny was born on April 27, 1939 in Quincy, MA to Daniel Newell Foster and Catherine (Felix.) The family relocated to North Adams, MA where he and his brother James (Jimmy) grew up. Affectionately known to most in N Adams as “The Eagle Street Redhead,” he excelled at sports and frustrating teachers. Every trip to N Adams was accompanied by stories of his and the large Foster/Felix extended family’s adventures and exploits. No trip to North Adams could take place without someone shouting out “Hey, Danny Foster! Remember when…”

After his graduation from Drury High School (’57) he attended then North Adams State College (now Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.) While earning is BA in Teaching he continued his storied athletic career as a key player on the college’s men’s basketball team which clinched the 1961 New England State Colleges Basketball Championship in a game still referred to as “the greatest basketball game ever witnessed in North Adams!” He and his teammates were proudly inducted into the MCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.

He retained strong ties to his friends, family and community in North Adams throughout his life.

He started his career as an educator, and his family, in the small town of Bristol, New Hampshire, teaching high school history and psychology and coaching basketball. He maintained contact with many of his Bristol colleagues and students and was thrilled to be invited as a guest of class reunions throughout the years.

The family moved to Cambridge, NY in 1967 when he took a teaching position at Arlington Memorial High School in Arlington, Vermont. He spent the remainder of his teaching career at AMHS, retiring in 1995. While at AMHS he taught Junior High English and coached basketball. Over the years he also served as the Assistant Principal, Athletic Director and Principal of the elementary school, Fisher Elementary. 

To his many students he taught over the years - he never forgot a single one of your names. He could (and often would) share a story about each of you and your families!

Danny was an active member of the Cambridge community. He was inducted into the Cambridge Lion’s Club in 1967, serving in several leadership positions including President. As a member of the Lion’s Club, he planned and participated in innumerable community activities and events.  He was elected Assistant Mayor of the Village of Cambridge in 1985 and re-elected in 1987. He coached and umpired Little League baseball for several summers, and much more. He was also a very active member of his college Alumni Association, working to establish an alumni travel program.

Although his career and commitments demanded a great deal of his time and energy, he always made time for a game of catch or

H-O-R-S-E and to be involved in his children’s activities and interests. He was a devoted and very involved grandfather.

He enjoyed many interests and hobbies – golf, basketball, poetry writing, genealogy, golf, gardening, history, travel, golf, cars, penny pinching, storytelling, did we mention golf? His insatiable love of golf and the desire to play year-round led to his spending winters in Myrtle Beach, SC for over 20 years, eventually purchasing a condo and spending the majority of the year there. He developed a large and loving group of good friends in Myrtle Beach about whom the stories flowed.

He is predeceased by his wife Carmella (Cantoni), his parents as well as numerous aunts and uncles with whom he remained close throughout their lives. He is survived by his children: Debra and Daniel Jr. and David Foster, Dawn Case (Jack) and Denice Tisch (Alex) and stepson Steve Dodge; his grandchildren: Justin Schmigel (Modestine), Alexis Case, Joshua Case (Jena), Brittney Butler (Casey) and Nathaniel Foster; his great-grandchildren: Ava Ray, Graysen and Maddex Case, Nolan and Lydia Butler and his brother James Foster and his wife Joan.

Calling hours will on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 beginning at 11:00 a.m. at the Cambridge United Presbyterian Church, 81 East Main St. in Cambridge, New York. The funeral will take place at 1:00 p.m. with a reception immediately after. Everything will take place at the Cambridge United Presbyterian Church.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Cambridge Valley Rescue Squad, 37 Gilbert St., Cambridge, NY 12816 or the Town of Hoosick Community Center (formerly the Hoosick Falls Youth Center)

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