Agnes Van Put

Agnes Post Van Put, Livingston Manor's oldest resident, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, on the Feast Day of Saint Agnes, with her loving family at her side. She was 109 years of age.
Agnes was born on August 15, 1916 in Prospect Park, NJ to the late Henry Richard Post and Johanna Carlough Post. She began working at the age of 15 to help support the family of eight after her father became ill, earning eight cents an hour sewing women’s intimates for Garfinkle & Ritter, Inc. She had an incredibly strong work ethic, and took pride in never being late. She worked throughout her long life, well into her 100s.
When she was 18, Agnes’s friend Anna introduced her to Emil Van Put; soon after, Agnes and Emil were married, and Anna married Emil’s brother Arthur. Agnes and Emil raised two children, Edward and Russell, in northern New Jersey where Agnes worked a variety of jobs ranging from factory work to managing delicatessens.
In the 1970s, Agnes and Emil moved to the hamlet of Livingston Manor near their son, Ed, and converted a small barn into a cozy home where she resided throughout the rest of her life. They quickly settled into a new life in the Catskills, and Agnes helped set up the delicatessen section of the Pecks market that had recently opened in Livingston Manor.
In 1984, Agnes began a new career at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum, where she became hostess in the gift shop. She became known for her delicious cookies and jams, and especially for her homemade soups, which she ladled out every year on Opening Day of the trout fishing season until she was 108. There, she furthered her interest and knowledge of fly-fishing, and learned from her friend Lee Wulff how to make his special plastic-bodied flies. For many years she supplied them to Royal Wulff, setting up a station at home to make them. Notably, in her 90s, she entered the Hardy Cup fly casting competition. She credited her longevity to staying active, embracing change, and enjoying life.
Among many honors and recognitions, Agnes was the first recipient of the Sullivan County Visitors Association’s T.O.A.S.T. Award (Tourism Opportunities And Service Training) for her efforts and abilities to welcome visitors to the area and make them feel at home; and was inducted by the Catskill Fly Fishing Center as a “Catskill Legend” in 2019, celebrated for her warmth and dedication to the fly-fishing community as an institution at the Museum.
She was known for her sunny smile and optimism; her refreshing candor and unpretentiousness; her kindness and generosity; her wit and humor; her love of chocolate and sweets, and her penchant for being photographed with her many friends and celebrities, whose photos adorn the walls in her home. She loved music, especially polkas, country & western, and dancing to the “Alley Cat”, which she did at her grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s weddings. She was an accomplished seamstress, who also loved knitting and crocheting, making clothing, sweater sets and blankets for all her grandchildren, great- and great-great grandchildren, and the children of many other friends and family. She loved to read with one of her beloved cats on her lap, and to travel, driving cross-country with her husband to visit nearly every state, including Alaska, fishing in many of them. She also traveled abroad to Europe and the Holy Land in the Middle East.
But it was her family that Agnes loved most of all, never forgetting a birthday, keeping track of her many descendents and proudly relaying what each grandchild, great-grandchild and great-great-grandchild was doing as they grew.
Despite a strong aversion to spiders and snakes, she was otherwise fearless, enjoying a neighborhood flight with Lee Wulff in his twin-engine Piper Super Cub; and years later, at the age of 104, taking a helicopter ride around Sullivan County with her dear friend Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, who fulfilled a wish she had expressed to Aileen some time before. In her 90s she even learned how to use a computer and the internet, but decided within a few years of active use that she'd had enough of that!
Agnes was a member of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum; the Livingston Manor Senior Citizens Club; an honorary member of the Woman Fly Fishers Club; and an honorary member of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild. Her legacy will live on in the stories, friendships, and traditions she helped build. Agnes will be deeply missed and always remembered.
Survivors include her daughters-in-law, Kathy Lebo Van Put of New Jersey and Judy O’Brien Van Put of Livingston Manor; six grandchildren, James (Brenda) Van Put of New Jersey, Russell Van Put (Susan) of Vermont, Lorine Agnes Lamerand Buchholz (Scott) of Wurtsboro, Brett Van Put of Bohemia, Lee Van Put (Anisha Arouza) of Livingston Manor, and Tyler Van Put (Tiffani) of Manhattan; nine great-grand children Heather (Dan) Greer, Jimmy (Alexandria) Van Put, Ben Van Put, Taylor Lamerand, Jay Van Put, Alana Lamerand and Carly Lamerand, Evie Van Put and Ilā Agnes Arouza Van Put; four Great-Great-Grandchildren Ava Greer, Ivy Van Put, Brady Greer, and Clayton Van Put; several nieces and nephews; her dear friend Joan Wulff, and many close friends and neighbors.
She was predeceased by her husband, Emil Edward Van Put; her sons, Edward George and Russell Henry Van Put; twin infant sons Clay and Arthur Van Put; three brothers, John, Raymond, and George; two sisters, Minnie and May.
Visitation will be Friday, January 30, 2026 from 3-7 PM in the Harris Funeral Home, Railroad Ave., Roscoe, NY. A Mass of Christian Burial will be performed on Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 11 AM in St. Aloysius Church, Livingston Manor, NY. Father Edward Bader will officiate. Burial will be in Lew Beach Cemetery in the Spring. A Celebration of Agnes’s Life will take place at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center in August, coinciding with her 110th birthday during Summerfest, and all are welcome to attend.
Memorial contributions in Agnes' name may be made to the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum.
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the Harris Funeral Home, Railroad Ave. Roscoe, NY 607-498-4929 or 845-439-5200 or www.Harris-FH.com (http://www.harris-fh.com/)