John D. Crocker RIP

December 14, 2010

John D. Crocker

Daily Star

John D. Crocker

DELHI _ John D. Crocker, 95, passed away on Monday, Dec. 13, 2010, after having a long and fulfilling life.

He was born in Macedon, Wayne County, on April 20, 1915, the son of George E. Crocker and Mary (DeReu) Crocker.

He graduated as valedictorian from Macedon High School. He graduated from Brown University in 1937, with final honors in history. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society.

Entering the United States Army in September of 1941, before Pearl Harbor, he graduated from Officers Candidate School and was assigned to Camp Hood, Texas, where the tank destroyer forces were being trained and activated. He served in the European Theater as a company commander in the 648th Tank Destroyer Battalion and participated in the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns, including the capture of Saarbrucken and the encirclement of the Ruhr.

He graduated from Cornell Law School in 1947, and entered state government as a law assistant in the office of Governor Thomas E. Dewey.

Recalled to active military service during the Korean War, he served in the Judge Advocate Generals Corps as a military lawyer in Pusan and on Kojedo Island.

From 1955 to 1993, he practiced law in Delaware County as a partner in the law firm of Rushmore, Mason, Marcus and Crocker, with offices in Stamford and Delhi.

He was married to Arline M. Brower on Jan. 2, 1943, at Belton, Texas. She predeceased him on Feb. 21, 1999.

Surviving are two daughters, Anne Crocker Sosiak of Weston, Fla., and Amy Crocker Rossetti of Birdsboro, Pa.; and his three granddaughters.

He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cannon Free Library for many years and served as president. He was a life member of the Delaware County Historical Association and a past commander of the Donald W. Gleason Post of the American Legion.

A private burial will take place in the spring.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Cannon Free Library or the Delaware County Historical Association.

http://thedailystar.com/obituaries/x2007170388/John-D-Crocker

 

Herman Gottfried–RIP

April 28, 2010

Former Margaretville lawyer fought for landowners

By Patricia BreakeyDelhi News Bureau

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A former Margaretville lawyer died Saturday at the age of 99.

Herman Gottfried’s nephew, Robert Kramer, said Gottfried represented many area farmers, business owners and homeowners who lost their land when New York City used eminent domain proceedings to obtain land to build the reservoirs.

Gottfried practiced in Margaretville from 1949 — when he opened his own law firm — until he retired in 1990, Kramer said Monday.

“His life’s work was centered around Margaretville,” Kramer said. “Diane Galusha mentioned him in her book ‘Liquick Assets,’ which is the story of the building of the reservoirs.”

Kramer, of Cranbury and formerly of Andes, said Gottfried was “very charming, gregarious and intelligent, but low key at the same time.

“He did a lot of work for a lot of people; but he was proud of saying that he never had a business card. If anyone wanted his name and phone number he would write it down for them on a piece of paper.”

Gottfried was just six months shy of his 100th birthday when he passed away at Huntington Hospital in Huntington. Before becoming ill he had lived independently at his homes in Centreville, Mass., and Palm City, Fla.

Gottfried’s wife Margaret “Peggy” O’Neill, died Jan. 13, 2002.

A Brooklyn native, Gottfried was born Oct. 8, 1910, to German immigrant banker Morris Gottfried and his wife Fanny. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature at City College and then graduated from Brooklyn Law School. He went to work for New York City, heading the law department of the Comptroller’s office during the tenure of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.

He joined the U.S. Navy, serving as an officer aboard the USS Isherwood, a destroyer escort commissioned in April 1943 and assigned to duty in the Pacific Theater during World War II. The ship took part in the initial landings on Leyte Gulf in the Philippines in October 1944.

In 1991 Gottfried wrote: “We were the lead ship. We were fortunate to see Gen. Douglas MacArthur wade ashore and were alarmed when he was greeted by gunfire from snipers in the palm trees on shore. Isherwood loosed all its firepower into the fronds of the palm trees, and the snipers dropped like coconuts.”

Following the war, Gottfried was named acting corporation counsel in charge of the New York City Board of Water Supply office in Kingston. In 1949, he went into private practice to represent property owners, merchants and workers who were losing land, business and jobs to the city’s reservoirs.

Kramer said he used a section of the law to win substantial awards for his clients based on the value the property and businesses would have had in the years to come. He later assisted many area property owners affected by state highway construction and other public works projects.

The Gottfrieds were supporters of Margaretville Memorial Hospital, Fairview Public Library, the Margaretville Central School Scholarship Fund and Kingston Hospital, as well as libraries and hospitals in Cape Cod and Florida. In 1998, they donated to the Village of Margaretville the brick building they built on Main Street to house the Gottfried law practice.

Terence Patrick O’Leary

Terry O'Leary

WALTON _ Terence Patrick O’Leary, 62, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family on Friday, Dec. 11, 2009, after a courageous battle with cancer.

Terence was born in New York City on Sept. 26, 1947, to George and Margaret (Rice) O’Leary. Terry moved as a child with his family to Central Islip, Long Island where he spent his formative years. He was an avid and talented athlete and upon graduation from Central Islip High School was named MVP in baseball, basketball, and football.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Vermont, where he attended on an all-sports scholarship and played basketball and baseball.

After graduation from UVM, Terry attended St. John’s University School of Law in Brooklyn and then Jamaica and earned his Juris Doctor in May 1973. While attending law school, he married the former Teresa Loughran on Jan. 23, 1971. Upon graduation from law school the O’Learys moved to Delaware County, initially to Hamden for two years and then to their present home in Walton. Even after moving to Delaware County, Terry continued his interested in sports by playing on the local baseball team, playing basketball with the “over 30” crowd and could often be found in a pick-up game of basketball with the students at SUNY Delhi. In addition to playing, Terry coached in the community youth basketball program and the summer basketball league,

Terry will always be remembered as a gentleman and a friend to all who knew him. He treated everyone he met with respect as he had the ability to see the face of God in each person he encountered. He will also be remembered for his quick smile, cheerful demeanor and ever-present sense of humor.

Terry was a devoted and contributing member of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Walton. He served God and his church as a legal adviser to the parish and past pastors, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, lector, usher, religious education teacher and parish trustee. He was also a founding member of the Knights of Columbus, Our Lady of the Valley Council.

When he first arrived in Delaware County, Terry was employed by Lawrence Pierce of Delhi and soon thereafter became a member of the law firm of Paternoster, Estes and O’Leary in Walton. He later continued his career as a solo practitioner for the last 25 years. Terry was a member of the New State Bar Association, Broome County Bar Association and Walton Chamber of Commerce.

Terry is survived by his devoted wife of 39 years; four loving children, two loving children-in-law and four terrific grandsons who have brought him great joy; daughter and son-in-law, Kerry and Matthew Tarleton of Merrimack, N.H., daughter, Molly O’Leary of Washington, D.C.; son and daughter-in-law, Terence Joseph and Argi O’Leary of Hoboken, N.J., and son, Owen Patrick O’Leary of Albany. His grandsons are John Terence Tarleton, George Terence, Joseph Cormac and Finnian James O’Leary. He is also survived by three brothers, Peter (Carol) of Moriches, George (Sharon) or Orlando, Fla., Thomas (Gayle) of East New York, N.J. and four sisters, Margaret (Leonard) of Pawling, Mary (Paul) Flaherty of Rockaway, James (Thomas) Quinn of Rockaway and Kathleen O’Leary of Belleville, N.J.; godchildren, Brian O’Leary, Kate Winternitz and Kate Flaherty; many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. Additionally, he is survived by his mother-in-law, Alice Loughran of Floral Park; brother-in-law, Thomas Loughran and dear friend and brother and sister-in-law, Joseph (Theresa) Loughran of East Rockaway, and their three daughters as well as the remaining two of the “Legal Three Amigos,” his golf buddies and countless friends. Mr. O’Leary was predeceased by his parents and father-in-law, Joseph Loughran.

Friends and relatives are invited to call on Sunday, December 13, 2009 from 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 PM at the Courtney Funeral Home, 25 Townsend St., Walton. with recitation of the Most Holy Rosary at 8 p.m. at the funeral home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. John the Baptist Church at 11 a.m. on Monday with the Rev. Michael Flannery, Celebrant. Burial will follow in Walton Cemetery. Memorial contributions in Terry’s memory may be made to The Church of Saint John the Baptist, 17-21 Benton Ave., Walton, NY 13856.

Condolences to the family may be made online by visiting our website atwww.courtneyfh.com.XX