Doing this sort of thing is always nerve-wracking. But I wanted to raise the hat for those who’ve left us… from December to December… even though there’s always the risk of leaving someone out. But we miss these folks… most of them I miss personally… and I wanted to speak their names.

DON ZIMMER  Future baseball All-Star played his second professional year with the Hornell Dodgers.  He and his wife were married at home plate on Dunn Field in Elmira.
DICK PEER For many years Dick was managing editor of this newspaper… coming up through the ranks and filling other roles along the way. Readers throughout the coverage area appreciated his column “Peering Around,” in which he explored aspects of our region’s history. Dick passed away just as Corning-Pained Post Historical Society was releasing a long-awaited “Peering” collection.
GEORGE O’BRIEN George was a railroad man. In fact, an ERIE Railroad man. Some of us knew him personally, but many others got to know him through his wife Bea’s book “One Track,” describing George’s railroad life. They lived at Loon Lake.
CHARLES CHAMPLIN Charles once told me that he left western New York for southern California “as soon as I heard about it.” But in many ways he never left his boyhood home in Hammondsport, even while among the tinsel, the glitter, and the actual stars of Hollywood. His memoir “Back There Where the Past Was: A Small-Town Boyhood” has enchanted readers from coast to coast, many of whom had never even heard of Hammondsport. Ray Bradbury wrote the foreword.
DICK AYERS The Great Depression brought Dick and his parents to join family in Pulteney, and Dick attended high school in Hammondsport for two or three years. After service in World War II he charged into his chosen profession – drawing comic books – and supported a family on his success. Though he did volumes of war and superhero comics, he also stood out in westerns, setting his stories among the rocks and ravines of Colorado and Nebraska. “My west,” he said, “is Pulteney.”
BRIAN GRIGSBY Brian for many years was a workshop volunteer at Curtiss museum, helping build those exacting (and exciting) flying copies of pioneer airplanes, and restoring originals as well.
JEANNE CURTISS Mrs. Glenn Curtiss Jr. never knew her famous father-in-law, but she was the last of the family of “the airplane boy.” Though she never had any direct connections to our area, she enjoyed her occasional visits and was happy to be generous, because it had been important to her husband, and he was important to her. Both the artifacts and the funding for Curtiss Museum’s “Florida Years” gallery were Jeanne’s gift.
GIL AND ELLIE PARTRIDGE Gil and Ellie were active for many years in Avoca Historical Society. Ellie worked at Davenport Hospital and at Davenport/Dormann Library, and served on the board of Steuben County Historical Society.
TED MARKHAM Ted was Steuben County Agricultural Agent for 19 years, working in every area from forage to wineries. He also raised Christmas trees. But he will perhaps be most fondly remembered as having been instrumental in developing Mossy Bank Park. The nature center there is named in his honor.
DR. S. DONALD STOOKEY Don Stookey passed away at the age of 99. In a long career at Corning Inc./Corning Glass Works he developed Pyroceram, which became the basis for the CorningWare found in a million homes. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
DR. JOSEPH G. PADDOCK What can I say about Joe? An alumnus of local one-room schools and the Haverling High School, Joe was a beloved veterinarian for decades. He was one of the founders of what’s now the Finger Lakes S.P.C.A. He was a fount of local history, a mainspring of Steuben County Historical Society, and instrumental in the Society’s move into its Magee House home. And all of that’s just an inadequate summary. Joe was a friend and guide to me almost from the moment I arrived on our regional history scene, 19 years ago this month.
To Joe… Ted… Brian… Dick… Jeanne… and every one of you. Thanks for all you did for us. We miss you all. Safe journey.