Gary S. Dunbar

1931 - 2015

COOPERSTOWN - On August 16th, 2015, Dr. Gary Seamans Dunbar, Professor Emeritus of the University of California at Los Angeles, died peacefully at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown at the age of 84. At the time of his death, Dr. Dunbar had been a resident of Cooperstown for twenty-seven years, moving here after retirement from the Department of Geography at UCLA. His first introduction to Cooperstown had been in 1952 when, as a graduate student at the University of Virginia, he came to the area to research the cultivation of hops for his Master's thesis and was captivated by the village, Otsego Lake and the surrounding countryside.

Gary Dunbar was born June 8th, 1931, in Clifton Springs, the son of Alvin Robert and Esther (Seamans) Dunbar. After graduating from Avon Central High School in Avon in 1948, Gary attended the University of Virginia where he earned a Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in 1952 and a Master of Arts in 1953. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa (1952), Phi Eta Sigma (1949) and Phi Kappa Phi (1956) honor societies. On April 4th, 1953, he married Elizabeth Tighe in Rochester. In 1956, at the age of twenty-four, he earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Louisiana State University and embarked on a career of teaching and scholarship in the field of Geography.

After a year teaching at Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia (1956-1957), Dr. Dunbar accepted a teaching position at his alma mater, the University of Virginia, where he taught from 1957-1967, rising to the rank of Associate Professor and serving as Chairman of the Department from 1963-1967. While associated with the University of Virginia, he spent a year at the University of Dacca, East Pakistan (now Dhaka, Bangladesh) as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar. He also taught for two years at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria (1965-1967).

Returning to the States in 1967, he accepted a position as a Visiting Associate Professor of Geography at UCLA and continued to work there until his retirement in 1988, earning the rank of Full Professor in 1970. Gary wrote nine books during the course of his life and published about 160 articles, notes and reviews, continuing to publish after his retirement. 

Endowed with an insatiable curiosity and desire to explore, Dr. Dunbar traveled widely throughout North and South America, the West Indies, Europe, Asia and Africa. He almost always included his wife, Elizabeth and their three children in his adventures. When the children were grown, he and Elizabeth continued to travel together.

While living in Cooperstown, Dr. Dunbar served on the Editorial Board of the New York State Historical Association from 1997-2005, as President of Friends of the Library and enjoyed twenty-five seasons of the Glimmerglass Opera. He was a long time member of First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown. 

His family and many friends will remember his integrity, generosity, intelligence, thoughtfulness, dry wit and quick sense of humor, amazing memory, deep and resonant speaking voice and his courtesy. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather. 

He is survived by his beloved wife of sixty-two years, Elizabeth (Tighe) Dunbar; his three children, Emily Dunbar-Smith and her husband, Frederick Harold Smith, of Jackson, Mississippi, Elihu Sidman Dunbar and his wife, Maria de la Luz Joachin Palafox Dunbar, of Santa Fe, New Mexico and Esther Dunbar-Cullum and her husband, Peter James Cullum, of Sonoma, California; and four grandchildren, Tighe Elijah Dunbar, Katherine Elizabeth Dunbar-Smith and her fiancé, William Walsh George, Jesse Peter Dunbar Cullum and Esme Olivia Dunbar Cullum. He is also survived by his brother, Alvin Webb (Pete) Dunbar and sister-in-law Waynne Boyden Dunbar; his sister, Sara Dunbar Widlund; his sister-in-law, Jean Daniels Dunbar; and five nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Alvin Robert and Esther (Seamans) Dunbar and by his brother, Bruce Rex Dunbar. 

The family is planning a memorial service for the Spring of 2016. 

Memorials may be made at this time, if you wish, to the New York State Historical Association, The Farmers' Museum, the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown or to the charity of your choice. Mailing addresses for the three organizations listed are as follows: New York State Historical Association, P.O. Box 800, Cooperstown, NY 13326; The Farmer's Museum, P.O. Box 30, Cooperstown, NY 13326; the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown, 25 Church Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.


NOTICE OF MEMORIAL SERVICE

COOPERSTOWN - A Memorial Service for Gary Seamans Dunbar (June 8th, 1931 - August 16th, 2015) will be held on Saturday, June 25th at 3:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the New York State Historical Association, The Farmers' Museum, the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown or to a charity of your choice.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.



If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.

Philip "Rooster" White Downs

1933 - 2015

FLY CREEK - A Memorial Service for Philip "Rooster" White Downs will be offered at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 12, 2015, at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home, 82 Chestnut Street, Cooperstown, with the Rev. Elsie A. Rhodes, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Cooperstown, officiating. The Service of Committal and Burial will follow in Fly Creek Valley Cemetery in Fly Creek.

Friends are welcome to pay their respects at the funeral home for one hour prior to the service. 

A native of Southampton on Long Island, Rooster spent most of his life farming, yet still found time to pursue his interest and love of car racing and the restoration of numerous antique autos, fire trucks, and tractors. More importantly he enjoyed life with his beloved wife of 36 years, Deirdre "Dee" Downs.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.


If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.

Paul E. Okarski

1925 - 2015

HARTWICK - Paul Edward Okarski, 89, a retired defense contractor employed for 37 years with Sperry Gyroscope Corporation, passed away Sunday evening, August 30, 2015, at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown, just three days shy of his 90th birthday.

Born September 2, 1925, in Peabody, Massachusetts, Paul was a son of Frank Joseph Okarski and Anna née Krusciewicz Okarski and resided in Lynn and later Newton, Massacusetts.

On August 11, 1942, Paul entered into active service in the United States Navy and proudly served his country during World War II as a Naval Aviator. Ensign Okarski received his Honorable Discharge from the US Navy on October 22, 1945. Following his military service, Paul attended Middlebury College in Vermont, and graduated with the Class of 1951 with a degree in physics.

In July of 1951, he joined the Industrial X-Ray Division of Westinghouse as an Applications Engineer, but in September 1952 he began a career with the Sperry Gyroscope Company that would span four decades. Starting as a Field Engineer, he became involved with the Sparrow I missile program. Paul did on-site installation, checkout, calibration and operational activation of missile associated radar and ground support equipment, as well as in-plant contracts. He also served as a technical liaison between engineering and field support personnel.

In June 1956, he became a Representative Associate for the Air Armament Division, and in August 1957, Paul was promoted to the Counter Measures Division of Sperry Gyroscope where as a Marketing Representative he was responsible for the contract administration of the $100 million B-52 airborne integrated countermeasures system. This equipment utilized high accuracy multiple jamming techniques, sophisticated receivers and flight test equipment and provided a new measure of protection for our superbombers of the era. In 1960 Paul advanced to Senior Marketing Representative of the Radiation Division where he was responsible for marketing and contract administration of the US Navy's TALOS missile program. In 1963, Paul became the Senior Marketing Representative for the Information and Communications Division of Sperry Gyroscope. He had overall responsibility for sales and contract administration of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Systems including submarine fire controls and state-of-the-art sonar systems, as well as the preparation and execution of market plans for sophisticated intelligence equipment.

Through the 1970s and 1980s as Sperry Gyroscope became, though acquisitions and mergers, Sperry Rand, Sperry Univac, then simply the Sperry Corporation, Paul's responsibilities continued to grow. Elevated to Senior Overseas Contract Manager he travelled extensively world-wide, and was considered by his peers to be one of Sperry's top contract negotiators. He retired in 1989.

Throughout, Paul was a dedicated and loving family man. Married in 1957 to Barbara E. Okarski, also employed by Sperry Gyroscope, they had four children, all of whom have fond memories of vacationing in Florida where many now reside, as well as learning to ski and sharing may fun times on the slopes at Scotch Valley Ski Area in Stamford. Paul loved to be outdoors and enjoyed designing and building tree houses, doll houses, go-karts and even a backyard ice skating rink for his children and grandchildren. He loved a long road trip by car, a good grilled steak, and growing the best tomatoes. He paid attention to detail and believed any job worth doing was worth doing well. He imparted much wisdom to his family including having pride in our country, being happy, not worrying, and being brave. He was a man of science, who valued education, and was happy to share his knowledge with his family. He cared for us, participated in our lives, and made us better people. In his retirement, Paul built his dream house in Stamford, and enjoyed a relaxed lifestyle while skiing throughout New York and New England until the age of 82. Most recently, he made his home with his youngest son, Steven, in Hartwick for the past five years, and enjoyed all of the comforts of home and the benefits of the life he worked so hard to build.

Paul is survived by his four children; Lawrence Paul, Carol Ellen, and Scott Edward and his wife, Kristen, all of Ormond Beach, Florida, and Steven Edward of Hartwick; their mother, Barbara, of Port Orange, Florida; four grandchildren, Brian, Jason, Kelli and Abby; two nieces, Christie Lyons-Otto and her husband, Luther, of Athol, Massachusetts, and Mary Lyons of Paris, France; and two nephews, Joseph Lyons of Boston, Massachusetts, and David Okarski and his wife, Diane, of Los Angeles, California.

He was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Anna Elizabeth Okarski, and all of his siblings; Edward Okarski, Helen née Okarski Lyons and Joseph Okarski.

The Okarski family received friends on Saturday, September 5, 2015, from 1 until 3 p.m. at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home, 82 Chestnut Street, Cooperstown. A brief prayer service concluded the visitation, with the Rev'd Paul R. Messner, pastor of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hartwick Seminary, officiating.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.


If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.