Obituaries

Raymond V. Beecher

Teacher, historian and author

COXSACKIE — Raymond V. Beecher, 91, of Coxsackie, died at his residence Oct. 9, 2008.

Raymond was born in New York City, March 8, 1917, and was the son of the late Maude R. (Baxter) and Valentine Beecher.

Besides his parents, Raymond was predeceased by his wife, Catharine S. (Shaffer) Beecher, in 1995, and his sister Gladys Lesson.

Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend calling hours at the W.C. Brady’s Sons Inc. Funeral Home, 97 Mansion St., Coxsackie on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 from 2-4 and 6-9 p.m. The Coxsackie Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10986, of which he was a member, will hold services in his memory Sunday evening at the funeral home at 7.

Funeral services will take place on Monday, Oct. 13, 2008 at 10 a.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 50 William St., Catskill with Father Sutcliffe and the Right Rev. David S. Ball officiating.

Private cremation will take place at the Albany Rural Crematorium in Menands.

Interment of his cremains will take place at a later date in the family plot of the Riverside Cemetery in Coxsackie.

Survivors include his brother Arthur and his wife Gertrude Beecher of Coxsackie; his nieces and nephews Carolyn Fletcher of South Glens Falls, Fred Curtis of Newtonville, Stephen Beecher of Coxsackie, Timothy Beecher of Harrisburg, Pa. and Joel Beecher of Earlton.

Raymond graduated from Greenville Central School and he earned a bachelor of science degree from Hartwick College and master’s of science degree from Boston University. Post-graduate at State University of Albany earned additional teaching and administrative certifications. He followed a teaching career, first at Oneonta High School and then as an assistant professor at Hartwick College. In later years after returning to Coxsackie, he was employed at the New York Vocational Institution as guidance supervisor until his retirement.

During World War II Raymond Beecher served in America’s armed forces in the U.S. Army, first in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations where he earned a special commendation and was subsequently in the European Theater of Operations until the close of the war. He was discharged with the rank of technical sergeant.

Mr. Beecher gave generously of his time and substance to a wide variety of charitable and educational causes. He was a president of the Hartwick College Alumni Association, receiving its highest Meritorious Service Award. He twice served as president of the Greene County Historical Society and more recently as chairman of its board of trustees. He was trustee of Friends of Olana, serving as its treasurer. The Vedder Research Library was of particular interest to him; he filled the unsalaried position of librarian. Several terms of service were given as the official historian of Greene County and the Town of Coxsackie. Local history was of special interest to Mr. Beecher, especially that of Greene County. During the nation’s American Revolution Bicentennial Celebration, he served as chairman of the Greene County American Revolution Bicentennial Committee. Later he coordinated the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the Greene County Courthouse. In 2000 he chaired the county’s 200th Birthday Celebration.

Mr. Beecher wrote and published extensively. He was the author of four books, and he established and served as the first editor of the Greene County Historical Journal. His weekly Greene Gleanings column was widely read.

On Aug. 29, 1996, in recognition of a lifetime of scholarly achievement of his alma mater, Hartwick College awarded Raymond Beecher the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. Earlier that year, the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, On-ti-Ora Chapter, presented him with their national Gold Medal of Honor for service to the state of the nation. The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development awarded him the prestigious Alf Evers Award in 2007. He was earlier honored with the first Greene Treasure Award by the Greene County Legislature on April 6, 2002.

Mr. Beecher was single-handedly the driving force and benefactor in saving the Cedar Grove — the Thomas Cole House — when it was available for purchase, and shepherded it into the ownership of the Greene County Historical Society in 1998.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Greene County Historical Society, P.O. Box 44, Coxsackie, N.Y. 12051 or to the Coxsackie VFW Post 10986, Coxsackie, N.Y. 12051.

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