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This site is dedicated to Edward LaClair, who's appreciation for Fort Edward
and the Adirondack's knew no bounds.
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I
had the deep pleasure of a too short relationship with Ed La Clair as he was my
Father In Law for close to 10 years. My
wife, his daughter, Joan and I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania so trips to Fort
Edward were not as often as we would have liked. Ed was one of the simplest complex persons that I have ever
had the pleasure to meet. It is too
bad that there are not more people like him as the world would indeed be a much
better place.
Ed
spent his entire life (with a few exceptions) in Fort Edward, as did his family
before him. He attended Utah State
University on a Football Scholarship and graduated in 1953.
His second excursion from Fort Edward began in April 1953 through March
1955 for a sojourn with the Army Air Corps in Korea.
Upon returning to Fort Edward, he began a 33-year career with the New
York State Department of Correctional Services.
He rose through the ranks starting as a correction officer at Great
Meadow and retiring in 1989 as Deputy Superintendent of Programs at the
Washington Correctional Facility. But
all of that is not what Ed was about, but more to how he came to be the person
that he was. His litanies of accomplishments, personally, professionally,
and for the community are long and glowing but there are other reasons why we
are doing this service. We, Joan
and I, share Ed's belief that Fort Edward is one great place to live and raise a
family.
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Ed
saw the possibilities for Fort Edward's growth and he donated his time freely to
make the community a better place. It
is for that reason that this site exists, so Ed can keep having an influence on
Fort Edward. He was elected as a
Trustee to the Village in 1992 and worked hard at doing his job.
He took the job because he was interested in the community and hoped to
make it a little better place. He
was fair and always tried to make sure the Citizens and the Village were treated
with respect. |
One
thing I find interesting about Ed is that he seemed to have a whole lot more
friends than enemies. But that is
not really surprising as Ed was always giving freely of himself to other persons
and the Community. Whether it was
caning a chair for someone, delivering food from the Food Bank, or dishing
coffee for the Lion's Club, he always had a smile. Ed spent countless hours cutting wooden crafts to be used for
fundraisers for our church in Pittsburgh. Even
though they had never met, people felt like they knew him because he had done so
much for our Church. We would be
home over Christmas and Ed would disappear to the barn saying "...Margaret
wanted me to...". There was
never a time to cold or inconvenient to respond to a request.
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Ed
had an enormous passion for the outdoors which was passed on by his father.
Being from the "city" I had no idea what a Pack Basket was
until I found several in the barn. He
did not hold a radical 'environmentalist' passion but one fueled by love, common
sense and knowledge of the outdoors. He
was a person who was as comfortable in Snowshoes as sneakers, who knew what it
took to build a dam or how to get a fishing shanty across a frozen lake safely.
He was indeed a true "Woodsman" in the finest sense. |
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I
miss Ed when we go home and walk in the house. There appears to be a large void
when I don't hear "What's going on?" from the living room.
When I hear those words in my head, I have to smile and hope.
I smile because I know that Ed is in a much better place than I with a
massive shop equipped with every tool imaginable and more than enough
'customers' plus an ample number of TV channels to flip through.
My hope is that I learned enough from Ed to see what was important.
What was important to Ed first and foremost was his family (Duncan
included), those that he mentored and what he thought was best for the place
that he knew best.
You
should have had the opportunity to know this man. For those few that had the pleasure, they understand what has
been so difficult to describe, as the words here have been many months in the
making. So in our own small way,
this Web Site is dedicated to Ed LaClair in the hopes that the world understands
that the Village and Town is a wonderful place to live, as Ed had done for all
of those years.
My
hopes are that this is to become a dynamic site, where information on the
Village, Town, Businesses and so forth continues to change and requires updating
with new news on Fort Edward. Ed
would like that, so if you would care to be notified of 'What's going on', please
click here.