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David Lalka, Ph.D., retired professor of pharmacology

September 3, 2013, 5:34 pm
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Sept. 21, 1946 - Aug. 22, 2013

David Lalka, Ph.D., a retired professor of pharmacology, died Aug. 22, 2013, in his Pittsburgh home. He was 66.

Born in Buffalo, Mr. Lalka grew up in Lackawanna, where he was a 1964 graduate of Lackawanna High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, in 1969, and a doctorate in biochemical pharmacology, in 1973, from the University at Buffalo. He was a graduate research assistant in UB’s department of biochemical pharmacology while earning his doctorate.

Dr. Lalka began his career as a research scientist with Astra Pharmaceuticals in Worcester, Mass., in 1973.

He worked a couple of years as an assistant professor of pharmacology and pathology in the School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, at San Antonio, before going to work as a professor of pharmaceutics at UB’s School of Pharmacy from 1977 to 1989.

During his time at UB, he also was director of the clinical pharmacokinetics laboratory at Buffalo General Hospital.

Dr. Lalka was professor of pharmaceutical sciences at West Virginia University’s School of Pharmacy from 1989 until his retirement in 2007.

Dr. Lalka published many articles in scientific journals. He also served as mentor and adviser to graduate students through the years.

An outdoorsman, he enjoyed hunting and fishing. Classical music and movies also were among his interests.

Survivors include a daughter, Mary Beth; two sons, James and Matthew; a sister, Lucille Powers; and a brother, Gerald.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 9:15 a.m. Saturday in Our Lady of Victory Basilica, South Park Avenue and Ridge Road, Lackawanna.
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Nelson Herdic, owned Clarence antique store

September 3, 2013, 6:14 pm
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May 31, 1931 - Sept. 2, 2013

Nelson Herdic, longtime owner of an antique store on Main Street in Clarence, died Monday in St. John Baptist Hospice, Buffalo. He was 82.

A Buffalo native and Clarence resident and one of 12 children, he served two years in the Army during the Korean War. He was a heavy-equipment mechanic before he started his own antique business in the 1980s.

“He was into everything really,” said Nancy Herdic, his wife. Some of his favorites included Roseville pottery with its colors and flowers, and Maxfield Parrish. Her husband liked the artist’s approach to light and shadows, and hung his collection of 30 prints on the stairway wall of their house.

He also enjoyed fishing for trout, playing golf and skiing with his wife. In the spring and fall, they had a tradition of going up to the Adirondack Mountains with friends.

“It’s just beautiful up there,” said Mrs. Herdic. “I loved that he was a sportsman.”

He was member of the Clarence Hollow Merchants Association, and for many years the couple skied with the Lederhosen Ski Club, which is how they met in about 1970.

Mrs. Herdic remembers being attracted to him for his sense of humor.

“He would pull pranks,” she said. “We had family reunions every year out in Rushford. He had a gorilla outfit, and he would come and scare the kids. It was fun.”

Survivors, besides his wife, include three daughters, Valerie Leidenfrost, Colleen Smolarek and Sandra Golonka; a son, David; and a brother, Donald.

A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Friday in Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 8900 Sheridan Drive, Clarence.
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Jack R. Geidel, grocery store owner, civic leader

September 3, 2013, 6:47 pm
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Jan. 14, 1927 – Aug. 23, 2013

Jack R. Geidel, a former grocery store owner and longtime school board president in Angola, died Aug. 23. He was 86.

Mr. Geidel was born and raised in Pennsylvania and moved to Angola after a stint in the U.S. Army. After arriving, he managed the Grandview Supermarket and became a sales representative for General Foods, where he received an award for Outstanding Sales Performance in Supermarket Services.

Later, Mr. Geidel owned Bells IGA grocery for nearly 20 years, often giving students at Lake Shore High School their first jobs. After the store closed, he operated an embroidery and screen printing business with one of his daughters, and he worked for National Fuel.

Mr. Geidel was on the Lake Shore Central School Board for 32 years, 26 of them as board president. He was a longtime member of the Lions Club, where he helped establish youth days at Crystal Beach. He was also a member of the Marine Midland Advisory Board, a member of the Board of Managers of Erie County Sewer District 2 and a committee member of the New York State School Boards Association.

Mr. Geidel was named Citizen of the Year by the Evans-Brant Chamber of Commerce and was an honorary member of the LSC Alumni Association. He was inducted into the Lake Shore “Wall of Fame” in 2007.

Survivors include his wife of 60 years, the former Anna M. Wockasen; two daughters, Andrea Lynn Wiley and Sandra Lewis; and a son, Timothy.

A memorial Mass will be offered at 10 a.m. Saturday in Most Precious Blood Catholic Church, 22 Prospect St., Angola.
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Dolores E. Marino, Niagara Falls teacher, library board member

September 4, 2013, 1:24 pm
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April 25, 1933 – Aug. 31, 2013

NIAGARA FALLS – Dolores E. Marino, a retired language teacher and president of the Niagara Falls Library board of trustees for many years, died Saturday in Mount St. Mary’s Hospital, Lewiston. She was 80.

Born in Niagara Falls, Miss Marino attended 17th Street Elementary School and Gaskill Middle School and was a graduate of Niagara Falls High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Buffalo State College and a master’s degree in library science from the University of Chicago.

A teacher and resource director in the Niagara Falls schools, she taught Latin, Spanish and German at North Junior High School and Niagara Falls High School.

Unable to fulfill her desire to become a school librarian after earning her graduate library degree, she became a library volunteer in 1974 and helped raise more than half a million dollars in donations for the city’s public libraries on Main Street and Buffalo Avenue.

In addition to serving as library board president, she was president of the Friends of the Niagara Falls Public Library and a board member of the three-county NIOGA Library System.

She also served as an officer in the Niagara Falls Teachers Retirees’ Association, the NYSUT Retired Teachers Association, the Niagara Women’s Club and the College Club.

Miss Marino was a lifelong member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, serving as a lector and a member of the parish financial committee. She also was a member of Power City Lodge, Italian Sons and Daughters of America, and the Niagara Falls Friends of Local History.

A prolific reader, she collected a wide variety of books. She also enjoyed knitting, crocheting, tapestry and woodworking.

Survivors include three brothers, Dr. John A.R., Louis D. Jr. and Richard J., and three sisters, Joanne Marino McGreevy, Lucia McGovern and Mary Jo Meli.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. today in Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Parish at St. Joseph Church, 1413 Pine Ave.
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Area Deaths

September 4, 2013, 5:35 pm
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Anna R. (Hazuda) Angier, 93, of Kenmore, died Sept. 1.

Dolores A. (Benedict) Annis, died Sept. 1.

Florence C. (Kleszcz) Berowski, 88, died Sept. 2.

Brenda R. Brown, 51, of Depew, died Aug. 30.

Dean D. Burns, died Sept. 1.

Herman E. Bushover Jr., 70, of North Tonawanda, owner/operator of Herman’s Workshop in North Tonawanda, died Aug. 31.

David M. Buyer, of Orchard Park, died Sept. 2.

Rita R. Carroll, of East Aurora, died Sept. 1.

Tammy Jean Cieslewicz, of Cheektowaga, died Aug. 31.

Mae F. Coates, of Town of Tonawanda, died Sept. 1.

Patricia (Burns) Czamara, died Aug. 29.

Mary M. (Finucane) Dunbar, 84, died Sept. 1.

Barbara (Stoetzel) Frost, of Lancaster, died Sept. 1.

Howard J. Green, Army veteran during the Korean War, died Aug. 30.

Billie Jean Harper, of Grand Island, died Aug. 31.

Emmett T. Harrigan Sr., died Sept. 1.

Gloria M. Hawkins, died Sept. 2.

Rita Marie (Henel) Heim, of East Amherst, died Sept. 1.

Nelson John Herdic, died Sept. 2.

Pamela M. (Landes) Hinton, of Hamburg, Sept. 1.

Salvatore V. Incorvaia, 87, of Williamsville, died Sept. 1.

Marie E. (Enser) Linstrom, of Hamburg, died Sept. 2.

Ruth M. (Schulenberg) Long, 87, died Sept. 2.

Rose M. (Budlong) Marchetti, 83, died Sept. 2.

Eleanor (Brant) Martiin, died Sept. 2.

John A. Maza, of West Seneca, died Sept. 3.

Eileen C. (Hardy) Mecca, of Clarence, formerly of Kenmore, died Aug. 31.

Bernadette M. (Hughes) Miller, died Sept. 1.

Geraldine (Igoe) Norsen, died Sept. 3.

Shirley A. (Williams) Novo, 79, died Sept. 2.

Ann Marie O’Day, 75, Navy veteran who served from 1963 to 1993, and retired from General Motors after 32 years, died Aug. 30.

Richard J. O’Neill, 90, died Sept. 1.

Ruth E. (Leverentz) Peachy Bergen, 96, formerly of Hamburg, formerly executive secretary to the president of Loblaws, died Aug. 30.

Edward “Peppy” Petrocy, of East Aurora, died Sept. 3.

Lillian E. (Hurst) Phair, 98, formerly of Arcade, died Sept. 2.

Lucy S. (Sardinia) Pinto, died Sept. 2.

John D. Pittsley Sr., 85, of Westerville, Ohio, died Sept. 1.

Arthur C. Schaeffer, died Sept. 3.

Blaine F. “Sid” Sidler, 66, of Duncansville, Pa., Army veteran of Vietnam War who was awarded two Bronze Stars, died Aug. 31.

Esther M. Smith, 86, of Naples, Fla., formerly of Buffalo, died Aug. 28.

Gloria (Fyda) Snyder, died Sept. 1.

Joseph S. Szafraniec, died Aug. 29.

Michelle L. Szewczyk, of Lackawanna, died Sept. 2.

David G. Tarbell, 63, died Sept. 2.

J. Jeffrey Todd, died Aug. 30.

Pauline Torrey, died Aug. 31.

Frances W. (Wozniak) Troeak, 90, of Huntington, formerly of Buffalo, died Aug. 31.

William J. Wallace, of Buffalo, died Aug. 31.

Eugene J. Zak, died Sept. 2.
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Arthur C. Schaeffer, educator in TV production at SUNY Buffalo State

September 4, 2013, 5:40 pm
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June 8, 1928 – Sept. 3, 2013

Arthur C. Schaeffer, an educator in television production, died Tuesday in his Town of Tonawanda home after a short illness. He was 85.

Born in Buffalo, Mr. Schaeffer graduated from Kenmore High School in 1944 and enlisted in the Marines during World War II. In 1953, he received a bachelor’s degree in drama and speech from the University at Buffalo and married the former Lucille Jesell.

He began his career at WGR-TV in 1956 as a floor director, lighting director and set builder. He was named a producer-director at the station in 1960 and remained in that role until 1965 when he moved cross-country for post-graduate work at San Diego State University. He graduated in 1972 with a master’s degree in radio and television.

He returned to the area and was hired as a producer-director and adjunct assistant professor in the Journalism, Broadcast and Speech department at SUNY Buffalo State. He coordinated foreign exchange visits as part of the American Field Service, serving as president from 1972 to 1973.

After 30 years of teaching at Buffalo State, Mr. Schaeffer retired but stayed active at the school by recording Buffalo State Bengals football games.

Missionary work took him in 2003 and 2004 to Haiti where he helped build an orphanage and New Orleans in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Until two weeks before his death, Mr. Schaeffer cared for a friend who suffers from cerebral palsy.

He was a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years and four daughters, Kim Hughes, Tracy Paladino, Darcy Zekas and Lisa Jo.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday in First Trinity Lutheran Church, 1570 Niagara Falls Blvd., Town of Tonawanda.
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Soul legend Barbara St. Clair dies

September 5, 2013, 10:19 am
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Barbara St Clair
The Buffalo music community has lost a beloved member. Barbara St. Clair, the woman rightly dubbed "Buffalo's Queen of Soul," died on Wednesday at the age of 71, after a long battle with brain cancer. 

St. Clair began her career in the 1960s, as a member of R&B vocal group the Sessions. Later, she formed her own band, Barbara St. Clair & the Pin-Kooshins, and eventually landed as powerhouse vocalist with revered soul/blues outfit the Houserockers. 

St. Clair spent the '80s outside of the music business, concentrating on the education she'd abandoned in favor of performing as a teenager. She returned to the spotlight in the early 90s, fronting the band she would perform with until the end, the Shadows. St. Clair was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 1991.

Shadows bassist and musical director Chris Haug, in a statement posted on Facebook Thursday morning, had this to say about his time with St. Clair.

"It has been my honor to have shared the stage with very special person for over 20 years, and (I'm) humbled that she considered me her band leader. I will never meet a finer singer, a better teacher, a more giving person, or a truer friend. Her voice is that of an angel and her beauty truly radiates from the heart.

"Barb loved performing and she loved her audience equally. Her fans were her friends. It was her nature to care for others. She was always there to do a benefit for a fellow musician or to just listen with compassion and understanding to anyone in need … friend or stranger. Even after she became ill, when Barb and I talked, she would always first ask how my family was doing. She would bring up a memory or two of my daughters, and a difficult conversation would turn into one where we would end up sharing a laugh or two. 

"Sad as today is, I do take much comfort in the outpouring of support from her friends and fans, (one and the same) and from the Buffalo music community, always standing ready to come to the aid of a fellow musician. As much as it hurts we need to believe that Barb is in a better place, heading for better gigs. As a matter of fact, I do believe she will have her pick of gigs now. Look out Etta James ... Barbara St Clair is taking the stage." 

On Sept. 14, friends, fans, and fellow members of the Buffalo music community will gather at the Sportsmen's Tavern, 326 Amherst St., for a St. Clair tribute concerts, proceeds from which will go to the singer's family. The event will be hosted by the Shadows, and will feature guest performances from many of the musicians who performed alongside St. Clair over the years.

- Jeff Miers

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David M. Buyer, former Orchard Park councilman

September 5, 2013, 2:21 pm
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Aug. 19, 1939 – Sept. 2, 2013

David M. Buyer, a former Orchard Park councilman and adjunct college professor, died unexpectedly Monday at his Orchard Park home. He was 74.

Born in Buffalo, Mr. Buyer graduated from Kenmore High School in 1957. He attended Buffalo State College for a short time before joining the Army, where he served in military intelligence while stationed in Germany.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Regents College and a master’s from Capella University.

Mr. Buyer worked as a purchasing agent at International Multifoods Corp. from 1966 until 1988. He worked at South Park Electric Co. for four years, then with Business Growth Partners Inc. as a part-time consultant until 1998.

Mr. Buyer was an adjunct professor at Bryant & Stratton College from 1999 until 2008. Most recently, he was an adjunct business professor at Daemen College and Erie Community College, positions he held at the time of his death.

Mr. Buyer, a Republican, was also active in the Orchard Park community. He served on the town’s Conservation Board from 1978 to 1984; the Town Planning Board from 1984 to 1990; and as a town councilman from 1990 until 2003.

He enjoyed riding his motorcycle.

Mr. Buyer is survived by his wife of 49 years, the former Dianne VanLier; a daughter, Deborah A.; two sons, David Jr. and Daniel P.; and a sister, Barbara Danz.

Services will be at 10 a.m. today in St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4536 S. Buffalo St., Orchard Park.
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Ann Marie O’Day, among first female Navy Seabees

September 5, 2013, 2:27 pm
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July 29, 1938 – Aug. 30, 2013

Ann Marie O’Day, of Cheektowaga, who was one of the first women to become a Navy Seabee, died Friday in HighPointe on Michigan nursing home after a lengthy illness. She was 75.

Born in Buffalo, she attended Our Mother of Divine Grace School in Cheektowaga and was a 1956 graduate of Bishop McMahon High School.

Miss O’Day worked for General Motors for 32 years, first as a switchboard operator at the Chevrolet plant in the Town of Tonawanda, then as a secretary in the Buffalo zone office. When that office closed, she transferred to the zone office in Syracuse for two years, then returned to become secretary to the plant manager at Harrison Radiator Corp. in Lockport. She retired in 1988.

She joined the Naval Reserve in 1963, was a Navy Cadet leader and became a Seabee after the chief of naval operations announced in 1972 that female naval personnel would be granted entry into all Navy ratings. She retired in 1992 as a chief warrant officer.

Active in Island X-5, U.S. Navy Seabee Veterans of America, she served as recording secretary and helped arrange many conventions and social events.

Elected in 1996 as the national organization’s first publications chairwoman, she also was editor of the national organization’s quarterly publication, CAN DO.

She traveled extensively around the world and visited 48 of the 50 states. For many years, she attended the Kentucky Derby.

A Depew resident until about 10 years ago, she lived in Clarence for several years before moving to Cheektowaga.

Survivors include three sisters, Patricia Mika, Judith Cooke and Kathleen Geddes.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. today in St. Martha Parish, formerly Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 10 French Road, Depew.
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Mary Joan Hassett Turner, leader in cultural scene

September 5, 2013, 4:27 pm
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June 16, 1934 – Sept. 2, 2013

Mary Joan Hassett Turner, the wife of longtime Buffalo News Washington Bureau Chief Douglas L. Turner and an important figure in the Buffalo cultural scene of the 1960s and 1970s, died of cardiac arrest Monday in Fairfax, Va. She was 79.

Known to friends and family as Mimi, Mrs. Turner played a leading role in arts organizations and the local theater scene as her husband worked his way up to become editor of the Buffalo Courier-Express.

She graduated from Holy Angels Academy and later attended D’Youville College. She graduated from Rosary Hill College – now Daemen College – with a Bachelor of Arts in art education.

Involved in theater as far back as high school, she starred in several plays at Canisius College’s Little Theater in her college days.

“Mary Joan had great joie de vivre,” said former Rep. John J. LaFalce, D-Town of Tonawanda, who played the role of her husband in “Antigone” and the role of her boyfriend in “Lilliom,” another Canisius production. “She was filled with life. And she was a great actress. She instinctively knew how to appreciate the role and live the role.”

She also starred as Yelena in the University at Buffalo’s production of Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” as Maisie Maddigan in Sean O’Casey’s “Juno and the Paycock” and as Abbie in Eugene O’Neill’s “Desire Under the Elms.”

In addition, Mrs. Turner taught drama and produced and directed plays at St. Mary’s Academy, Nardin Academy and at D’Youville, topping off her work there with a production of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes.”

To benefit the International Institute of Buffalo, Mrs. Turner for several years staged productions of plays by the French playwright Moliere – recruiting local community and business leaders to play the roles, and the late financier Irving Levick to play the violin in a small orchestra.

Mrs. Turner’s brother, Peter Hassett, recalled that while he was in a bar near Studio Arena Theatre at the time, he overheard the theater’s artistic director, Neal du Brock, say: “I’d like to do Moliere, but Mimi Turner’s got that locked up.”

As a member of the Junior Board of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, she co-produced and wrote a performance at the Studio Arena of readings honoring women achievers and helped produce an exhibit at the gallery for the blind she called “The Matter at Hand.”

On the civic front, she was a strong defender of city parks and a power behind the scenes in helping to create the Theater District in the 1970s, particularly in helping to form a civic group that saved Shea’s Performing Arts Center from bankruptcy and prevented the stripping of its artifacts.

After moving to Washington in 1981 when her husband joined the Courier-Express Washington bureau, she became a director at the Mount Vernon Children’s Theater, directing performances of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” and Shakespeare’s “Richard III.”

Through it all, she was a colorful and vivacious presence. LaFalce recalled that 30 or 40 years after he acted with Mrs. Turner, she would bump into him and instantly start reciting lines from the plays they did together. And on visits to The Buffalo News Washington bureau and elsewhere, she would impulsively make intensely creative drawings to hand out to those she met.

“She dropped drawings around like the leaflets of an evangelist,” her brother Peter recalled. “And they were always whimsical and always well done.”

Married for 51 years, Mrs. Turner is survived by her husband, who lives in Springfield, Va.; two sons, Christopher H. and the Rev. Albert W. II; and a daughter, Mary Julia.

A funeral Mass will be offered at 11:30 a.m. Saturday in St. Mark Catholic Church, 401 Woodward Ave.

– Jerry Zremski
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Edward Petrocy, founder, owner of jewelry store

September 5, 2013, 8:36 pm
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Sept. 24, 1920 – Sept. 3, 2013

Edward “Peppy” Petrocy, of East Aurora, founder and owner of Petrocy Jewelers, died Tuesday in Buffalo General Medical Center. He was 92.

Born in Buffalo, he served in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and was a Navy veteran.

A watchmaker, he established Petrocy Jewelers in 1946 and operated a store on Dale Road in Cheektowaga for so many years that the Town of Cheektowaga changed the name of a nearby street to Peppy’s Place. That store closed in 2005, but his son Tracy continues the family business in a shop on Main Street in East Aurora.

A Chamber of Commerce member, Mr. Petrocy was a lifetime member of Rescue Hose Company 1 in Cheektowaga and a charter member of the Pvt. Leonard Post Jr. Post 6251, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Tamarack Sportsmen’s Club.

An avid golfer, he was a longtime member of the East Aurora Country Club, won numerous golf tournaments and shot two holes-in-one. He also was a bowler, a baseball player, a deep-sea fisherman and a deer hunter.

Survivors include his wife of 59 years, the former Regina Bagrowski; four sons, Jeffrey, Kevin, Lindsay and Tracy; and a daughter, Renee Pollinger.

Funeral services will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Pacer Funeral Home, 2275 George Urban Blvd., Depew.
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‘Master criminal’ Thomas Gascoyne, a colorful rogue and ‘retired gangster,’ dies at 88

September 5, 2013, 10:20 pm
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In his later years, people would sometimes ask Thomas G. “Tommy” Gascoyne what he had done for a living.

“I’m a retired gangster,” he would answer with a sly smile.

Only Gascoyne could know for sure about the “retired” part, but he really was a gangster – a colorful, wily master thief. And, according to police, he probably got away with thousands of nonviolent crimes in a Buffalo-area career of lawlessness that lasted more than 50 years.

Gascoyne, who also spent time working as an undercover informant and helped police and FBI agents make nearly 200 arrests, died Sunday in his West Side home after a long illness. He was 88.

“He reveled in his reputation as a master criminal,” said one of his daughters, Angel Tomczak, of Amherst. “He was never ashamed of being Tommy Gascoyne. He was never ashamed of the life he lived.

“I was never ashamed to be his daughter. To me, he was a wonderful father.”

A Buffalo native, Gascoyne was born July 12, 1925, and grew up on the West Side and in Riverside. He was known as a burglar, arsonist, car thief and insurance fraud artist with close ties to organized crime. And he also was known as Thomas Murray.

Gascoyne long contended that he had committed thousands of crimes but only got caught for a few of them, and he was never convicted of a felony until he was nearly 70 years old.

During the mid-1970s, he went undercover for police in a sting operation that resulted in 181 convictions and uncovered crimes that cost victims $7 million, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.

He joined the Federal Witness Protection Program in 1978, and with help from the FBI, moved to Chesapeake, Va., where he worked as a handyman. But in 1985, Gascoyne got into trouble again, when Virginia police accused him of running a major burglary ring.

Gascoyne fled to Buffalo, and he was captured at a West Side home in August 1985, shooting himself in the belly just as FBI agents were breaking down the doors to arrest him.

“I was there when it happened. I was 17,” Tomczak recalled. “Just before he shot himself, he said, ‘They’ll never take me alive.’ ”

Gascoyne survived the shooting and wound up pleading guilty to a stolen-property charge in Virginia. And he lived 28 more years.

Two retired law enforcement officials remember him well.

“He was a very accomplished individual,” said Donald E. Hartnett, a retired FBI special agent who investigated Gascoyne and also used him as an informant. “Tommy could take a car apart and put it back together again. He committed a lot of burglaries, and he was a mentor to a lot of younger burglars. He did a lot of good and a lot of bad.”

Gascoyne’s crimes included corrupting some local police officers, recalled Edward C. Cosgrove, a Buffalo lawyer who was Erie County’s DA from 1974 until 1981.

As an undercover operative, Gascoyne helped Cosgrove’s office solve hundreds of crimes, but in an interview this week, Cosgrove stopped far short of calling Gascoyne a hero.

“Good gracious, no. … I’d call him an enemy of the people,” Cosgrove said. “He was a wily, clever and intelligent criminal. … He was very dangerous – not in a violent way, but in the way he influenced certain people in the law enforcement community.”

Gascoyne last made local news reports in November 1995, when he entered state prison at age 70 to begin serving a sentence of at least two years for burglarizing a Town of Tonawanda home in 1993.

At the time, he insisted to The Buffalo News that he was innocent of the burglary and that a “kangaroo court” had convicted him. He contended that police unfairly targeted him because of his other criminal exploits.

“I didn’t do anything,” Gascoyne said in an interview after the Tonawanda arrest. “It’s my name – Gascoyne. That’s what did it.”

After that last conviction, Gascoyne lived an exemplary life, according to his daughter. She said he lived on the West Side, worked as a handyman and doted on his grandchildren. She said Gascoyne loved going to garage sales and reselling some of the items he had purchased.

“I never heard him tell his grandkids, ‘Don’t commit crimes like I did,’ but I think he would tell them stories about all the things he was involved in because he didn’t want them to go down the same path,” said Tomczak, who works as an accountant. “He wasn’t ashamed of what he did, but he didn’t want them to do those things.”

Many of his relatives were estranged from Gascoyne because of his criminal reputation, Tomczak said.

“He taught me some good habits and some bad ones,” she said. “He taught me never to sit at a restaurant with your back to the door. He could crack open the combination lock on a safe faster than my husband could open it with the combination.”

Tomczak said Gascoyne was essentially “kicked out” of the federal Witness Protection Program after getting into trouble in Virginia.

“After that, he lived in Buffalo and never tried to hide who he was from anyone,” she said.

After helping put dozens, if not hundreds, of criminals in prison, was Gascoyne ever targeted for retribution?

His daughter was never aware of any violence or threats directed at him. In fact, she said, she and her father attended a Buffalo wedding about 10 years ago, and many of Buffalo’s most notorious mobsters were at the same wedding.

Some well-known members of Buffalo’s Mafia family “sat two tables away from us. They didn’t talk to my dad, but they didn’t harass him, either,” she said.

Hartnett offered another explanation of why Gascoyne survived.

“He never really helped us put any of the top, most powerful mob people in jail,” he said.

According to his daughter, Gascoyne is survived by his third wife, Joanne Murray Gascoyne; seven sons, Bill Gascoyne, Thomas Gascoyne Jr., Glenn Gascoyne, Daniel Gascoyne, Scott Murray, Tracy Murray and Salvatore Mancuso; and another daughter, April Murray.

Private services are being arranged.

“Let’s hope he’s in heaven and that he repented and said his acts of contrition,” said Cosgrove, a devout Catholic. “Let’s hope he did some good in his later years to gain his peace after death.”

email: dherbeck@buffnews.com
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Joseph J. Jantschi, retired district sales manager

September 6, 2013, 2:03 pm
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Aug. 26, 1925 – Sept. 3, 2013

Joseph J. Jantschi, formerly of Snyder, died Tuesday in Harris Hill Nursing Home Facility, Lancaster. He was 88.

Born in Rochester, he graduated from Webster High School in 1944. He was a veteran of World War II, serving with the U.S. Army Air Forces at Keesler Air Base, Biloxi, Miss.

Mr. Jantschi was employed as a district sales manager for John Morrell Foods in Buffalo and previously with Tobin Packing Co. in Hornell, retiring in 1987.

He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Margaret; a daughter, Kathleen Callahan; and two sons, Stephen and Mike.

The funeral service will be private.
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Charles F. Knaus, retired truck driver, prisoner of war in World War II

September 6, 2013, 5:47 pm
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Jan. 15, 1925 – Sept. 3, 2013

Charles F. Knaus, of Williamsville, a trucker and a prisoner of war during World War II, died Tuesday in St. John the Baptist Hospice House after a short illness. He was 88.

Born in Buffalo, he attended school in West Seneca and began working as a boy with his father and uncle, who trucked produce to New York City.

He enlisted in the Army in 1943 and served as a rifleman in Italy, where he was wounded in both legs in February 1944. Captured a few days later by the Germans, he was held in seven camps before he was liberated by American forces on May 7, 1945. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Returning from service, Mr. Knaus worked as a truck driver and joined with his brother, William, to establish Knaus Brothers Trucking.

In the mid-1960s, he began working with Riverside Service Corp. as a truck owner and operator, hauling steel from the Bethlehem Steel Corp. plant in Lackawanna. Although he retired about 15 years ago, he continued driving as he assisted his son in his truck sales business.

He attended Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church in Clarence and its Bible study group.

His wife of 62 years, Elsie Trautman Knaus, died in 2008.

Survivors include a daughter, Barbara A. Habes; and a son, Charles G.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday in Amigone Funeral Home, 8440 Main St., Clarence.
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Area Deaths

September 6, 2013, 8:08 pm
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Charles Amerson, died Sept. 2

Anna R. (Hazuda) Angier, 93, of Kenmore, died Sept. 1.

Dolores A. (Benedict) Annis, died Sept. 1.

Florence C. (Kleszcz) Berowski, 88, died Sept. 2

Jack Bready, died Aug. 31.

Brenda R. Brown, 51, of Depew, died Aug. 30.

Dean D. Burns, died Sept. 1

Herman E. Bushover Jr., 70, of North Tonawanda, owner and operator of Herman’s Workshop in North Tonawanda, died Aug. 31.

Rita R. Carroll, of East Aurora, died Sept. 1.

Barbara J. (Santucci) Chrostowski, died Sept. 3.

Tammy Jean Cieslewicz, of Cheektowaga, died Aug. 31.

Mae F. Coates, of the Town of Tonawanda, died Sept. 1.

Patricia (Burns) Czamara, died Aug. 29.

Robert W. Davies Jr., 58, of Tonawanda, died Sept. 3.

Cornelius J. Downey, died Sept. 3.

Mary M. (Finucane) Dunbar, 84, died Sept. 1.

Barbara (Stoetzel) Frost, of Lancaster, died Sept. 1.

Richard H. Futch, 68, of Ashville, an Army veteran, died Sept. 3.

Sarah M. (Knapp) George, of Orchard Park, died Sept. 5.

Howard J. Green, Army veteran during the Korean War, died Aug. 30.

Jean J. (Watson) Grimmer, 74, died Sept. 3.

Maureen M. (Glowacki) Hall, of Cheektowaga, died Sept. 1.

Billie Jean Harper, of Grand Island, died Aug. 31.

Emmett T. Harrigan Sr., died Sept. 1.

Gloria M. Hawkins, died Sept. 2.

Rita Marie (Henel) Heim, of East Amherst, died Sept. 1.

Nelson John Herdic, died Sept. 2.

Pamela M. (Landes) Hinton, of Hamburg, died Sept. 1.

Salvatore V. Incorvaia, 87, of Williamsville, died Sept. 1.

Mario Jacasa, died Aug. 28.

Joseph J. Jantschi, of Snyder, Army veteran, died Sept. 3.

Marjorie (Balcerzak) Jonas, died Sept. 3.

David Kerr, General Motors retiree, died Sept. 3.

Charles F. Knaus, 88, World War II Army veteran, died Sept. 3.

Daniel P. Kosmanski, 92, World War II Army veteran, died Sept. 2.

Sophie Krawiec, died Sept. 3.

Ruth O. Krull, 97, formerly of North Tonawanda, owner of Krull Coal Oil Co. and Payne Avenue Supply, died Sept. 3.

Ritamae M. (Seth) Lane, died Aug. 12.

Robert J. Lang, Navy veteran, died Sept. 4.

Marie E. (Enser) Linstrom, of Hamburg, died Sept. 2.

Ruth M. (Schulenberg) Long, 87, died Sept. 2.

Donna Rae (Stoldt) Lux, formerly of Alden, died Sept. 2.

Rose M. (Budlong) Marchetti, 83, of Grand Island, died Sept. 2.

Eleanor (Brant) Martin, died Sept. 2.

Ervin Maye Jr., of Buffalo, died Aug. 31.

John A. Maza, of West Seneca, died Sept. 3.

Carol A. McDonough, died Aug. 27.

Eileen C. (Hardy) Mecca, of Clarence, formerly of Kenmore, died Aug. 31.

Bernadette M. (Hughes) Miller, died Sept. 1.

Darrell W. Miller, of Orchard Park, died Sept. 4.

Wayne W. Moran, formerly of Buffalo, Vietnam Marine veteran, died Aug. 30.

Faye S. (Tiffany) Narbe, of East Aurora, died Sept. 2.

Kenneth W. Nedell, 46, of the City of Tonawanda, died Sept. 4.

Rocco F. Nigro, 90, World War II Army veteran and longtime U.S. postal employee, died Sept. 5.

Geraldine (Igoe) Norsen, died Sept. 3.

Shirley A. (Williams) Novo, 79, died Sept. 2.

Richard J. O’Neill, 90, died Sept. 1.

Wilbert A. Ostwald, 92, of Tonawanda, a World War II Army veteran, retired from Spaulding Fibre Co., died Sept. 4.

Ruth E. (Leverentz) Peachy Bergen, 96, formerly of Hamburg, formerly executive secretary to the president of Loblaws, died Aug. 30.

Virginia A. (Glowacki) Palka-Swiecicki, 95, formerly of Tonawanda, died Sept. 3.

Charles A. Paternostro Jr., 67, formerly of Farnham, retired from the U.S. Army and served in the Air Force, Navy Reserve and National Guard, died Aug. 30.

Joseph R. Penvose, 74, of Amherst, retired physical education teacher and coach at Tonawanda High School and athletic director for the City of Tonawanda schools, died Sept. 3.

Arnaldo Petrilli, died Sept. 4.

Lillian E. (Hurst) Phair, 98, formerly of Arcade, died Sept. 2.

Lucy S. (Sardinia) Pinto, died Sept. 2.

John D. Pittsley Sr., 85, of Westerville, Ohio, died Sept. 1.

Walter Dennis Plekan, 69, former ironworker with Local 6, died Sept. 3.

William P. Richter, died Sept. 1.

Joan M. (Gunther) Rick, died Sept. 4.

Arthur C. Schaeffer, died Sept. 3.

Blaine F. “Sid” Sidler, 66, of Duncansville, Pa., Army veteran of the Vietnam War, died Aug. 31.

Maryanna M. Sitzlow, 77, of Batavia, died Sept. 3.

Esther M. Smith, 86, of Naples, Fla., formerly of Buffalo, died Aug. 28.

Jeffrey A. “Smitty” Smith, 69, of Lewiston and Niagara Falls, died Aug. 31.

Gloria (Fyda) Snyder, died Sept. 1.

Michael J. Sullivan, English teacher at Frontier High School, died Sept. 3.

Joseph S. Szafraniec, died Aug. 29.

Michelle L. Szewczyk, of Lackawanna, died Sept. 2.

David G. Tarbell, 63, died Sept. 2.

J. Jeffrey Todd, a medical assistant at Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center, died Aug. 30.

Pauline Torrey, died Aug. 31.

Hattie M. Traywick, of Buffalo, died Aug. 26.

Joshua Y. Tsujimoto, 93, died Aug. 23.

Frank J. Tuzzolino Sr., died Sept. 4.

Frances W. (Wozniak) Troeak, 90, of Huntington, formerly of Buffalo, died Aug. 31.

William J. Wallace, of Buffalo, died Aug. 31.

Edward J. Wochensky, of Kenmore, died Sept. 5.

Donald R. Yoder, of the Town of Tonawanda, World War II Navy veteran, died Aug. 13.

Eugene J. Zak, of West Seneca, died Sept. 2.

Helen E. (Weibel) Zakowski, of Buffalo, died Sept. 5.

Mary E. (Platt) Zwilling, 99, of West Seneca, died Sept. 4.
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Search

Barbara Spivey, known as ‘Buffalo’s Queen of Soul’

September 7, 2013, 2:19 pm
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Oct. 17, 1941 – Sept. 4, 2013

Barbara Spivey, known professionally as Barbara St. Clair and the woman dubbed “Buffalo’s Queen of Soul,” died on Wednesday at the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care after a long battle with brain cancer. She was 71.

Ms. Spivey started singing when she was 8 and began her career in the 1960s as a member of R&B vocal group the Sessions. Later, she formed her own band, Barbara St. Clair & the Pin-Kooshins, and eventually landed as a vocalist with the soul/blues outfit the Houserockers.

She spent the 1980s outside of the music business, resuming her education and entering a career in nursing care. She returned to the spotlight in the early ’90s, fronting the band she would perform with until the end, the Shadows. She was well-known to audiences around Buffalo, performing often in the Shadow Lounge and at venues such as the M&T Noontime Concert Series and the Taste of Buffalo. She was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 1991.

Shadows bassist and musical director Chris Haug, in a statement posted on Facebook, had this to say about her:

“I will never meet a finer singer, a better teacher, a more giving person, or a truer friend. Her voice is that of an angel and her beauty truly radiates from the heart.”

Ms. Spivey was born Barbara Herrod in Birmingham, Ala. She was a graduate of East High School and worked for Allcare Family Services as a home health care aide until her retirement.

Ms. Spivey is survived by two sons, Jackie and Andre; a daughter, Dawn Scott; and a sister, Sheila Smith.

Friends are invited to attend visitation at noon Wednesday in True Bethel Baptist Church, 907 E. Ferry St. Funeral services will follow at 1 p.m. Also, from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday, friends, fans and fellow members of the Buffalo music community will gather at the Sportsmen’s Tavern, 326 Amherst St., for a Barbara St. Clair tribute concert. The event, hosted by the Shadows, will feature performances from many of the musicians who performed alongside her over the years.
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Santo J. Gugliuzza, 95, insurance agent, professional drummer

September 7, 2013, 2:40 pm
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Nov. 1, 1917 – Sept. 5, 2013

Santo J. Gugliuzza, insurance agent, professional drummer and World War II veteran, died Thursday in Absolut Care in Gasport after a lengthy illness. He was 95.

Mr. Gugliuzza was born and raised in Buffalo, where he graduated from high school and lived most of his life on the city’s West Side.

He was drafted into the Navy during World War II and was honorably discharged in 1946. Mr. Gugliuzza spent most of his career working as an agent for Prudential Insurance but also played drums professionally with numerous bands for more than 50 years.

He also played drums for his friends and family during his 90th birthday party.

Mr. Gugliuzza was a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Validome Club in Buffalo. He and his wife, Anna, moved to Lockport several years ago to be closer to family.

He was an avid artist and a member of the Market Street Art Gallery. He enjoyed painting scenes and animals, and continued painting until a couple of months ago.

Besides his wife, the former Anna F. Gioeli, Mr. Gugliuzza is survived by a daughter, Sandra A. Benevento; and a son, Richard P. Guluzza. .

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Monday in Holy Angels Catholic Church, 348 Porter Ave. Prayers will be said at 9:15 in Amigone Funeral Home, 2600 Sheridan Drive, Town of Tonawanda.
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Rochus Misch, Hitler’s bodyguard, dies at 96; called boss ‘friendly, nice’

September 7, 2013, 5:18 pm
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July 29, 1917 – Sept. 5, 2013

WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON – Rochus Misch, who spent five years as Adolf Hitler’s square-jawed bodyguard, courier, telephone operator and all-around attendant and was widely believed to be the last surviving veteran of the Nazi leader’s bunker as the Soviet army closed in on Berlin, died Sept. 5 at 96.

His death, of undisclosed causes in the German capital, was confirmed to the Associated Press by Burkhard Nachtigall, who helped Mr. Misch write a best-selling memoir, “The Last Witness.”

Misch was serving in the German army when, in 1939, he was shot in the chest during combat in Modlin, Poland. He received a commendation for bravery. During his convalescence, he was selected for duty in the SS as part of the elite guard escorting Hitler.

He rang up commanding generals at the fuhrer’s request, welcomed visiting dignitaries, brought hot water bottles at night when Hitler shivered – and he laughed at his jokes. He ended the war as chief of communications, overseeing the bunker switchboard.

Misch spent years at the core of the Nazi apparatus, but he said he was ignorant of the machinery of death that defined the regime.

He described being essentially walled off from news about the mass murder of Jews and the brutality of concentration camps.

In interviewers decades later, Misch did not deny the Holocaust. He said he had “no idea of the scale” of the killing. He blamed the extermination of Jews not on Hitler but on SS commander Heinrich Himmler.

He said he could not fathom the “friendly, nice” man he knew as Hitler as a sociopath. When Misch married in 1942, Hitler sent the newlyweds 40 bottles of wine and 1,000 German marks. He was a “good boss” adored by his staff, Misch said. He liked to stay up watching movies such as “Gone With the Wind.” He was “a real human being” who took battlefield defeats to heart and welled up with tears.

If Misch’s banal reminiscences lent him the sheen of Hitler apologist, some historians have remarked that he provided convincing first-person testimony that supported accounts of the fuhrer’s final desperate months, days and hours.

Hitler ally Benito Mussolini was executed in Italy on April 28, 1945, as the Soviets were quickly advancing on Berlin. Misch said Hitler made preparations for himself and his new wife, Eva Braun, not to die at the hands of his enemy.

An unease filtered through the bunker, which Misch dubbed “the coffin of concrete.”

“Everyone was waiting for the shot,” Misch told the (London) Daily Telegraph in 2000. “We were expecting it. I had just said to the technicians, ‘I am going over [to Hitler’s office,] can I fetch you anything?’ And they said no. Then came the shot. I was just six meters away from him when he did it.”

Heinz Linge, Hitler’s valet, “took me to one side and we went in, just after the shot,” he said. “I saw Hitler slumped by the table. I did not see any blood on his head. And I saw Eva with her knees drawn up lying next to him on the sofa – wearing a white and blue blouse, with a little collar: just a little thing. I was just a young man then. That is why it stays with me so strongly.”

He said he declined to leave the bunker to look at Hitler’s corpse as it was set aflame outside, in part out of fear that the Gestapo would shoot any witnesses.

With Hitler dead, those left behind were on edge about their fate. Misch said he saw Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and his wife, Magda, make preparations to kill their six children and themselves before the Soviets could get them.

Misch was one of the last people in bunker relieved of duty, and he was soon captured by the Soviets. When his identity was revealed, he was shipped to a Moscow military prison and brutally interrogated because the Soviets did not believe Hitler was really dead.

“They stripped me and then they whipped my testicles and I lost consciousness,” he told the Telegraph. A series of further indignities followed. “After a while,” he said, “I ceased to be a human being.”

He said he wrote to the head of the secret police requesting execution. Instead, he was sent to prison camps before being released after Stalin’s death in 1953 under a general amnesty ordered by the new Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev.

After he returned to Berlin, Misch opened a home decorating shop and lived in relative anonymity for decades. He eventually agreed to interviews with Western media outlets, as well as the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, in which he spoke warmly about his time with Hitler.

“If I met him today, I would say, ‘Mein Fuhrer, I did not really get to know you that well,’ ” he told the Telegraph.

Misch’s wife, Gerda, died in 1997. They had a daughter, Brigitta Jacob-Engelken, from whom Misch grew estranged. She told the BBC in 2009 that her maternal grandmother confided in her that Gerda had Jewish ancestry – a fact Misch refused to believe. “I don’t blame my father for the work he did,” Jacob-Engelken told the BBC in 2009, “because it was harmless work. What I don’t understand is that he is not giving a sign of more distance. No reflection afterwards. This is what I miss. His critical reflection.”
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Joanne R. Fuhrmann, retired teacher in East Aurora, Buffalo

September 7, 2013, 5:57 pm
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May 10, 1929 – Sept. 3, 2013

Joanne R. Fuhrmann, a retired Buffalo and East Aurora teacher, died of cancer Tuesday in Palm City, Fla. She was 84.

Mrs. Fuhrmann was born Joanne Kopp in South Buffalo. She graduated from Buffalo public schools, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Buffalo State College and a master’s degree from the University at Buffalo.

After a stint in the Air Force as a radar repair officer, she returned to Buffalo and taught from 1955 to 1958 at School 29. She then took a teaching job in the East Aurora school district, where she taught until her retirement in 1991.

Mrs. Fuhrmann taught courses at Daemen College after her retirement, and also worked for the Erie County Board of Elections. Until her move to Florida in April 2009, she lived in Clarence.

Survivors include her ex-husband, Edward; two sons, Chris E. and Mark R.; a daughter, Laura Graber; and a brother, Howard Kopp.

Services will be held Tuesday in Calvary Chapel, Palm City.
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Samuel T. Bodine Jr., steel company executive

September 7, 2013, 6:10 pm
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June 21, 1943 – Sept. 4, 2013

Samuel T. Bodine Jr., former vice president of August Feine Steel in Buffalo, died Wednesday in Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Amherst, after a short illness. He was 70.

Mr. Bodine was born in Concord, N.H., but graduated from Fountain Valley, a boarding school in Colorado.

His career at Lake Forest College in Illinois was interrupted by a draft notice, which led to three years in the Army, including one tour of duty during the Vietnam War. Mr. Bodine rose to the rank of staff sergeant.

He met Marsha Feine, daughter of the steel company owner, in college. After his return from the Army in 1969, Mr. Bodine married Marsha and moved to Buffalo to work for his father-in-law. He retired from Feine Steel in 1999.

After his retirement, Mr. Bodine drove a school bus for the Williamsville Central School District for 12 years. He was a youth baseball and hockey coach and an avid golfer.

Mr. Bodine was a past president of the Quarter Club, a group of Buffalo-area business people; past director of the Buffalo Executives Association; and a former treasurer of Calvary Episcopal Church, Williamsville.

Besides his wife, survivors include a son, Samuel III; and a daughter, Kimberley Oloffson.

A memorial service will be held at a time and date to be determined in Calvary Episcopal Church, 20 Milton St., Williamsville.
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