Death Notices for the week of
September 22, 2003

---

Jim Colby, a man to remember

Monroe County lost a leader this summer, James A. Colby, a farmer and citizen politician who served on the Ogden Town Board and represented Ogden in the Monroe County Legislature.

Jim Colby is often remembered for the land he and his wife, Reta, donated for the Ogden Community Center, a gift that Ogden Town Supervisor Gay Lenhard says "was just an outstanding contribution to our residents."

By 1990, the Ogden Farmers' Library had outgrown the building it occupied on Amity Street in Spencerport. According to Annette VonDohlen, the library director at the time, the shelves were literally overflowing with books, and there were books stacked on top of books on the floor. It was painfully obvious that the library needed a new home.

When VonDohlen approached Jim Colby for help, he immediately said he had some land he could give them for a new library building. However, the library board didn't have enough money to build the facility, and since the town hall also needed to expand, the decision was made to locate the library, the town hall and other government functions in one building. Jim Colby said he would still donate the land as long as the library was in the new community center.

James Colby graduated from Cornell University in 1950 with a degree in Agricultural Economics. Then he returned to the Colby Homestead Farm Inc., the family's 1000-acre dairy, grain and vegetable farm on the south side of Colby Road. For the next fifty-three years, he farmed the land and devoted his life to public service in a number of different ways.

New York is one of America's leading agricultural states. It's the second leading producer of apples, and the third leading producer of milk products, grapes, sweet corn, cauliflower and cabbage. But for years, Western New York has been losing its prime farm land to development at an unprecedented rate.

Jim Colby was well aware of this trend, and he also realized that as fewer and fewer people worked in the direct production of food, there was tendency for more and more people to take the seemingly endless food supply for granted. This realization led him to play a prominent role in the effort to protect the irreplaceable farm land.

In the early 1960s as super market chains became larger and more powerful, the ten small milk cooperatives between Rochester and Buffalo struggled to meet the needs of a changing economy. According to Tom Nally, a former Cooperative Extension agent, Jim Colby displayed unbounded energy and enthusiasm as part of the original group who formed the Upstate Milk Cooperative, the farmer-owned dairy product manufacturer that ensures the supermarkets have a reliable source of milk, and dairy farmers have a steady market for their products.

Colby was also an early leader in promoting agricultural districts, a program authorized by the State Legislature in the 1970s to encourage the continued use of farmland for agricultural production. The law allows farmers to have their real property assessments based on the value of their land for agricultural production rather than on its value for development. In 1974, Jim Colby helped organize the first agricultural district in Monroe County, the Midwestern Monroe County Agricultural District, which includes parts of Ogden, Riga and Sweden.

Because of these experiences, it was almost natural for Jim to go into politics, and he served on the Ogden Town Board from 1973 to 1981. Tom Snyder of Churchville, who served on the board at the time, said that while Jim Colby never sought the limelight, he had an uncanny ability to seek common ground and to resolve issues, even when there was disagreement among the board members. Rod Stettner remembers that Jim wasn't the stereotypical politician. He had a way of telling you what he thought, and when he was finished there wasn't any second guessing about what he meant.

From 1981 to 1985, Jim Colby represented Ogden in the Monroe County Legislature. According to Fred Holbrook, who worked closely with him in the legislature, Jim Colby was quiet by nature, with a very sharp mind and a slow way of speaking that belied his remarkable intelligence. He also had a reputation for being trustworthy. If he said he was going to do something, he did it.

Dennis Pelletier, president of the Monroe County Legislature, remembers how Jim Colby always worked behind the scenes to get things done, and how he got satisfaction from accomplishing something rather than in people knowing what he had accomplished.

Jim Colby also served on the board of directors and as chairman of the board of the Monroe County Cooperative Extension, where he played a huge role in the expansion of 4-H Camp Wyomoco in Varysburg, which needed new facilities to meet the growing needs of the 4-H community. He served as a trustee of Fairfield Cemetery in Spencerport for over 20 years.

Nate Herendeen, a Cooperative Extension crop specialist who worked with Colby for years, said that Colby was successful in getting people to do things because he always treated everyone fairly, and he was always encouraging people to try new techniques and new technology.

Colby served on the board of directors of the New York State Agricultural Society for many years, and as president in 1983-1984. When a Kellogg Foundation conference identified a need to develop strong young leaders within the ranks of New York's food and agricultural industry, Colby poured his efforts into making it happen. The result was the Empire State Food and Agriculture Leadership Institute (LEAD New York), a two-year program launched in 1983 to teach leadership skills to young men and women in agriculture.

On the national level, he served on the board of directors of the Springfield Bank for Cooperatives, a regional bank for farm coops in the Northeast, from 1985 to 1996; and on the board of directors of CoBank (the National Bank for Cooperatives) in Denver from 1995 to 1999.

Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences awarded Colby the prestigious Outstanding Alumni Award in 1999, a distinction achieved by less than one percent of the college's alumni.

James Colby died on July 29, 2003 at age 76. But his legacy of community service lives in various venues and a multitude of programs and in the Ogden Community Center, and in the beautiful farm vistas that enrich the landscape.

---

Kenneth G. Keir, former Parma town justice

Kenneth G. Keir died on September 1, 2003 at the age of 81. He was well known for his involvement in the community. A celebration of his life was held at the Judicial Chambers at the Parma Town Hall on September 3.

Mr. Keir was a Kodak retiree who worked in personnel, but his first love was music. He directed the Kodak "Music Notes." Hilton Vice-Mayor Walt Horylev was a member of the Music Notes while Mr. Keir directed them, and eventually replaced Mr. Keir when he moved on to direct other choirs. "He made singing a lot of fun. I owe him quite a bit of thanks for teaching me how to direct. He was an all around fine gentleman."

"He had a great smile and a great casual manner, he always made you feel great when he greeted you, so we will miss him," Horylev said. Mr. Keir directed many church choirs and was an original member of the barbershop quartet the "Hiltones."

Mr. Keir served as a town justice for the Town of Parma for many years. "He was a true professional and spent countless numbers of hours studying case law. He was not an attorney, but was prepared with case law before every case presented to him," Parma Supervisor Rick Lemcke said. "He was competent, professional, and diligent about this work, but never without a smile," Lemcke said. "The ultimate compliment about this great man came from the respect he earned from the community, the district attorneys and defendants that he served, as well as the public. Everyone always referred to him as Judge Keir, out of respect, even after he retired. He will be sadly missed."

Mr. Keir was a U.S. Army Veteran of World War II and a member of Etolian Lodge F. & A.M., as well as a member of the Parma Zoning Board and past president of Section V Swimming Officials.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Connie, and his children, Marsha (Gregg) Martin, and Scott (Monica) Keir; and five grandchildren.

Those wishing may contribute to the S. Edelman-H. Gardner Cancer Research Foundation, Spencerport Volunteer Ambulance or a charity of one's choice in his memory.

---