28 Genesee Street
Geneva, NY 14456
(315) 789-6613
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Joel O'Hora posted a condolence
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Mr Robertson, you were so awesome as my principal.If I had any problems going on you were always quick to help.I remember you sir like it was yesterday, and yet its been 35 years!Heaven gained a wonderful soul .Rest sweetly Mr Robertson.
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Joan Long posted a condolence
Sunday, December 17, 2023
Condolences and prayers to you Joyce and extended family.
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Lisa Edlind posted a condolence
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Gary was my first principal at Genesee Elementary in Auburn, NY. I had already had 7 or 8 by then. I've had many after. Gary will forever be my favorite of all of them. Over the years he became my friend. We shared many good times at work happy hours, relaxing at the Yacht Club, sharing birthday, retirement and holiday celebrations, as well as Karaoke ( I was the building music teacher and he laughed when I said I couldn't sing). Our group got together and enjoyed many nights singing Karaoke! At work, we laughed at the antics of our students, chased them through the halls and cut them off at the pass (the outside doors) I even went on a few home visits with him. He was a gentle, fair and fun human being. I learned a lot from him and grew as a teacher because of him. The memories are simple, yet mean so much. I will miss you, Gary!
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Mary Jo Day posted a condolence
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Gary, you will be missed by many people. Not just those of us who worked with you but the many students who you helped . Many of the Genesee students I run into ask about you. I will miss you my friend.
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Linda Robertson posted a condolence
Friday, December 15, 2023
His hand steady on the helm,
The sails filled like wings by the wind,
His eyes steady ahead,
He sails for the horizon.
Gary Robertson was drafted after he graduated from San Francisco State College. He was stationed in Germany, until one morning he and his fellows-in-arms were awakened by their sergeant, who said they had orders to move out. As they boarded the yawning belly of a cargo plane in the darkness before dawn, the sergeant said he hoped they were not going to Vietnam. Gary had never heard of Vietnam.
His squad was dropped without uniforms or insignia into the mountainous territory of Laos, where they ate cooked snake in a Hmong village. They were then dropped into deep jungle to spy on the Ho Chi Minh trail. As the radioman, Gary called in strikes on the Vietcong. This was the secret war. For each mission, his squadron stayed in the tall elephant grass until they were spotted by the Vietcong, when they called for a helicopter to take them out. On one mission, the Vietcong attacked the squad as the men ran for the helicopter, its blades turning. Gary, who was a sharpshooter, stayed back to provide cover for the men running for the open doors of the chopper. He killed a number of men. He was the last person on the helicopter.
He was told he qualified for the Bronze Star Medal for valor, but would not receive it because the actions along the Ho Chi Minh trail were outside the rules of warfare. Gary refused further orders to return to the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Years later, he met Robert McNamara after he gave a talk at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He towered over the former Secretary of Defense, and put out his hand to shake his. “You made decisions that profoundly affected my life,” he said. McNamara had the good grace to look down at his well-polished shoes and mumble something unintelligible, either an apology or a thanks for Gary’s service.
Gary was profoundly disillusioned after he was discharged. As a young man, he thought that war was about glory, heroism, and proving one’s manhood in service to the nation. He wanted to teach high school social studies to counterbalance these glorified visions of manhood that young men grow up believing.
He enrolled in the history program at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, where he met me, an undergraduate English major. We married, had our daughter Baschki, whom we both adored and made a life for ourselves after graduate school in Eugene. Gary decided to convert to Judaism, not because of any pressure from either me or my family, but because he was profoundly influenced by a rabbi who taught Jewish studies at San Francisco State. We were happy, but Gary was haunted by his memories of the war.
He started an outstanding career as a special education teacher, offering compassion and guidance as well as unique teaching methods during the transition from separate to integrated classes for special education students. He took his students on special field trips to nearby places they had never seen, such as the Oregon coast. Later, he took a class of social science students to Washington, D.C. to introduce them to the history of the country in a tangible way. He was also selected to go with a delegation of teachers to Russia during the period of glasnost, when it seemed the former Soviet Union would become a democracy.
Gary loved the outdoors, especially sailing, camping, canoeing, and horseback riding. He gave up hunting after he returned from the war, but enjoyed fishing and crabbing. He was rejuvenated and restored by canoe camping under the stars or sailing swiftly down the Finger Lakes or through the San Juan Straits off the coast of Washington State. The J-24 we sailed carried us twice to championships in the Seneca Lake Club racing season.
As a father, he developed a close, loving, and supportive relationship with his daughter and then as Pop-pop with his two granddaughters, Miriam and Rebekah. He loved them to the moon and back.
Sadly, there were pressures that broke the bonds of marriage, and our fragile boat broke upon the shoals, but not our basic respect and friendship.
Gary Robertson was a man who loved his family and inspired others by his character, compassion, kindness, joy in life, and capacity for love. He has sailed for the final horizon.
Submitted by Linda Robertson
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Kathy Weierbach lit a candle
Thursday, December 14, 2023
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Jackie Whittaker lit a candle
Thursday, December 14, 2023
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Poppop was such an important part of his granddaughter’s lives, and we loved hearing stories from Becca about his adventures. I had the immense pleasure of meeting him during Becca’s wedding, and was in awe of his love for life and spirit. I am so sorry for your loss, and may he rest in love and peace.
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Larry and Jinny Ellis posted a condolence
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Gary was a kind and caring man. Gary taught sailing to people with disabilities in Naples,Florida as well as sailing at Well’s College.
He did until he was no longer able to physically do so.
Hanukkah was very important to Gary every year he invited friends to dinner on the first night of Hanukkah
He prepared traditional dinner and told the story of Hanukkah.
It is fitting that Gary passed during Hanukkah.Rest in peace dear friend,
Larry,Jinny and Darcie Ellis
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Anonymous purchased flowers
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
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With Deepest Sympathy,
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Daniel, Alisha, and Zaia planted a tree in memory of Clifford Robertson
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
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Sending all our love during this time. May this tree be a living memory - and may his memory always be a blessing. With sympathy. Join in honoring their life - plant a memorial tree
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A Memorial Tree was planted for Clifford Robertson
Monday, December 11, 2023
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We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ the staff at Palmisano-Mull Funeral Home LLC Join in honoring their life - plant a memorial tree
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Carol and John Cambareri posted a condolence
Monday, December 11, 2023
Gary was a great teacher and friend. Plus he had a fantastic sense of humor! He was a true gentleman. Love to the family.
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28 Genesee Street
Geneva, NY 14456
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