Community Bids Farewell to Local Music Legend

SOUTH GLENS FALLS — More than 400 people packed into St. Michael’s Catholic Church in South Glens Falls on April 3 to say their final farewell to Bobby Dick.  

There were prayers during the 75-minute ceremony and the sprinkling of holy water, readings – by his daughter-in-law from the Book of Revelations, and by a family friend a letter from Paul to the Thessalonians. In song there was an ancient hymn titled simply, “Song of Farewell,” and, following the mass, there were stories. 

Bobby Dick was born and raised in Brooklyn and began performing at a young age. He attended Quintano’s School for Young Professionals where he was classmates with Patty Duke. Duke asked him to escort her to the prom at The Tavern on the Green, but he had to decline due to a scheduled performance in Lake George.

The band with which he most often known was The Sundowners, who made upstate N.Y. their home turf. In 1965, the group opened for the Rolling Stones at the Palace Theatre and the Dave Clark Five at the RPI Field House. They toured with Monkees and Jimi Hendrix and made a cameo performance on the TV shows “The Flying Nun” and “It Takes A Thief.” 

After the group disbanded in 2011, Dick continued to perform with his wife, Susie Q for the next 12 years. He battled a very rare cancer yet continued to perform up to February 2023. He died on March 27 at the age of 76.

“The world’s oldest teenager, now rocking and rolling, if I may say it that way, with the saints,” Rev. Tony Childs said from the pulpit at St. Michael’s Church. 

Family and friends shared stories, heartfelt, humorous, and befitting of a gregarious soul. Dick’s granddaughter played “Love Me Tender” on her clarinet, because, she said, Bobby loved Elvis. 

The last song of the Mass was played over the parish PA, a recording of Dick’s voice singing the “The Impossible Dream.” It received an ovation from those in attendance,  standing and clapping across the church, far as the eye could see. 

Dick is survived by his wife and an extended family that includes his children, grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter, siblings and nieces, nephews and cousins.  Rite of committal will be in the spring at St. Mary’s Cemetery in South Glens Falls.