SARATOGA SPRINGS —Born in Tunapuna Village, Trinidad, on November 24, 1942, John Emmanuel “Paddy” Joseph began his heavenly journey on January 3, 2025, at the age of 82. He passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving wife, Joanne, daughters, Stefanie and Alison, and granddaughter, Elianna.
John lived a life filled with music, love, and devotion. He celebrated 50 years of marriage with Joanne in April 2024, a relationship rooted in unwavering love and mutual respect. Their story began in St. Lucia, where Joanne served as a Peace Corps Volunteer and John worked as the musical coordinator for the Halcyon Days Hotel in Vieux Fort.
John’s musical journey began as a teenager on the island of Trinidad, where he discovered his passion for the steel pan. He devoted his life to sharing this unique art form, playing with the Esso (Tripoli) and Texaco Steel Orchestras. His talents took him across the Caribbean, Europe and Japan; and eventually to the United States when he married Joanne. John passed his love of the steelpan on to his first-born grandson, Shiloh, ensuring John’s passion for the steel pan lives on through future generations. In Rochester, NY, John joined the Trinidad and Tobago Steel Band. He started his own band, Caribbean Breeze Steelband, when he moved to the Saratoga area. His love for music extended beyond performance; John became a mentor and teacher, introducing steel pans into orchestral program, including those at Rhinebeck and Herkimer Central School Districts, as well as after-school programs at the Rome, NY YMCA and Hamilton Hills Art Center in Schenectady NY and the Devereux Adult Care program in Kingston, NY. His efforts ensured that children, including those with special needs, could experience the joy of music.
Beyond music, John was a man of many passions. He loved cooking traditional Trinidadian dishes, which became the heart of countless family gatherings at the “Brown House,” a name lovingly given to the family home by his oldest granddaughter, Dayonna. An avid horse racing enthusiast, John found great joy at the Saratoga Flat Track, where his warmth, humor, and generosity fostered lasting friendships. A lifelong sports fan, he was a walking encyclopedia of sports knowledge.
John was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend. He leaves behind his beloved wife Joanne; his daughters Lisa, Stefanie, and Alison (John Brown, Sr); 10 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, 2 sisters and one brother and numerous nephews and nieces.
John’s warm smile, laughter, humor and generous spirit will forever resonate in the hearts of all who knew him. His legacy lives on in the recordings of the Texaco Steel Orchestra, the Goretti Group and the Trinidad and Tobago Steel Band’s Caribbean Romance CDs.
The family extends a special thank you to Community Hospice nurses, Kelly and Amanda, Drs. Delmonte, Kondo, Drzymalski, German, NP Tessa Trigonia and their teams.
All contributions to John’s name can be made to Community Hospice.
A Celebration of Life will occur in the Spring 2025 with details to be announced.
Ralph L. “Walloper” Altieri, age 77, of Rome, passed away October 19, 2024, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, following complications from cardiac surgery.
He was born November 21, 1946, in Saratoga Springs, a son of the late Victor S. and Grace L. Vandenburgh Altieri. Ralph earned Associate Degrees in Instructor Technology and Aircraft Maintenance Technology, at the College of the Air Force, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Resource Management at the New School of Social Research. He proudly enlisted in the Air Force in 1967. During the Vietnam War, he was stationed at Anderson AFB in Guam and Utapao AFB in Thailand, where he was a maintenance mechanic and instructor on the B-52 aircraft, preparing the planes for their bombing missions. He retired honorably in 1987. Ralph later worked at DFAS until his retirement.
Ralph is survived by two daughters, Melissa Grace Halligan and Lynn Altieri Need, sons in law, Corey Halligan and Stu Need; former wife, Judith Altieri; grandchildren, Lennon Altieri, Lainey Need, and Koa Need; and brothers, Victor Altieri, Lou Altieri and Thomas Altieri.
A message from Ralph; “To my family, I love you all so very, very much, and to all my loved ones and any others that I had hurt their feelings during my life; I’m deeply regretful for my actions”.
A celebration of life will be celebrated on January 25, at the Stanwix Veteran and Men’s Club. Burial with Military Honors will be on January 24 at 1:00 p.m. in Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Barry Funeral Home, 807 W. Chestnut Street. Please offer online condolences or light a candle at: www.BarryFuneralHome.com
BALLSTON LAKE — Edward William Roy, 84, passed away January 3, 2025 at Saratoga Hospital. A graveside service to honor Edward’s life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, located at 200 Duell Road, Schuylerville, NY. For condolences, visit www.compassionatefuneralcare.com.
MANASSES, VA — John Brusko passed away on January 1, 2025. Visitation was held on January 10 at Compassionate Funeral Care, Saratoga Springs, New York. A graveside service will be in the spring when John will be laid to rest in Greenfield Cemetery, Greenfield Center, NY. For condolences, visit www.compassionatefuneralcare.com.
GANSEVOORT — George W. McInnis Jr., 82, passed away peacefully on Friday, January 10, 2025, at Mountain Valley Hospice Care. At the family’s request, no calling hours or services will be held at this time. Condolences may be shared at www.compassionatefuneralcare.com.
GANSEVOORT — Carol Patricia Singer, 83, passed away peacefully at Albany Medical Center on January 1, 2025. Visiting hours were held at Compassionate Funeral Care, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 on January 8, followed by a memorial service to celebrate Carol’s life. For condolences, visit www.compassionatefuneralcare.com.
The History of the Adirondack Vacation, presented Jan. 23. Photo provided.
BALLSTON SPA — The Saratoga County History Center at Brookside Museum presents a virtual presentation by Connor Williams on “Greetings from the Great Camps: The History of the Adirondack Vacation.”
This presentation will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23 through Zoom.
In 1850, the Adirondack region was a blank spot on the map, largely unorganized and uncharted. But, by 1900, the Adirondacks hosted elaborate summer estates for the wealthiest families in America: Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Carnegies, Whitneys and Morgans. Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein summered and sailed on the same mountain lake. Adirondacks were a destination. How did this happen, and why?
Join Dr. Connor Williams, scholar, teacher and the historian at Great Camp Sagamore – where he directs their history programming – as he answers these questions, and discusses how environmentalism, opulence, industry, inequality, architecture and nature all intersected to produce the Adirondack Park.
The event is open to the public. It is free for SCHC members, and $5 for non-members. Pre-registration is required through the website www.brooksidemuseum.org .
by Dave Waite | Sponsored byThe Saratoga County History Roundtable
Contact The Saratoga County History Roundtable at: saratogacohistoryroundtable@gmail.com
On Western Avenue, two miles from the hamlet of West Charlton, stands a blue and gold historic marker recalling a tragedy from nearly 250 years ago:
GONZALEZ HOME
HERE, IN 1782, JOSEPH
GONZALEZ AND SON EMANUEL WERE KILLED AND SCALPED BY ST REGIS INDIANS, HIS SON JOHN WAS TAKEN CAPTIVE
Fleeing persecution for their Protestant beliefs, Don Manuel Gonzalez brought his family to America in 1690 and settled along the Hudson River. A grandson of this early settler, Joseph Gonzalez left Dutchess County for the wilderness west of Schenectady in the early 1770s. Here he settled with his family in the southwest corner of what is now the Town of Charlton, Saratoga County. on a 1500-acre tract in the Kayaderosseras Patent. This area, at that time still a part of Albany County, was known to early settlers as the “Woestyne,” or what today would be called “wilderness.”
For the next ten years, Joseph Gonzalez and his family carved a farm out of this wilderness, and until the time of the Revolution had maintained a peaceful relationship with the Native Americans in the area. Joseph’s oldest son Emanuel, a strong, well-built young man, was often seen as a threat to the natives who encountered him. One story of his prowess tells of him being attacked by twelve Indians, and though his head was severely twisted during hand-to-hand combat, he was still able to grab a fence rail and drive off his attackers.
Living in an area where many settlers were loyal to the British, Joseph Gonzalez was well known for siding with the Patriots. In early 1782, a group of soldiers were sent from Schenectady to arrest a Tory who lived in the vicinity of the Gonzalez homestead. After convincing the soldiers of his innocence, the Tory invited them to stay in his home for the night. In an amazing act of treachery, the man left his sleeping guests and proceeded to the Gonzalez home where he told Joseph and his sons that the men were Tories and asked for assistance in murdering them while they slept. Gonzalez refused and the next morning the man was arrested. The prisoner was taken to Schenectady, where he was tried and sentenced to be hung, with Joseph Gonzalez interceding for the man, convincing the court to grant him a pardon.
Only a few months after this incident, a band of St. Regis Indians who had spent the winter hunting in Northern New York, returned south to attack the Gonzalez family. On an April morning in 1782, Joseph and his sons Emanuel, John, and a younger son, also named Joseph, along with a hired servant, were burning a field when the band of Indians approached. The elder Joseph, assuming that the group was friendly, extended his hand in greeting, only to be immediately cut down by a tomahawk.
John and Emanuel were quickly seized, with Emanuel fighting off his attacker and fleeing. Making it to a fence surrounding the field, he was again grabbed and shot in the hand when he finally broke free. Still attempting to escape, he was fatally shot while climbing the last fence separating him from the woods. While all of this was happening, one of the Indians, who remembered a kindness from the past, released young Joseph to escape to the house where his mother, sister Dorcas, and eighteen-year-old brother David were hiding.
Before the attackers had time to regroup, David hitched up a wagon and drove the family seven miles to Cranesville on the Mohawk River. From there the family continued their flight to safety and headed east another eight miles along the Mohawk River to Tinker Hill in Glenville, the fortified home of Militia Captain Teunis Swart.
Swart immediately called the militia together to pursue the attackers. Concerned for the safety of their families, the men refused to leave that day but agreed to move out in the morning. Unwilling to wait, Captain Swart and David Gonzalez immediately returned to the scene of the attack. Here they located the lifeless bodies of Joseph Gonzalez and his son Emanuel in the field where they had fallen and brought them to the family’s log home where they kept vigil for the night.
The next morning the militia arrived, bringing with them Mrs. Gonzalez. Joseph and Dorcas. Together they buried father and son on the family farm. The pursuit of the Indians was immediately taken up in hopes of releasing John Gonzalez and the family servant who had also been taken captive in the raid. Unfortunately, after two days the trail was lost somewhere in the vicinity of Fish House on the Sacandaga River when heavy rain erased all evidence of the path the band of Indians had followed as they headed northward.
Fearful of pursuit, the band of Indians moved quickly toward Canada. For days, the group went without food, with the threat of death forcing the two captives to keep up the fearful pace. Once in Canada, John was separated from his father’s hired man, who was never seen or heard from again. On reaching a garrison of the British Army, John was forced into service of the Crown, though he was never made to actively participate in any campaign for fear he might escape. At that time, his surname was recorded in the military record as Consalus, a name that he continued to use for the rest of his life. As a captive of the British, he was required to make cartridges, though often substituting charcoal for much of the gunpowder to render them ineffective. In the spring of 1785, two years after the war was over, he was finally released and headed back to the Mohawk Valley.
When he finally made his way back home, John searched for his remaining family, only to find that his mother had passed away from a broken heart only months after his capture. The first family member he located was his older sister, Rebecka, who had married Emanuel DeGraff and was then living in Schenectady. His brother David had also settled in Schenectady, with his sister Dorcas having married and moved with her husband to Saratoga. As there had been no way to pay on the contract for the Gonzalez homestead, the property had been taken from the family. In the years after his return, John began buying back pieces of the property on the eastern edge of the tract his family had first settled. In 1792 John married Dorcas Hogan of Albany, and together they raised 12 children. His descendants continued on the property until 1926. Today Consaul Road off of Rte. 67 in Charlton marks the location of this early farm.
Dave Waite has written many articles on upstate New York history, and has recently published two anthologies, Thrilling Attractions and Weird Wonders, and A Place called Pauley. Dave is also the videographer for the several films produced by the Saratoga County History Center, including the Forgotten Crossroads series. He can be reached at davewaitefinearts@gmail.com
Balloons drop at noon during the Saratoga Regional YMCA’s first Noon-Year’s Eve event. Photo provided.
ARATOGA SPRINGS — Families rang in the New Year a little early at the Saratoga Regional YMCA’s first-ever free Noon-Year’s Event, held at the Saratoga Springs branch on December 31. Over 500 attendees enjoyed bounce houses, crafts, and other activities, all leading up to a countdown and ball drop at noon.
“This was a fun way for families to celebrate New Year’s together,” said Kristi Savage, Senior Program Director, in a press release. “Since most kids don’t stay up until midnight, we thought a daytime celebration would be perfect. We’re excited to build on the success of this year and look forward to expanding the event in 2025.”
For more information on upcoming events and programs, visit srymca.org.
he first reported thoroughbred born in New York State in 2025 arrived at the Irish Hill Century Farm in Stillwater last week. The colt is the product of the stallion Mind Control and the chestnut mare Weekend Hottie. Photo via New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. / Courtesy of Emily O’Neil-Hopkins.
