Skip to main content

Author: Saratoga TODAY

Ciro Magliulo

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Obituaries.

CiroMagliulo

GANSEVOORT — Ciro Anthony Magliulo, age 91, passed away peacefully on Friday, April 30, 2021 at his residence in Shelly Park, Gansevoort with his family by his side.

He was born on February 16, 1930 in Brooklyn, son of the late Guiseppe Magliulo and Carmela Buono Magliulo. 

Ciro grew up in Brooklyn and had numerous jobs starting at the age of 9 when he worked as a shoeshine boy. Ciro went on to operate an ice cream truck, worked as a cutter in the Garment District and as an aide at Kings County Hospital Mental Health Unit. Ciro then owned and operated a Lawn Mower and Bike Shop in Centereach, LI during the day while refinishing floors in the evenings.

Ciro was an experienced builder who built St. Andrews Episcopal Church and Rectory in Centereach, NY, which was one of his proudest accomplishments.

In 1969, he moved his large family to Lake Luzerne, NY where Ciro owned and operated Rocky Ridge Dude Ranch. He later converted the ranch into Ciro’s Restaurant and several years after that he converted the barn from the ranch into a beautiful home where he and his wife Doreen, resided for 28 years.

Ciro and his wife Doreen retired from the restaurant business and started their craft business, Mountain Lakes Pewter in 1984 and they traveled the Northeast Craft Show Circuit until 1996 where they met and made many new friends.

In 2011, they sold their home in Lake Luzerne and moved to Shelly Park in Gansevoort where they enjoyed many good times with neighbors and new friends at the Senior Center participating in pot-luck dinners, card games and other enjoyable activities. 

Ciro continued to be an exceptional chef who loved to cook his homemade Italian recipes for his family, friends, and neighbors.

Ciro is survived by his wife of 48 years, Doreen Magliulo; sons, Joseph Magliulo (Jeanne), Ciro II Magliulo (Pauline), Theodore Magliulo; daughters, Laura Bulman (Terry), Sharon Magliulo, Jeraldine Magliulo; step-son Doug Moore (Sandra), David Moore (Michele); step-daughter, Susan Halstead (Jeffrey); sister, Christina Nelson; grandchildren, Karl Mueller, Christopher Hunt, Sean and Megan Bulman, Anthony and Joseph (Stephanie) Magliulo, Patric Riley, Sherry Magliulo, Vincent Magliulo, Aimee Magliulo, Bradley Nagle (Michaela Rahimi), Antonia and Elizabeth Moore, Christopher Moore (Holly), Stephen Moore (Jenny), Alison Forster (Jimmy); and his great-grandchildren, Justin Mueller, Andrew Mueller, Josh Mueller, Kadence Magliulo, Edward Magliulo, Angus Moore, and Daniel Moore.

 He is preceded in death by his daughter Linda Magliulo, and his four sisters and two brothers.

A funeral service will be held at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, May 8, at Compassionate Funeral Care, 402 Maple Ave, Saratoga Springs. Family and friends may call at the funeral home from 12-2 p.m. prior to the service.

Due to the ongoing public health concerns of COVID-19, social distancing as well as mandatory wearing of a face mask is required.

For online condolences, visit compassionatefuneralcare.com

Debra Carter

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Obituaries.

DCarter

PORTER CORNERS — Debra Carter, age 64, passed away on Monday, May 3, 2021 at St. Peter’s Hospital surrounded by her family.

She was born on September 16, 1956 in Saratoga Springs, the daughter of James and Elsie Snell Ebert.

Debra graduated from Saratoga Springs High School. After marrying William Carter and starting their family she went to work for Saratoga County for 25 years and retired from the clerk’s office. Mom was a DIY (Do-it-yourself) Queen; she also loved to go bowling and shopping. But most of all Debra enjoyed spending time with her family and friends.

She is survived by her mother, Elsie Ebert; son, William T. Carter Jr. (Christine); daughter, Colleen Biddle (Brian); brother, Michael Ebert (Marci); brothers-in-law, Jimmy Carter (Sherri), and Jerry Carter (Pam); sister-in-law, Eileen Dingman (Mike); granddaughter, Alyssa Biddle, and her many nieces, nephews and friends who will miss her dearly.

She is preceded in death by her husband, William Carter Sr., father, James Ebert, and brother Vincent Edward.

A funeral service will be held at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, May 11 at Compassionate Funeral Care, 402 Maple Ave. in Saratoga Springs.

Family and friends may call from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, May 10, 2021 at Compassionate Funeral Care, 402 Maple Ave., Saratoga Springs. Interment will be at North Milton Cemetery, North Milton Rd, Saratoga Springs, following the service on May 11.

In lieu of flowers, a donation in memory of Debra can be made to American Heart Association: heart.org

For online condolences, visit compassionatefuneralcare.com

Normalee Steele

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Obituaries.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Early in the morning of April 13, 2021, Normalee Steele was called home to be with the Lord. Services are private. Memorial donations to Victory Bible Baptist Church in honor of Normalee, a founder of the church, or Alpha Bravo Canine in Philadelphia, PA. Visit burkefuneralhome.com

Eugene A. Sirianni

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Obituaries.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Eugene A. Sirianni, of 25 Saratoga Circle, died April 28, 2021 with his family at his side. He is survived by his wife Judy, sons Nicholas and Michael, daughter Jennifer, brother Anthony (Ann), three grandchildren, a great-grandson and extended family members. Gene’s family will celebrate his life privately.

Alfred Edward Sager

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Obituaries.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — On Friday, April 23, 2021, Alfred Edward Sager, loving father, grandfather, and partner, passed away peacefully at the age of 84 in Saratoga Springs, NY. Services will be private and at the convenience of the family. Visit burkefuneralhome.com

Spc. Abigail Jenks

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Obituaries.

WILTON — Spc. Abigail Rose “Abby” Jenks, 20, of Challedon Drive, died Monday, April 19, 2021 during a static line training jump from a helicopter. She was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. For online condolences, visit compassionatefuneralcare.com

Vincent Ely Isaac

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Obituaries.

PROVIDENCE, RI — With great sadness we regret to announce Vincent “Vin” Ely Isaac, 19, on the evening of April 23, 2021 unexpectedly gained his wings in Providence, Rhode Island at his shared home with his fiancée. For online condolences, visit compassionatefuneralcare.com

Sanbun Ford: Forgotten Patriot Rediscovered

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in History.

In 1976, as the nation prepared to celebrate its 200th birthday, my parents, Joan and W. Donald Carola of Mechanicville, were already a year into the hunt for records of an elusive ancestor: Sanbun Ford, a founder of the town of Milton.

Trips to local court houses and towns in New England resulted in a Ford family genealogy story, dating back to 1637, that they presented to my mother’s father, Joseph Ford, a retired paper mill electrician from Mechanicville. In 1976, he was invited to Milton’s Founders Day celebration where he and other descendants of the town’s early settlers were welcomed as guests of honor.

Through my parents’ long-ago sleuthing and my own research, our family has learned much more about Sanbun Ford. He was born on April 23, 1762 in Wallingford, CT, the fifth-generation Ford descended from Timothy Ford, an Englishman who arrived in New England circa 1637.

On Dec. 4, 1779, Sanbun enlisted as a private in the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons, known as Sheldon’s Horse for its commander, Col. Elisha Sheldon. There are indications that he joined the Patriot cause to replace a sick older brother. Sanbun would serve five-and-half years with the unit. Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester’s “History of Saratoga County, New York” has a paragraph describing Sanbun as having served from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, but I’m still working on verifying details of his service.

Sylvester’s book also mentions that Sanbun once captured a “cowboy” by making him place his finger into the barrel of Sanbun’s pistol. Cowboy was the name given to Loyalists who attacked residents and stole livestock and personal possessions in Westchester County, which during the Revolutionary War was the scene of vicious partisan fighting.

We know from Sanbun’s military pension papers, dated June 1837, that he captured a notorious cowboy named Jesse Mills, who was among the 450 Westchester Loyalists sent on two ships to Saint John, New Brunswick in Canada after the war.

A roster of Sanbun’s regiment compiled by Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge shows that he was 5 feet, 3 inches tall with light complexion, gray eyes and brown hair. Like many American veterans of the war, Sanbun was given land by Congress for his service. In 1790, he and his wife, Ada, and their first child, Simeon, settled in Hillsdale in Columbia County, NY.

Two years later, they moved to Milton in Saratoga County. Together, Sanbun and Ada raised nine children, four boys and five girls. At least two sons would fight in the War of 1812. The daughters would go on to marry men with last names Hall, Shepard, McLean, Irish and Lewis.

Grandsons of Sanbun and Ada would fight in the Civil War. Their names can be found on the Civil War monument located at Low and Front streets in the village of Ballston Spa. There is a street named after the Fords, many of whom are buried in the Village Cemetery in Ballston Spa. Later generations of Fords branched out to Mechanicville and Green Island. Others ended up in western New York.

Various documents note that Sanbun settled at Spiers Corners, now West Milton, and later ran a public house near the Rosehill farm of Judge John Thompson where aging fellow Patriots came to dine and reminisce about their wartime service. During the War of 1812, after U.S. victories, Sanbun and the Rev. Elder Langworthy would fire off a cannon they had purchased in Albany.

By 1820, Sanbun was destitute and penniless, living off his Revolutionary War pension and the generosity of fellow members of the local Baptist church. Employed to ring the church bell, he eventually had to give up that duty due to poor eyesight. A religious man, Sanbun called his Bible his side-arm.

Sanbun died at 84 years old on Oct. 20, 1846, a year-and-a-half after his beloved wife Ada. Before he died, he asked that an American flag, his Bible and Continental Army papers be buried with him.

Sanbun was buried in an unmarked grave in the Village Cemetery. A chance meeting with cemetery caretaker Rich Fox led me to the location of the Ford plots. I then went to work acquiring a veteran’s grave marker from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The marker was placed on Sanbun’s grave just prior to July 4, 2017. Every Fourth of July, I place two American flags on his final resting place as a tribute to a Patriot once forgotten, now remembered.

Don Carola is a local history buff who was born and raised in Mechanicville. He retired from the state after 33 years from NYSITS as Manager of Information Technology.  Don is a volunteer firefighter for Hillcrest Fire Department. He is also a member of Rev War reenactor unit 2nd Continental Light Dragoons “Sheldon’s Horse” out of Connecticut. Don can be reached at doncarola@nycap.rr.com 

SOLD! Woodlawn Ave. Building Brings $2.8 Million Bid

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in News.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A three-week auction of the county-owned building at 31 Woodlawn Ave. recently concluded. The high bidder for the building, which once housed the DMV, was identified as the Adirondack Trust Company. The bid is for $2.8 million. County approval of the sale of the building is expected to take place later this month, city Supervisor Matt Veitch said.