Thursday, 06 April 2023 14:45

Community Bids Farewell to Local Music Legend

Materials distributed April 3, 2023 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in  South Glens Falls, where a  Funeral Mass was held for Bobby Dick.  Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos. Materials distributed April 3, 2023 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in South Glens Falls, where a Funeral Mass was held for Bobby Dick. Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.

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.

Read 720 times

Blotter

  • Saratoga County Court Brad C. Cittadino, 49, of Stillwater, was sentenced April 11 to 3 years incarceration and 2 years post-release supervision, after pleading to criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree, a felony.  Matthew T. McGraw, 43, of Clifton Park, was sentenced April 11 to 5 years of probation, after pleading to unlawful surveillance in the second-degree, a felony, in connection with events that occurred in the towns of Moreau, Clifton Park, and Halfmoon in 2023.  Matthew W. Breen, 56, of Saratoga Springs, pleaded April 10 to sexual abuse in the first-degree, a felony, charged May 2023 in…

Property Transactions

  • BALLSTON Eastline Holdings LLC sold property at 16 Linden Ct to Bradleigh Wilson for $472,158 Eastline Holdings LLC sold property at 6 Appleton St to Kristina Guernsey for $553,391 Vincent Monaco sold property at Dominic Dr to BBL Ridgeback Self Storage LLC for $300,000 GALWAY Richard Herrmann sold property at Lot 4 & 5 Bliss Rd to James Snyder for $112,500,000 Stephen Signore sold property at 2558 NYS Rt 29 to Deutsche Bank National Trust for $213,331 GREENFIELD ANW Holdings Inc sold property at 36 Middle Grove Rd to Patrick Tirado for $168,000 Ernest Johnson sold property at 21 Lady…
  • NYPA
  • Saratoga County Chamber
  • BBB Accredited Business
  • Discover Saratoga
  • Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association