Obituaries

William F. ‘Bill’ Bogardus

William F. Bogardus

William F. “Bill” Bogardus died Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018, at Riverledge Nursing Home in Ogdensburg, N.Y., where he had been a patient while suffering with pancreatic cancer. He was 69.

Bill was born in Ogdensburg April 17, 1949, the son of Ruth Helen Witherhead and James Harry Bogardus Jr. He graduated from Morristown (N.Y.) Central School in 1967 and SUNY/Potsdam in 1971 and earned his master’s in education from St. Lawrence University in 1997.

On April 29, 2000, Bill married Kim Palermo at First Presbyterian Church of Ogdensburg, with the Rev. Thomas Patterson officiating.

In the mid-1970s he started teaching at Ogdensburg Free Academy as a high school physics teacher. Then, in the fall of 1998, he moved to Long Island and worked as principal at Greenport High School before working at Miller Place Union Free School District as science department chairman.

Bill was a man of many interests. He became an Eagle Scout, had been Morristown Town Justice and was a member of the Mustangs Band in Morristown in the late 1960s.

Later, he became interested in flying, so much so that he and others purchased a plane and obtained their private pilot’s licenses. Bill continued on to be a certified flight instructor-instrument (CFII).

A past chief of the Morristown Fire Department, he was also an EMT. He continued to serve fire and rescue with the Greenport Fire Department and Rescue Squad, where in the past he served as assistant chief and EMT. He was an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Southold.

Bill was also interested in beekeeping, travel, music, astrophotography and astronomy. He was the current president of the Astronomical League and former president of both Custer Institute and the Astronomical Society of Long Island.

Surviving are his wife, Kim S. Palermo-Bogardus; three daughters, Nicole (Andrew) LaPlante of Peru, N.Y., Mandy Bogardus of Saranac Lake, N.Y., and Katie (Tim) Kyle of Wethersfield, Conn.; a stepson, Dave (Jesse Heider-Ayling) Ayling of Toledo, Ohio; a stepdaughter, Becca Bley of Cheektowaga, N.Y.; four grandchildren; three brothers, James “Jim” (Penny) III, of Morristown, Bob (Helga), of Holly Springs, N.C., and John (Fran), of Delmar, N.Y.; a sister, Ann (David) Fenlong of DeKalb Junction, N.Y.; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Funeral services are set for Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 11 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Ogdensburg, the Rev. Laurena Will officiating. Burial will follow at Sunnyside Cemetery in Morristown. A memorial service will be held later at First Presbyterian Church of Southold.

If friends desire, contributions in his memory may be made to the Morristown Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 4, Morristown, NY 13664; Greenport Fire Department and Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 56, Greenport, NY 11944; or the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (pancan.org), 1500 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 200, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266.

Condolences and photos can be shared online islandviewfs.com.

This is a paid notice.