I should note that two people I’ve known for a while—one for a few decades and the other almost all my life—have passed away in the past month.
Lillian Bakic, 96, who died on January 14, was the mother of Carol, one of my best and oldest (in tenure) friends from back in Binghamton, NY. From Mrs. Bakic’s obituary: “She was welcoming and inclusive to all of her children’s friends, often hosting parties and social activities. Several have shared that she was their favorite mom of all their friends’ moms.” I number myself in that category, and I’m sure I told her that more than once.
Occasionally, in the summer, Carol’s classmates all got to go to the Bakic cottage at a lake in northern Pennsylvania.
I knew she worked at the Broome County Board of Elections and she took pride in her work. She eventually became the Deputy Commissioner of Elections. We would, on occasion, talk about politics, not the partisan stuff, but rather the importance of the electoral process, which almost certainly informed my sense of the way things should work.
A few times, starting when I was 19, she said I could call her Lillian. No, thank you, Mrs. Bakic.
“Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, January 23 at 10am at St. Cyril’s Church, 148 Clinton St, Binghamton, NY. The family will receive friends at St. Cyril’s Thursday at 9:00am.
A Celebration of Life will be held in her honor at a later date in the Spring.”
Organist
Donald Ingram, 92, died on December 29, 2024. Per his obituary, Don “was the organist and choirmaster for nearly 20 churches over his career.” Two of them, in temporary capacities, were the last two churches at which I sang in the choir, Trinity United Methodist and First Presbyterian, both in Albany. He was very good at what he did. Yet he was affable and occasionally very funny.
Every year that his birthday was divisible by five, he’d gather a bunch of singers he knew and play the Christmas section of the Messiah by Handel. His longtime partner Gene would sing some of the solos. I participated in this wonderful event at least thrice.
“Funeral and committal services will be held in the spring,” likely in the Albany area where he has lived for the past half century. “Dates will be announced at a later time. Interment will be in the columbarium at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Buffalo.”
