Edward J. Ocker

Edward J. Ocker, of Shandaken, NY, passed away on November 2, 2007 at Mt View Nursing Home in New Paltz. He was 92. Born in Rifton, NY, on Christmas Eve of 1914, he was the son of the late Edward J. Ocker and Ada Jones Ocker. In the 1930's, he worked at building many of the Catskill Mountain fire towers with the Civilian Conservation Corps. During World War II, he worked at General Electric in Schenectady. After the war, he fished, hunted and trapped to support his family as well as working as a mechanic at Doc Smith’s Garage in Kingston. He then joined the Hudson Valley Carpenters Union. He worked on many projects throughout the Hudson Valley including the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge and many of the New York State Thruway Bridges. He also built several houses in the Shandaken and Phoenicia area from 1955 through 1965. Mr. Ocker was a past member of the Shandaken Fire Department and two local fish and game clubs. He also served two terms as Town of Shandaken Highway Superintendent. He remained an active outdoorsman well into his 80's. In the mid 1990's he twice drove to Alaska, an area he had always wanted to visit. He was predeceased by his two wives, Stella Colwell Ocker and Helen Brown Ocker and by brothers Bill, Charles, John, Frank, Jim, and Louie Ocker and a sister, Marie Ocker. Survivors include three sons, Donald of Venice, Florida, Edward and his wife Susan of Leesburg, Florida and David and his wife Susan of Beverly, West Virginia, two grand children and six great grandchildren, one brother, George of Binghamton, NY, and several nieces and nephews. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Simpson-Gaus Funeral Home in Kingston. A private memorial service will be at the direction of the family.