SARANAC LAKE — Andrew "Fred" Willard, 86, of 345 Lake Flower Ave., Saranac Lake, died Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, at Elizabethtown Community Hospital. Born in Rochester, N.Y., on Oct. 5, 1926, he was the son of Andrew and Leona (Clemens) Willard.
Andrew married Violet A. Crowningshield Benoit on Nov. 2, 1980, in Whallonsburg, N.Y. She predeceased him on April 2, 2002.
Mr. Willard was a 1945 graduate of Livonia Central School. He moved to Saranac Lake in 1971 from Geneseo, N.Y. He was a 1976 graduate of North Country Community College with an Associate's degree in Mental Health and was a 1982 graduate of NCCC with an Associate's degree in Liberal Arts. He had been a farmer and breeder of Holsteins in Geneseo before going to work for the State of New York in Corrections. He was a veteran of the 1976 Comstock Riot and was awarded the Olympic Unit Citation for Adirondack Correctional Facility. He worked for the state in three separate departments, retiring as Correction Sergeant in 1988. He also worked security for the 1980 Winter Olympics at the staff housing facility in Ray Brook.
Mr. Willard is survived by one stepson, Dan Benoit of Whallonsburg; one stepdaughter, Mrs. Clarie Unwin of Brattleboro, Vt.; and several nieces and nephews, including Marshall Crowingshield of Whallonsburg.
Calling hours will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home. A funeral service will immediately follow at 7 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will take place at Pine Ridge Cemetery in Saranac Lake in the spring.
Friends wishing to remember Andrew "Fred" Willard may make memorial contributions to Good Sheppard Church of the Nazarene, Keeseville, NY, in care of the funeral home. Family and friends can also share their memories and sign the online guestbook at fortunekeoughfuneralhome.com
