Gilman (1922-2016)
TOWN OF NEWBURGH – Newburgh Town Clerk Andrew Zarutskie worked for Congressman Benjamin Gilman for 28 of his 30 years in Washington, most of them as his press secretary. “I feel like for the third time in my life, I lost a parent,” Zarutskie said. “He was like an additional father to me.”
“He was the most brilliant man I ever knew,” Zarutskie he told Mid-Hudson News on Monday, reflecting on his mentor and friend. “He was a phenomenal human being; a very rare human being. I’ve never known anyone like him and I doubt I ever will again.”
Zarutskie remembered how Gilman was able to juggle worldwide, national and local issues.
“He accomplished a lot on the international stage, yet the next morning he would be in a diner in Middletown talking to constituents and greeting his town’s people,” Zarutskie said. “He became an internationally recognized world leader while at the same time, being the hometown boy from Middletown. It was fascinating the way he accomplished that.”
A funeral service for Gilman, who died on Saturday at age 94, will be held this morning at 10 followed by burial at West Point Cemetery.
