Mokotoff
MIDDLETOWN – Former Middletown Mayor Gertrude Mokotoff died Wednesday. She was 100.
Current Mayor Joseph DeStefano, who first met her when he ran for the city common council in 1983, remembered her as “a mentor” to most in city government.
“She was smart, she loved the city. She was involved from being a college professor. Her husband being Dr. Reuben Mokotoff; they were very much involved in Middletown.” DeStefano said Mokotoff left “a legacy of good deeds in a community that loved her back.”
Mokotoff, who was a medical laboratory technology instructor at SUNY Orange before she retired, later served for 19 years on the college’s Board of Trustees.
“I truly treasured Gert,” said college President Dr. Kristine Young. “She brought a unique and informed perspective to her role as a trustee, and her insight has been invaluable to me both personally and professionally.”
Young said, “Regardless of where life took her – the classroom, the political arena or in service to her community – she always returned to her beloved Orange County Community College. Her commitment to this college never waned over the past 53 years. She was an extraordinary asset to our Board of Trustees and advocate for our college.”
“For more than five decades, Gert Mokotoff was a positive force for change at Orange County Community College, and her impact on the academic programs, student services, and campus life at the college will be felt for years to come,” said Fred Watson, chairman of the college Board of Trustees. “I know that our current trustees, as well as many others with whom she served over a 19-year tenure, greatly valued, appreciated and respected her service and her passion.”
Funeral services will be held 11:00 Friday at Temple Sinai in Middletown.
