russell A. king, 96 renowned architect loved family and travel
Russell Adams King, 96, of Manlius, died at home on April 25, 2025. He was born in Syracuse, NY on April 22 1929 to Harry and Gladys (Adams) King. He was predeceased by his granddaughter, Sarah Anne King in 1987 and the love of his life, his best friend and wife of 60 years, Joan (Jiggy) in 2012.
Having grown up during WWII, Russ was drawn to serve his country as all of his older cousins had. In 1946, when he was 17 years old and a student at Syracuse’s Nottingham High School, he enlisted in the US Naval Reserve. Russ dreamed of becoming an architect from the time he was a young boy. Russ’s dad, Harry, and his grandfather, Melvin King, influenced Russ’s architectural career through their work in the family business, King + King Architects. Russ pursued his dream by enrolling in Syracuse University’s School of Architecture.
While at Syracuse University, Russ was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity as well as the architectural honorary societies Tau Sigma Delta, Sigma Upsilon Alpha and the Gargoyle Society.
Russ and Jiggy met on a blind date at Syracuse University in 1950 and were married in June 1952, the year that Russ graduated. Russ worked at King + King, Architects, for a few months before being called to active duty at the Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island where he received his Commission in December 1952. Following his Navy service on Landing Ship Medium, LSM 547, a small amphibious assault ship operating in the Western Pacific, Korea and Japan and later in southern California, Russ and Jiggy returned to Syracuse in 1956.
Russ rejoined King + King, Architects, the historic firm founded by Archimedes Russell in 1868, and became a principal in 1959. Russ was the firm’s Managing
Partner and CEO for 35 years. He was the principal architect on several buildings at Syracuse University, including the E.S. Bird Library, the Physics Research Building, Link Hall of Engineering, the Geology building, and the Biological Research Building, and designed renovations for most of the other buildings on campus at that time. He was also the Principal Architect on several projects at both St. Joseph’s Hospital and Community General Hospital along with major additions at Robert Packer Hospital and Gutherie Clinic in Sayre, Pennsylvania. Russ retired in 1992 and observed with great pride as the firm continued in the traditions of its founders under the leadership of sons, Jim and Pete King and new partners, Dave Johnson and Kirk Narburgh.
Russ followed his family’s example and was active in service to his community. He served as a trustee of the local chapters of the YWCA and YMCA. He was a board member and past president of the Elmcrest Children’s Center and served on the boards of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, Metropolitan Development Association, and the United Way Allocations Committee. He was also active with the Boy Scouts, serving on the board of the Onondaga Council Boy Scouts and leading Troop 69 in Manlius as Scoutmaster for almost ten years.
Russ was a member of several corporate boards of directors, including OnBank, Unity Life Insurance Co., Empire State Life Insurance Co., and M&T Bank in Buffalo. He gave generously of his time and resources in support of many charitable and civic organizations. He was a beloved member of the Dewitt Community Church where he served on several committees. He was a member of the National Ski Patrol, past president of Cazenovia Ski Club, and a member of the Syracuse Golf Bandits. He particularly enjoyed his time as a member and past president of Onondaga Golf and Country Club where he was the senior member of the legendary “Dew Sweepers”,
a group of walking, early morning Onondaga golfers. He quit walking and carrying his golf bag at age 76, instead opting to use his faithful “Igor”, an electric golf bag carrier. At the age of 84 he reluctantly began riding a golf cart but still looked forward to the next downhill skiing season at his favorite ski area in Stowe, Vermont at which he could be found skiing with family well into his 90’s.
Russ and Jiggy treasured their family above all else and enjoyed life to the fullest. They loved to travel and did so over the length and breadth of the United States as well as to many other parts of the world. One cherished tradition was to accompany their grandchildren on trips to any world location that each dreamed of visiting. Their destinations with the grandchildren included Scotland, Wales, England, France, Greece, Italy, Germany, The Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, and Australia. These wonderful journeys were among the many highlights of their lives together and with family. Russ and Jiggy’s love of skiing, sports and the outdoors also inspired their travel. They visited Stowe, Vermont, during many winters on multi-generational family trips as well as several ski areas and National parks in the western United States.
Nothing brought joy to Russ and Jiggy more than their large extended family, who will deeply miss their “Bampa” and “OldBampa”. Russ is survived by children and grand-children Jim (Kris) and family Tom and John (Chloe); Pete (Kathe) and family Suzy and Alex (Kerrie); John (Gretchen) and family Eric, Lauren (Alex), Katherine; and Nancy (Jason) Bellush and family), Becca (Shannon), Andy (Molly), Anna (Matt) Kroening; and great-grandchildren
Eva, Nazaret, Silas, VV, Edie, Bennett, Brooks, Ruth and Archer. Calling hours will be from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 1 in Miller Commons of DeWitt Community Church, Erie Blvd. E., DeWitt. The service will be 10:30 a.m. on Friday, May 2 at DeWitt Community Church. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Central New York Community Foundation to honor Russ and Jiggy’s legacy of generosity. Click Donate Now www. cnycf.org or by check to 431 East Fayette St. Syracuse, NY 13202. For guest book, please visit scheppfamily.com.
russell
no PLACE for hAzinG
One week you read about how a local high school lacrosse team found itself answering questions about a possible hazing incident with some of its players.
The next week’s it’s on the CNN web site. National attention, which rarely means you’ve done something good.
Eleven players from Westhill turning themselves in to police after being told by Bill Fitzpatrick, the Onondaga County DA, that if they didn’t they’d face felony charges. A season first halted, then canceled, games totally unimportant in the shadow of behavior so cruel and heinous.
By now you may have read the story as Fitzpatrick described it. Players going to a lacrosse game and telling some of the younger guys on the team they’ll head to a fastfood place afterward but instead are driven out to a dark rural area and ambushed by players. One appears to have a gun, another a knife.
Five are targeted. Four get away but one is tied up with a pillow over his head and put into the trunk of a car. He gets home without serious physical injury but with permanent trauma.
To all this…..why?
What possible purpose does it serve to indoctrinate anyone into any club, sports or otherwise, in dehumanizing ways?
All I could think of was that they thought they could get away with it and no one would find out. At many different levels these days we hear of bad and criminal behavior going unpunished, so if it happens there, why not here?
Except that if does go public…it turns into the most shameful incident I’ve come across in all the years spent covering local scholastic sports. Sure, there were other scandals and controversies, but nothing like this.
And a big part of what makes me upset, and what should make you upset, is how some will take this single terrible event and use it to criticize other parts of sports or club culture, thereby tarring hundreds of innocent people.
You see, 98 to 99 percent of all the young men and women I’ve interacted with in the course of covering high school athletics are great people, strong leaders, good students in the classroom, often all of the above.
A large part of their experience as athletes is first working under the
tutelage of older teammates and then mentoring their younger successors. They go through it (we hope) without incident and everyone is better off for it. We also hear about how rookies in professional sports have to undergo their own rituals, whether it’s singing their college alma maters in front of their teammates or carrying plenty of bags through hotel lobbies. Again, as long as it’s above board, it can prove productive, even endearing.
Yet far too often it veers into something more sinister. There’s no good explanation or excuse for subjecting anyone to humiliating behavior in the name of team bonding. Even if it doesn’t climb to the levels of criminality, it’s just plain mean.
Older people might tell you that they were subjected to rough things decades ago which went unnoticed beyond their circles, but even if it’s true that hardly justifies any of this.
Then there’s the matter of who gets punished.
Westhill superintendent Steve Dunham, in a letter to district residents explaining the decision to cancel the season, acknowledged that many players who had nothing
Random Thoughts
Phil Blackwell
to do with the situation were getting sidelined, but that the only way to address the culture which led to this was to take them off the field.
You can and should, feel awful for the innocent players while still seeing great and lasting value in the aftermath. If even a few teams or clubs who have felt themselves drifting toward outrageous ways of welcoming new members now think twice and back off, then a whole lot of people will benefit.
In fact, my greatest hope is that Westhill athletes, present and future, take the lead on this matter, for an antihazing message will carry far more authenticity from those directly or indirectly affected by past sins than by self-righteous types from other places.
It’s proper to feel shame at what has taken place. Whether it’s a permanent mark, or whether it leads to wholesale and positive change, depends on how those caught up in this drama choose to learn its lessons.
Phil Blackwell is sports editor at Eagle News. He can be reached at pblackwell@ eaglenewsonline. com.
New Woodstock Free Library program looks at the Eastern Bluebird
The New Woodstock Free Library will welcome John Rogers, Saturday, May 10 at 2 p.m.
His colorful slide presentation encompasses the life history of the Eastern Bluebird, other birds that nest in bluebird boxes, next box management, and more.
The focus is on bluebirds, but Rogers shares his passion for the natural world in hopes the audience will take in some broader and deeper messages about nature – and life.
The program has variety, feeling, and is inspirational.
Sprinkled throughout are a few wildflowers, butterflies, other birds, and quotes by some of the great naturalists.
With beautiful photographs, sounds, and a sincere, enthusiastic presentation style, John’s program is of interest to anyone who appreciates nature.
Rogers has maintained a trail of bluebirds next boxes in central NY north of Syracuse for over four decades.
Over 14,000 Eastern Bluebirds have fledged from boxes he has personally maintained. He has done bluebird slide program and workshops for hundreds of organizations in 12 states and two Canadian provinces. John has received numerous awards for his bluebird conservation work, including the John and Norah Lane Bluebird Conservation Award from the North American Bluebird Society. In 2010, he was recipient of the Hero of Conservation Award from the Syracuse Post Standard.
The program is free, but space is limited. Please register by May 8
Call the New Woodstock Free Library, 2106 Main St. at 315-662-3134.
A limited number of bluebird box kits will be available to take home. First come, first served. Please indicate you would like a kit when you call to register.
For more information, please visit our website, newwoodstocklibrary.org.
Some of the common issues identified include rusting and corrosion on building floor structures; roofs that have exceeded or are approaching their anticipated useful life; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems that have exceeded or are approaching their anticipated useful life; code violations related to the electrical system; wear to masonry and exterior woodwork; and accessibility features that do not meet modern accessibility guidelines.
“For being old buildings, the architects and structural engineers were pretty happy with what they found,” said Verrier. “It’s not perfect; there are going to need to be investments made, but most of the buildings are certainly salvageable. We are not talking about a situation where buildings need to be coming down necessarily.”
historic building review
Verrier reported that Joy Hall and the Jephson Campus buildings are listed on State and National Registers for Historic Places (S/NRHP). Those buildings and the three “Lincklean houses” are part of the Village Historic District.
In 2023, the NYS Historic Preservation Office identified the main campus as a potential additional historic district eligible for listing on S/NRHP. In 2024, Part 1 Application Cover Sheets were submitted for 18 buildings, initiating the process of potentially establishing a Cazenovia College Historic District and listing on S/NRHP.
The next steps are to submit the Historic District Nomination and full Part 1 applications for each building. If approved, the buildings will be eligible for state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.
According to the report, developers who decide to use such tax credits must coordinate with state and/or federal agencies to ensure the preservation of historic features.
“It is also a really great way to help fund a really tough renovation,” said Verrier. “Historic buildings [are] hard, they are expensive. Trying to put a sprinkler or an elevator in a historic building is a nightmare, so the historic tax credits [would] really come in handy for developers that do want to preserve the campus.”
Parking potential
According to Verrier, a primary barrier to potential reuse is the limited parking on and around the campus outside the lot at the athletic center.
“People aren’t going to want to walk to the athletic center if their office is on campus or their home is on campus,” she said.
EDR was tasked with developing conceptual options for additional parking on and around the campus.
“[It was important to try] to make sure that that is being balanced with the community experience of the campus,” Verrier said. “We didn’t necessarily just want to say, ‘Hey, pave the quad;’ that’s not going to work for the community, so what are the options to create additional parking for new uses? These are all concepts. It doesn’t mean that all of them are going to happen. It doesn’t mean that any of them are going to happen. These are simply ideas at this point. The decision to implement them will be based on the future uses and the parking requirements for those uses.”
Between campus-owned parking, on-street parking, and potential shared parking, there are just over 600 existing spaces on and around the campus; most are by the athletic center.
According to Gordon, EDR identified al-
most 200 potential additional spaces on campus-owned properties. Some are by the athletic center, and others are in new small-scale “pocket” parking lots tucked in between and behind buildings on the main campus.
EDR also developed concepts requiring cooperation with neighboring property owners to create shared parking opportunities. One idea involves removing Sigety Hall, replacing it with additional parking, and connecting that new lot with privately-owned lots to the south. Another idea calls for reconfigured and shared parking with St. James Roman Catholic Church.
EDR’s Potential Parking Concepts map also features some pull-around areas/drop-off zones.
The final report includes images showing current pedestrian views alongside renderings of what the conceptual new parking and driveway areas would look like from each view. The views are from outside the main campus, looking toward campus buildings and features.
The report notes that the study explored the potential for diagonal parking along the streets surrounding the campus core area. Ultimately, however, it was determined that diagonal parking would be unsafe and/or infeasible due to the street widths and traffic patterns. reuse recommendations
Based on market analyses, building conditions, and public input, the report recommends a multi-purpose reuse of the campus, with the most viable uses being housing, retail that supports tourism and quality of life, office uses, and community uses.
Regarding housing, the report points specifically to middle market rental units targeted to young professionals and the area’s workforce; high-end rental units targeted to new regional workers (e.g. Micron management), high earners leaving the Syracuse market, and adults looking to downsize; the return of some campus buildings to their original single-family use; and senior housing, particularly units with medical or supportive services.
Data suggests that the campus could support tourism and quality of life retail uses such as restaurants, bars, entertainment businesses, arts and cultural facilities, traveler accommodations, and specialty food stores.
The report recognizes that the campus could be well-suited for offices related to healthcare, particularly physician and dentist offices; individual and family services, such as counseling, youth centers, and supports for the elderly and the disabled; and employment services, such as recruiting and placement services.
It also acknowledges that New York’s statewide effort to grow semiconductor and high-tech industry clusters could bring new economic development opportunities to Cazenovia.
“The Cazenovia campus is well suited to support these emerging industry clusters through ancillary services, research, and/or training,” the report says. “It will be critical to have ongoing connection to and collaboration with regional partners to understand and plan for these prospects as they arise.” special use buildings
To offer insight into what reopening the college’s athletic center and theater for public use might entail, MRB reviewed four similar athletic facilities and the financials of three theater facilities throughout New York State.
MRB also conducted a visual architectural inspection of Cazenovia’s Stephen M. Schneeweiss Athletic Complex and Catherine Cummings Theatre. The facilities were determined
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to be in good condition, but they require some improvements to address safety and building integrity. The minimum estimated costs of the recommended building improvements are $538,000 for the athletic complex and $36,500 for the theater.
“It’s really hard to run a community athletic center,” said Verrier. “It relies on multiple sources of funding and a really strong operational structure, typically a non-profit, although there are some for-profit entities.”
According to the study findings, crucial revenue sources for such centers are memberships, program fees, facility rentals, donations and grants, and investment income. Some also have endowment-like accounts that contribute to ongoing financial sustainability.
The key takeaways from the review of NYS community theaters are that programming costs more than it makes; the theaters rely on donations, rentals, grants, and investment income; and expenses increase year after year.
“The income they are bringing in from their programs is not enough to sustain the theater,” Verrier said. “It’s also a really hard thing to make work, but it is not impossible. There are great examples of great theaters that are making it work, but there is a lot of reliance on community support, beyond just buying
ree of the “Top 7” are golfers. Can you guess who they are? If one of your guesses was Tiger Woods, you are correct. Tiger is in 2nd place with $2.79B, as in Billion, behind “All Time Money Leader” Michael Jordan with $4.15B. e other two golfers at 6th and 7th respectively are Arnold Palmer at $1.82B and Jack Nicklaus at $1.75B. It seems like just yesterday that I heard a golf reporter announce to the TV audience that Ben Hogan had just won $1,400 for winning the 1953 British Open Championship, e Open was his last major championship. It was contested at the Carnoustie Golf Links, in Angus, Scotland. Hogan’s career earnings on the PGA Tour was $332,516. A er In ationAdjusted Earnings in the Modern Era, it equates to $91.8Million, which puts him out of the Top 50 All Time. Sportico, e Business of Sport, created the list and concluded that the “50” highest paid athletes of all time brought home a combined $53.2B when adjusted for in ation and $37.7B, “on a nominal basis through the end of 2024”. e Top “50” represents eight di erent sports and 16 countries around the globe. Basketball players lead the way with 13 on the list headed by Michael Jordan, because of his decades of Nike earnings. Earnings included salaries,bonuses, prize money, purses, endorsements, licensing, royalties, memorabilia, book deals,appearence fees and golf course design fees. Sportico also included earnings during playing careers and in retirement through 2024. is is the complete list…
Top 20…
#1 - Michael Jordan
$4.15B Basketball
#2 - Tiger Woods $2.79B Golf
#3 - Christiano Ronaldo $2.23B Soccer
#4 - LeBron James $1.88B Basketball
#5 - Lionel Messi $1.85B Soccer
#6 - Arnold Palmer $1.82B Golf
#7 - Jack Nicklaus
tickets to events.”
Mayor Kurt Wheeler announced that the final report link will be posted on the village website as soon as it is received from MRB. It will also be available at 9fresh.co and futureofcazenovia.org.
9 fresh update
Following the presentation, Kate Brodock, general partner of 9 Fresh, provided an update on the local effort to acquire and redevelop the campus.
9 Fresh is a team of local investors that was, until fairly recently, under contract to purchase all the Cazenovia College-owned properties.
During the final stages of due diligence, 9 Fresh asked for an extension to ensure the thorough completion of the process; that request was denied. As a result, it had to pull its original bid.
Brodock reported that her team is days away from resubmitting its bid.
“We are hoping that it will be successful,” she said.
Wheeler added that, to his knowledge, there are no other active bids at present. The Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees typically meets on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the village municipal building at 90 Albany St.
Tom Brady…$820M...Football #22- Alex Rodriguez…$795M…Baseball #23- Manny Pacquiao…$775M...oxing #24- Rory McIlroy...$770M…Golf #25- Peyton Manning…$750M…Football. Others…#26-Rafael Nadal-Tennis…#27Canelo Alvarez-Boxing…#27-George Foreman-Boxing…#27-Je GordonRacing…#30-Valentino Rossi-Motorcycle Racing…#31-Oscar De La Hoya-Boxing… #32-Derek Jeter-Baseball…#33-Novak Djokovic-Tennis…#33-Fernando AlonsoRacing…#35-Ernie Els-Golf…#36-Magic Johnson-Basketball…#37-Gary PlayerGolf…#38-Dale Earnhardt-Racing…#38Russell Westbrook-Basketball…#40Serena Williams-Tennis…#41-Kevin Garnett-Basketball…#42-Evander Holy eld-Boxing…#43-James HardenBasketball…#43-Andre Agassi-Tennis… #45-Aron Rogers-Football…#46-Chris Paul-Basketball…#47-Kimi RaikkonenRacing…#48-Dwyane Wade-Basketball… #48-Carmelo Anthony-Basketball. My fantasy was to make the list for baseball. What about you?
