{"id":95838,"date":"2023-05-17T06:45:19","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T10:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=95838"},"modified":"2023-05-19T08:01:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T12:01:54","slug":"assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/","title":{"rendered":"Assemblyman Gary Finch Remembered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Assemblyman Gary D. Finch, who formerly served Tioga County as a representative for District 123 in the Assembly, passed away on Friday, May 5, 2023 at Auburn Community Hospital. A Mass of Christian Burial was held on Friday, May 12, at St. Mary\u2019s Church in Auburn, and the burial followed at St. Joseph\u2019s Cemetery in Fleming.<\/span><\/p>\n

A longtime New York Assemblyman, Finch, a Republican, was a member of the New York State Assembly and represented District 126 prior to leaving office on Jan. 1, 2021, and after completing his 10th term. <\/p>\n

Finch previously represented District 123 in the Assembly, which included Tioga County, N.Y., and later ran for re-election in District 126, representing parts of Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland and Onondaga counties.<\/p>\n

Finch served as assistant minority leader of the minority conference, and was assigned to the Assembly committees on Agriculture, Banks, Corrections, Insurance and Rules. <\/p>\n

Word of his passing caused reaction by several Republicans that Finch worked with during his tenure serving District 123. He was described as \u201ca wonderful person to work with,\u201d and \u201csomeone admired for being able to work across the aisle to get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email from Don Castellucci, Town of Owego supervisor and chair of Tioga County\u2019s Republican Committee, he wrote that he was saddened about the passing of former Assemblyman Gary Finch. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe represented Tioga County well and was considered a friend and always welcome in Tioga County,\u201d said Castellucci.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cPersonally I was humbled when he brought a State Flag and a New York State citation recognizing my Public Service; they are both displayed in my office today. Although his health was starting to fail, he still came to my last rigatoni and meatball dinner. This is just one story. He did much for many during his public service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tioga County Sheriff Gary Howard remembered Gary Finch as someone that truly cared about people, a politician that would spend a lot of time talking to those he represented.<\/p>\n

As an example, Howard recalled the flooding in 2011 and how Finch, who was representing Tioga County at that time, came down to the Command Center at the Public Safety Building. According to Howard, Finch was \u201cvery concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were his concern,\u201d said Howard, who took Finch, along with the late Senator Tom Libous, through the flooded areas to witness the extent of the damage first-hand.<\/p>\n

Another example of Finch\u2019s far-reach into the community was a story told by Howard of how the Assemblyman got lost on W. Creek Road while searching for a Farm Bureau meeting. It was then that Finch stopped at the Weltonville Fire Station for directions.<\/p>\n

That stop, according to Howard, ended in much more. While talking to the department\u2019s members, Finch learned that the department was looking to build a new station. Shortly after the department received a $10,000 grant from the Assemblyman, according to Howard.<\/p>\n

In another example, Howard talked about Finch\u2019s cufflinks.<\/p>\n

One afternoon, during a visit to Owego, Howard was admiring Finch\u2019s cufflinks, which had a New York State Assembly emblem on them. Much to his surprise, a Christmas gift arrived months later at Howard\u2019s home with a small box inside. Finch had sent him a set of the same cufflinks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be wearing those on Friday, and in memory of him,\u201d said Howard of his planned attendance at the Assemblyman\u2019s funeral in Auburn.<\/p>\n

Debbie Howard, who serves as Vice-Chair for Tioga County\u2019s Republican Committee and served as a Community Liaison at one time for Finch and now for Assemblyman Christopher Friend, talked of his personality, and his humor.<\/p>\n

\"Assemblyman<\/a>

Pictured is New York State\u2019s Medal of Merit, presented by Assemblyman Gary Finch to first responders in the county, and following the flooding in 2011. Photo provided by Sheriff Gary Howard.<\/p><\/div>\n

She also recalled an occasion following the flooding of 2011 where Assemblyman Finch personally contacted first responders in the county, and then presented them with the New York State Assembly Medal of Merit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe called everyone personally,\u201d said Debbie, adding, \u201cIt meant so much to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also talked of Finch\u2019s involvement in parades and at community events, and how he would host meetings with various community groups and organizations, continually searching to provide for their needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will be missed,\u201d said Gary Howard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Assemblyman Gary D. Finch, who formerly served Tioga County as a representative for District 123 in the Assembly, passed away on Friday, May 5, 2023 at Auburn Community…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":95839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAssemblyman Gary Finch Remembered - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Assemblyman Gary Finch Remembered - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Assemblyman Gary D. Finch, who formerly served Tioga County as a representative for District 123 in the Assembly, passed away on Friday, May 5, 2023 at Auburn Community...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-17T10:45:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-19T12:01:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Finch1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"676\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/\",\"name\":\"Assemblyman Gary Finch Remembered - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Finch1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-17T10:45:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-19T12:01:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Finch1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Finch1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":676,\"caption\":\"When Tioga County held a ceremony to celebrate their recovery from the flooding of 2011, Assemblyman Gary Finch, pictured center right, along with the late Senator Libous, pictured center left, Legislative Chair Martha Sauerbrey, Debbie Howard, and others, gathered with the masses at the Court Street Bridge. (File Photo)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Assemblyman Gary Finch Remembered\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\",\"name\":\"psadvert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"psadvert\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Assemblyman Gary Finch Remembered - Owego Pennysaver Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Assemblyman Gary Finch Remembered - Owego Pennysaver Press","og_description":"Assemblyman Gary D. Finch, who formerly served Tioga County as a representative for District 123 in the Assembly, passed away on Friday, May 5, 2023 at Auburn Community...","og_url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/","og_site_name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/","article_published_time":"2023-05-17T10:45:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-19T12:01:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":676,"url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Finch1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"psadvert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"psadvert","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/","name":"Assemblyman Gary Finch Remembered - Owego Pennysaver Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Finch1.jpg","datePublished":"2023-05-17T10:45:19+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-19T12:01:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Finch1.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2023\/05\/Finch1.jpg","width":1200,"height":676,"caption":"When Tioga County held a ceremony to celebrate their recovery from the flooding of 2011, Assemblyman Gary Finch, pictured center right, along with the late Senator Libous, pictured center left, Legislative Chair Martha Sauerbrey, Debbie Howard, and others, gathered with the masses at the Court Street Bridge. (File Photo)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2023\/05\/17\/assemblyman-gary-finch-remembered\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Assemblyman Gary Finch Remembered"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/","name":"Owego Pennysaver Press","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492","name":"psadvert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f42612cb07a4c4b7f1eb18ddb88bac4f8054cf2755aff2b1ac4f82d9e9ffd01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"psadvert"},"url":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/author\/psadvert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95838"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95841,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95838\/revisions\/95841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}