Tag: In Memorium

by Bill Simons, Secretary

On a cold winter night, Rich left us soon after helping to extricate a driver’s stranded vehicle from the snow. He died as he lived—caring, compassionate, engaged.

Rich was devoted to community, good causes, and, above all, family. He was immensely proud of daughter Jess, noting that she was one of the few people equally adept with statistics and crafting the written word. For over 50 years, Rich and Loraine shared a remarkable love story — best friends, partners, parents, husband and wife. May indelible memories of special times provide a balm to Loraine, Jess, extended family, and friends as they move forward though this sad loss.

For my wife Nancy and I, one of the joys of summer was to meet Rich and Loraine by the pond at the Polar Bear for a specialty hamburger and ice cream. Summertime also included bucolic visits to the Tylers outside porch. A good storyteller and a good listener, Rich had a smile and laugh that set the world aright.

Generous with their time and energy, Rich and Loraine contributed to a range of benevolent organizations, amongst them UUP (United University Professions), the nation’s largest higher education union. Rich was UUP Oneonta’s longest serving and best treasurer. His home workshop, with tools neatly in proper place and nails and screws sorted by jar, provided the template for Rich’s tenure as UUP Oneonta Treasurer and contributions to the Finance Committee. Rich was meticulous, thorough, exacting, and transparent. While I was UUP Oneonta president, Rich made sure we abided by the rules and accounted for every penny, ensuring that we always aced outside audits with flying colors and allotted funds for core priorities. After his Chapter Treasurer reports, I would follow with, “Thanks, Rich, for keeping me out jail.” Retirement for Rich existed only in name: he remained Treasurer until the end.

A role model to other senior unionists, Rich received the Pearl H. Brod Outstanding Retiree Award from State UUP. I wrote the following in my recommendation supporting the award: “Rich spent a great deal of collaborative time with me constructing the proposed Chapter budget for the coming year. His presentations of the annual budget at the Executive Board meeting and the Chapter meeting exhibited his consistent clarity and responsiveness.”

Trying times provide a window to character. A devastating fire and explosion completely destroyed the Tylers’ new log-cabin home atop Franklin Mountain on Monday morning, March 26, 2012. Rich and Loraine had devoted hundreds of hours of their own physical labor and participated in all phases of the building of their “log-cabin” dream home. Many couples would have crumpled in the face of such a catastrophe. Instead, summoning courage and resolve, Rich and Loraine, assisted by a wide circle of friends, many of them UUPers, rebuilt their home and embarked on years of new adventures.

There was a New York Yankees right fielder named Tommy Henrich. On and off the baseball diamond, he did everything well — good batting average, solid power at the plate, heads-up base running, sure glove in the field, and accurate throwing arm. He was essential to the Yankees’ 1930s and 1940s dynasty. But due to his own modesty and the attention focused on his nonpareil teammate Joe DiMaggio, Tommy Henrich didn’t get a lot of publicity. Those who knew the game, however, understood the importance of Henrich’s contributions and nicknamed him “Old Reliable.” Rich Tyler was UUP Oneonta’s Old Reliable.

For decades, Rich was always there. When UUP needed to assemble a squad to do SUNY advocacy, whether locally or at the state legislature in Albany, Rich — and Loraine — stepped forward.  Many photographs of Oneonta UUPers meeting with legislators, particularly Senator Jim Seward and Assemblyman Bill Magee, include Rich.  During UUP Oneonta’s long and ultimately successful fight for proper Labor Day observance on campus, Rich would invariably bring expertise to the raising and stabilizing of the large, heavy, canvas union tent in the quad. At Chapter social hours, now termed UUP Unplugged, it was Rich who lugged the oversize coffee cannister. When veteran unionist Joe Baldwin developed vision problems, Rich drove him to meetings. During Chapter cash-deposit events, Rich stood close to the entrance, making sure attendees received return of their outlay. He joined the welcome contingent at the main gate when UUP Oneonta, with NYSUT allies, sponsored a ballgame at Damaschke Field.

A major liaison to State UUP, Rich kept abreast of evolving fiscal rules emanating from Albany and beyond. His long service on the State UUP Finance Committee fostered a special relationship between Rich and the late longtime State UUP Treasurer Rowena Blackman Stroud. Rich was well known in the chambers of several State UUP officers and professional staffers. And for years Rich participated as an Oneonta representative in the deliberations of the State Delegate Assembly, often joining a union picket line in Albany. 

Math and teaching, individually and in tandem, provided Rich with enduring avocation and vocation. Figuring out math problems and then teaching others to do so appealed to him.  Rich came to Oneonta as an undergraduate, and his teaching career deepened that relationship. A demanding and dedicated instructor, he gifted his knowledge and skills to a generation of math students. Colleague James York observed, “He was an absolute treasure as a coworker in the Math Department, where I would see him almost every day. We would often share our teaching experiences and thoughts about the world during our breaks between classes. His subtle sense of humor was combined with a genuine kindness and sharp mind. Rich will forever hold a special place in our memory as a quiet, friendly, and thoughtful spirit who contributed so much to the academic and professional facets of our college.” It is appropriate that a math puzzle book accompanied Rich to his final resting place.

Undoubtedly, Rich’s coming of age in the hamlet of Orange Lake on the outskirts of Newburgh, New York, contributed to his sense of community. Small-town neighborliness burnished his template. Naval duty highlighted Rich’s patriotism but also made him alive to the possibility of the capricious imposition of authority from on high. Rich’s service extended to the community. He was a stalwart of Habitat for Humanity and the philanthropic activities of the local religious community.      With quite strength and decency, Rich reminds one of Jimmy Stewart’s portrayal of George Bailey in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. Union activist Dr. Betty Wambui reflects that Rich’s “partnership [with] Loraine was a lesson in what loving friendship and service mean…  His gentle, quiet, kindness and energy… [what] he gave to his Alma Mater and Union will continue to inspire.” Rich bequeaths a legacy to emulate.

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by Bill Simons, Secretary, UUP Oneonta

Armand played a big role in my migration from union member to UUP activist. It was during the first year of the Cuomo administration — that of Mario not Andrew — and the year was 1983. Raising the specter of $1.8 billion NYS deficit — big money in those days — Governor Cuomo called for a reduction of 14,000 state jobs. At SUNY and other state institutions, there was fear. But UUP mobilized, and the Oneonta Chapter filled a bus. Tagging along with Armand, who was no stranger to NYS politics, I witnessed the power of collective action on the decisions of Albany legislators. Most of the dreaded layoffs never transpired. Although it took another decade and the prodding of Ed Wesnofske and Loraine Tyler for me to run for UUP office, it was Armand who started me on that path.  

Although he never sought union office himself, Armand was a UUP stalwart. He held many leadership roles in the Oneonta community, SUNY Oneonta, and professional associations, but within the union he exemplified the best of the UUP grassroots base. From UUP’s 1973 inception onward through the next half century, he was a strong supporter of the union, even in retirement.

He was a fixture — and often a vocal one — at many Chapter meetings. Armand continued to advocate for SUNY and wrote for The Sentinel. During the 16 years I served as UUP Oneonta president, Armand shared important insights about SUNY, and, along with Ed, my wife Nancy, and Academic VP Rob Compton, was one of the few people to tell me loudly when I was wrong.

Through abundant contributions to SUNY Oneonta, Armand demonstrated the centrality and commitment of UUPers to the institution. He was a master teacher devoted to his students. In addition to memorable American history surveys, Armand taught highly regarded courses concerning the Colonial era, American Revolution, and Native Americans. His dramatic presentations could transport mesmerized undergraduates back to the 1692 Salem witchcraft hysteria or the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. As the years rolled by, appreciative former students remained in contact, evolving into friends. 

A prolific scholar, Armand’s articles appeared in prominent disciplinary journals, and he authored three seminal books. His Hugh Lenox Scott, 1853–1934 Reluctant Warrior is the definitive biography of an important American life.

Armand evolved into a jack of all trades. Supervising interns, he made trips to government, non-profit, and commercial sites in New York City, displaying a native’s virtuosity in navigating urban traffic. Armand brought order — for a time — to the college catalogue. With his beloved future wife Carolyn — herself an iconic figure in Human Ecology — he sought to rationalize assessment and prevent its metastasizing. Armand contributed considerably to the growth of the Graduate Program during its period of ascent.

Following a robust campaign, featuring him calling on and dialoguing with every registered voter in Ward 5, Armand won election to the Oneonta City Council. As a councilman, he represented his constituents conscientiously and effectively, blocking a misguided project that would have diminished the quality of residential life.

Images of Armand across the decades cascade across my consciousness. Among the many, a tableau from mid-afternoon on Friday, December 9, 1988, remains vivid. I just finished the last class of the semester in a course on social & intellectual history. After speaking post-class with a few students, I stepped out of Shumacher 200 into the lobby. To my surprise, there was Armand accompanied by Political Science prof and first president of UUP Oneonta Denny Shea. Standing together, they looked intently at me. Armand, a Republican, and Denny, a Democrat, were political rivals in local politics but both dear friends of mine. They handed me the semester’s final issue of The State Times, the SUNY Oneonta student newspaper, then published in print, and instructed me to read a letter to the editor bearing eight signatures. I did and felt increasingly uneasy as I read a vitriolic denunciation of my role in sponsoring a recent lecture by a Fathers’ Rights advocate. The letter by signatories who had neither attended the program nor demonstrated awareness that a publicly available videotape of the event existed, accused me of creating a violent atmosphere. In something akin to shock, I looked up from the printed page, and Armand and Denny, meeting my gaze, told me, “You are not alone.” And in the hard-fought but ultimately victorious battle ahead to preserve freedom of speech on campus, I was not. (William Simons, “Intimidation as Academic Debate,” Academic Questions, June 20, 1993, pp. 63-70.)

Armand bequeathed memories in multiple genres. At a Damaschke Field ballgame circa 2000, I periodically spouted baseball trivia as Armand and I cheered the Oneonta Tigers. However, every time I did so a solitary older man, draped in a well-worn trench coat and his head topped by porkpie hat, would without encouragement trump my stories. He sat in the same bench row immediately to our right. Toward the end of the game, I asserted that complete games had become rare in baseball and no American League pitcher had reached 20+ since the mid-1980s. The venerable irritant immediately added, “Yes, not since Bert Blyleven completed 24 games in 1985.”  Armand opined, “The old guy knows more than you.” It turns out that the know-it-all was Jim Hamilton, standout baseball columnist for The Daily Star.

Often accompanied by our mutual friend Gerrit Gantvoort, Amand and I walked thousands of miles over the years. Our summer route notched laps through Neahwa Park. Typically, we ended the excursion at the Golden Guernsey where the ice cream bill rotated. In those days, a wooden outfield fence precluded us from checking the ballgame score as we passed Damaschke Field. Thus, in the preseason Armand brought a mallet and chisel so we could knock through a knothole to create a peephole in that outfield fence. As Armand readied the spot, Gerrit scouted the road to the left for obtrusive witnesses while I shouted reconnaissance reports from the right. Alas, the meticulously planned operation was scrapped when a passing police car took interest in our tools.

From his hospice bed in Tucson, Armand telephoned me and began by saying, “Sit down — I’m dying. I am not afraid, and I am not in pain.” The next day, Armand died — Thursday, December 18, 2025, of kidney failure.      Amongst many other things, Armand La Potin was a UUP stalwart.

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