Born: January 22, 1920
Died: November 9, 1997
Married: Charlotte A. Hull
Children: Denise Lester
Francis L. Gladd, known as "Frenchie," was chief of the Saranac Lake Fire Department when the Alta Vista burned. A son of son of Lee G. and Marilda (LaMare) Gladd. of Fairview Avenue, he was an Staff Sergeant in the US Army Air Forces in World War II. An Enterprise article on May 31, 1944, about his brother Robert, wounded in Italy in World War II, mentioned that Francis was somewhere in Italy with the Army Air Force, and that Francis had enlisted four years ago and had been overseas for two years. He is buried in Pine Ridge Cemetery.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 11, 1997
Francis L. Gladd
SARANAC LAKE - Francis L. Gladd, 77, died Sunday, Nov. 9, 1997, at the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake.
Born Jan. 22, 1920 in Saranac Lake, he was the son of Lee G. and Marilda (LaMare) Gladd.
Mr. Gladd was a 1937 graduate of Saranac Lake High School, and a veteran of World War II. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps for four years as a staff sergeant.
He was married to the former Charlotte A. Hull on March 22, 1955 in the First Methodist Church in Saranac Lake.
Mr. Gladd had been employed as an auto mechanic and service manager for over 40 years. He was later employed as the building superintendent at 3-5 Riverside Drive, retiring in 1990. He later worked part-time as a dispatcher for the N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation.
He was a member and past chief of the Saranac Lake Fire Department, a member and past captain of the Saranac Lake Rescue Squad, a member and chairman of the Franklin County Fire Advisory Board, a member and president of the Franklin County Fire Chiefs Association., a member and chairman of the Harrietstown Housing Authority, Deputy Fire Coordinator for Franklin County, member of the Franklin County 4-H board, a former trustee on the village of Saranac Lake Village Board, councilman for the town of Harrietstown, member of the village of Saranac Lake Zoning Board of Appeals, member of the Mountain Valley REACT Team, Secretary and first vice president of the N.Y.S. REACT Council, and a member and president of the Adirondack REACT Council.
Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Denise Lester of Saranac Lake; two brothers. Ronald Gladd of Saranac Lake, and Richard Gladd of Bloomingdale; three sisters,. Doris Farrell of Tupper Lake, Jean Duso and Peggy Vancour of Bradenton, Fla.; two grandchildren, Dan and Angela Lester of Saranac Lake, and many nieces and nephews.
Calling hours will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A fireman's prayer service will be held at 8 p.m. Wednesday. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home with the Rev. William Neil, pastor of the First United Methodist Church, officiating. Interment will follow in Pine Ridge Cemetery. Saranac Lake. Memorial contributions may be made to the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Squad in care of the funeral home.
