Perry B. Duryea Jr. ’42, who served for more than two decades as a member of the Colgate Board of Trustees before becoming an emeritus board member in 1992, died Sunday at the age of 82.
Duryea died from injuries he suffered in a car accident last week near his home in Montauk, N.Y., according to his son, Perry Duryea III, who also is an alumnus of Colgate, graduating in 1971.
Duryea spent nearly two decades in the New York State Assembly and was one of its most powerful Republicans in the 1960s and 1970s, according to an Associated Press report.
He served in the Assembly from 1960 to 1978. He was Assembly speaker from 1969 through 1973, and minority leader from 1966-68 and again from 1974 to 1978.
Duryea gave up his seat to run for governor in 1978, losing to Democratic incumbent Hugh Carey. The unsuccessful campaign for governor was his last foray into politics. He also ran a seafood distribution business, Perry B. Duryea & Son, on Long Island.
But while in Albany, Duryea worked with political giants such as Robert Moses and Nelson Rockefeller to shepherd important legislation that proliferated state parks and the state university system. He also helped champion the building of the Long Island Expressway.
Warren Anderson, Colgate Class of 1937, was Senate majority leader when Duryea was speaker. He was quoted in a Newsday report as saying that Duryea was a pragmatist who could bring people together.
Gov. George Pataki said Duryea ‘was a kind, decent and honorable man who served the people of New York and especially the citizens of Long Island with great distinction for more than four decades.’
Pataki recalled appearing alongside Duryea and his family last October when the Suffolk County state office building was dedicated in Duryea’s name.
‘May it serve as a lasting tribute to the significant contributions he made during his long and distinguished career in public service to all New Yorkers,’ Pataki said.
Born in Montauk, Duryea graduated from Colgate in 1942 and served in the U.S. Naval Air Transport Service as a plane commander during World War II, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. He served 23 years as a Colgate trustee during three separate terms.
In addition to his son, Duryea is survived by his wife, a daughter and two grandchildren.
Tim O’Keeffe
Communications Department
315.228.6634