Lawrence H. Conlon, Jr.

Lansing, NY

Lawrence H. “Pat” Conlon, Jr. passed away Monday, April 21, 2014, at the age of 81.

Pat was born in Sayre, PA on February 7, 1933 to Dr. Lawrence H. Conlon, Sr. and Lucille Horton Conlon. He is survived by his wife, Constance Salm Conlon; his children, Martin A. (Sandra) Conlon, and Lauren E. Conlon (William Radzik). Grandchildren include Chad D. Worsell, Erin L. Worsell, Andrea R. Conlon, M. Ross Conlon, Amber L. Radzik (son Daiker); great granddaughter, Jordan E. Brinkley; sister, Katherine Conlon Payne; niece, Clare L. Holmes; and great niece, Jessica Holmes. He was predeceased by his parents and his sister, Elizabeth Conlon Chambers.

Pat grew up in Waverly, NY and graduated from Waverly High School in 1951. He participated in high school sports, including football and basketball. During the last game of his senior year, he helped his basketball team win the state championship by sinking two free throws in overtime.

After spending summers at his uncle’s dairy farm near Ulster, Pennsylvania, Pat decided to study Agriculture at Cornell University. He graduated from Cornell’s School of Agriculture and Life Sciences in May 1955 as a brother of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. During his summers at Cornell, he worked at Rally Farms in Dutchess County caring for prize Angus beef cattle. It was at Cornell that Pat met and courted Connie Salm, a Home Economic Education major, Class of ’55 and a Pi Beta Phi sister. Everyone who knew Pat realized he had gotten it right and found himself a “winner”. Pat and Connie were married on May 5, 1956 in Verona, NY.

For his required military service he was chosen to participate in the Army’s elite Counter Intelligence Corps for two years. This took Pat to Baltimore’s Fort Holabird for training and then on to Japan for the remainder of his tour of duty where he was joined with his “child bride”. After completing his Army service, Pat and Connie returned to the ancestral home which was dear to heart on Conlon Road in Lansing, and then relocated to another ancestral home on North Triphammer Road. On a near perfect lot, with mature trees that included a picturesque view, they took up residence in the home they built on Conlon Road in 1968. Based on Pat’s prior farming experiences, he decided to raise Angus beef cattle, some of which were shown by his children in local 4-H fairs as well as the NY State Fair.

After a brief stint of selling life insurance and propane, Pat started a successful career in brokering real estate with J.D. Gallagher Co., Inc., and eventually became co-owner. This career included chairing the Ithaca Board of Realtors as President. He served as Director of the NYS Association of Realtors and was named Realtor of the Year in 1976. Pat had a well-deserved reputation as an expert on rural properties throughout Central New York. His greatest asset was his knowledge of agricultural real estate. Upon retirement, Pat did the things he loved which included working with appraisals for local banks and participating in the re-appraisal of Tompkins County, while working with the Doane Appraisal Company. Pat returned to his love of farming by working at Hardie Farms in Lansing, consistently being a part of the farm in many ways, and for years was an elder advisor to the next generation. At any point in time, friends who expressed an interest in farming were immediately taken up the road to have a tour of Hardie Farms. He enjoyed maintaining a beautiful and bountiful garden in which he shared his homegrown vegetables and fruits with so many of his close friends. Stock car racing was always a passion of Pat’s and he continued to enjoy this during retirement years. “Pops” was a permanent fixture in the pits and attended nearly all races where his son, Marty and his team were participating. He also enjoyed woodworking, including making wooden trunks for each of his grandchildren as well as many wooden picture frames. Pat enjoyed traveling with Connie, including a special trip out west in 2002 and numerous trips to San Diego, California and Maine. Pat was a charter member of the Lansing United Methodist Church and was Treasurer for many years. He also served as Treasurer of the Asbury Cemetery Association, was a member of the Lansing Lions Club and was a faithful volunteer bell ringer for the Salvation Army. For years Pat provided commitment, leadership and love for his Lansing community through many activities and consultations with others.

He was very well informed on the performance of many local high school and college athletes and teams, knew the team history and followed them season after season. He always loved a good athletic contest.

Pat was involved in all his grandchildren’s lives and when they were participating in athletics or any other school events, he was sure to be there in support of all of them. He quickly became their biggest fan and will remain so. His family looked to him for knowledge, guidance and advice. He cultivated family values and instilled his strong work ethic in his children and grandchildren. After the hard work was done he always made time for fun, including numerous pranks or antics in which close friends were often a part of.

Pat truly enjoyed communicating with everyone; and communicate he could. He preferred making impromptu visits to see friends in person and you never knew when he was going to show up. However, over the years, when that became difficult, he would then phone, write, and use email; he never stopped communicating. Most important to him was keeping in touch with former colleagues from his past, especially those from his hometown of Waverly, his AGR brothers and Army buddies. Pat had a skill for retaining vast amounts of knowledge on the past history of many subjects. He always knew about current events, and if he didn’t know about a subject, he knew someone who did, and he would get the information. Friends recently described him as “Pat was one of a kind – the right kind. He was a talker; he could talk himself into or out of any situation”.

A husband, brother, father, grandfather, great grandfather, colleague and friend; no matter the role he played, he is irreplaceable and will be greatly missed.

Family will receive friends from 4-6 p.m., Monday, May 12th, at Lansing Funeral Home, 32 Auburn Rd., Lansing, NY. A memorial service to celebrate Pat’s life, with the Rev. Bruce Barden officiating, will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, May 13th, at Lansing United Methodist Church, 32 Brickyard Rd., Lansing, NY.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Pat’s memory may be directed to Waverly High School Athletics, Attn: Athletic Department/Director of Athletics, 1 Frederick St., Waverly, NY 14892.