Robert Kane, businessman and former Irondequoit town leader, is remembered
You have former Irondequoit Town Councilman Bob Kane to thank for the community's popular annual Fourth of July celebration.
It was in July 1973, recalls former Irondequoit Supervisor Don Deming, that Mr. Kane said at a July Town Board meeting that he had noticed that other towns were having special events around the holiday.
"I think it's about time we had one (a July 4 celebration)," Deming recalls Mr. Kane saying.
The Town Board at the time agreed with him, and Deming subsequently appointed his longtime friend as chairman.
"He took on the challenge," Deming recalled, noting that Mr. Kane formed a committee and organized the first Irondequoit community celebration of the Fourth of July. That was in 1974. Almost 35 years later, the event is still going strong.
"Even the first one was a huge success," Deming recalled. "He (Mr. Kane) was really the founder of the July 4 celebration in Irondequoit."
On the event's 25th anniversary, Mr. Kane was made honorary parade marshal, Deming remembered.
His friend also had a great sense of humor, Deming said.
His joke about naming a new street that ran parallel to Route 590 after him became reality, said Mr. Kane's wife, Marilyn Kane, reading from a plaque that says Irondequoit's Kane Drive, which runs between East Ridge Road and Titus Avenue, was named after her husband.
"He was very community- and civic-oriented," she said.
Robert E. Kane, a Rochester native who called Irondequoit home for more than 40 years, died Sept. 24, 2007, at the Friendly Home. He was 84. After selling his Irondequoit home in 1994, he resided in Greece and Pittsford.
Mr. Kane was "like the grand old man of the Democratic party in Irondequoit" at one time, said former Town Councilman Bob Quinn. "He was a pretty distinguished guy ... and already a legend when we moved into town in 1981."
Quinn said he thinks Mr. Kane and former Supervisor Harold Knauf were among the first Democrats to win elective offices in Irondequoit.
"They changed Irondequoit town politics around ... and he (Mr. Kane) must have been good, because he served a long time," Quinn said.
Mr. Kane served on the Irondequoit Town Board from 1962 to 1965 and from 1968 to 1979. He was also Deming's deputy supervisor from 1976 to 1979.
"He was quiet, but very thorough in his thoughts," Deming said. "He researched and thought things through, but he was never argumentative; he was easy to work with ... even though we didn't always agree."
Born and raised on the west side of Rochester and a graduate of West High School, Mr. Kane attended Hobart College for a year and a half before enlisting in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He was a B-17 navigator and achieved the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
He returned from the war and finished his bachelor's degree in business administration at Hobart, where he met his wife of 58 years. At Hobart, he was president of his class and his fraternity, and was a member of the Druid Honorary Society.
He then went to night school to earn his master's degree from the University of Rochester, where he majored in economics and business, said his daughter, Susan Buck.
He worked at Graflex and the Gates Albert Co. prior to starting his own business, K & N Manufacturing, a screw machine company from which he retired in 1990, Buck said.
Besides his involvement in Irondequoit town politics, Mr. Kane also once ran for state senator, but lost to Thomas Laverne.
"He was just a take-charge kind of guy," Buck said. "Public service just suited him."
Mr. Kane was also a past president of the Rochester Junior Chamber of Commerce, and was vice chairman of the American Red Cross blood program for six years.
An avid golfer, he was a member of Ridgemont Country Club for more than 30 years. He also belonged to Hope Lutheran Church, liked to play bridge, read, "and enjoyed his family immensely," Buck said.
"The one word that describes him is 'gentleman'," Buck added. "He was a gentleman and a gentle man in every sense of the word ... He always looked out for the other guy."
Mr. Kane is survived by his wife, Marilyn, son Douglas (Diane) from West Lake Village, Calif., daughters Barbara Roberts (Mike) from Arlington, Va., and Susan Buck (Jim) of Pittsford; grandchildren Sarah Kane, Sherman Oaks, Cal., Lt. JG Douglas Kane Jr., Jacksonville, Fla., Katherine and Kurt Roberts, Arlington, Va., and Kelsi, Karli and Chloe Dunning, Rochester, along with several nieces and nephews.
His memorial service was held at Hope Lutheran Church, Vintage Lane, Greece.
Interment was private. Arrangements were made by Farrell-Ryan Funeral Home.
Donations in his memory may be made to The RCS Alzheimer's Foundation, founded and run by his son Douglas, 5655 North Lindero Cannon Road, Suite 225 Westlake Village, CA, 91362.
Linda Quinlan can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 350, or at lquinlan@mpnewspapers.com.