[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 14, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO FRED CUSIMANO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BRIAN HIGGINS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 14, 2006

  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mr. Fred 
Cusimano, a life long resident of Chautauqua County and a truly 
remarkable man.

                     County Remembers Fred Cusimano

                        (By Manley J. Anderson)

       Friends and associates of the late Fred J. Cusimano of 190 
     Linwood Ave., Jamestown, who died Monday morning in the WCA 
     Hospital emergency room have expressed their thoughts about 
     him.
       ``He was a man for all seasons,'' said Joseph Trusso Jr., 
     longtime friend, fellow Democrat and veteran member of the 
     Chautauqua County Legislature. ``He worked on an oil rig, he 
     owned a gas station, he was a tree farmer. We planted 
     Christmas trees. I helped him plant some of those trees.''
       Cusimano had a lengthy career in the voting machine 
     industry, first as sales manager of Voting Machine Service 
     Inc. owned by the T.H. Huhn Agency. He also worked as sales 
     representative for the former Automatic Voting Machine 
     Company from 1960-1990, and in the later part of his career 
     was named vice-president of Automatic Voting Machine. He had 
     also worked for the Voting Machine Service Center in Gerry, 
     until his retirement in 1992.
       Voting machines weren't Cusimano's only foray into 
     politics, however. Trusso said Cusimano was respected by both 
     local Republicans and Democrats while being invited to 
     President John F. Kennedy's 1960 inauguration.
       ``He worked for Automatic Voting Machine and became vice 
     president,'' Trusso said. ``He was a member of the Board of 
     Supervisors when there were only about seven of them. He was 
     par excellence about elections. He knew everything about 
     election law and wrote most of the election laws in New York 
     state. He was a strong Democrat who believed in the 
     democratic way and he wished at times we could go back to it. 
     Fred's predecessors were all Republicans. You can call him a 
     man for all seasons. You can call him a Renaissance man. He 
     advised the city's Democratic and Republican mayors. He 
     worked very hard for the parks in the county. He had a trail 
     named after him.''
       Trusso also noted Cusimano's dedication to the Bemus Point 
     rest stop and Chautauqua Lake overlook even when he wasn't 
     feeling well.
       ``You never see a Fred Cusimano come along very often,'' 
     Trusso said. ``He's a great loss to the city, the county and 
     the state and especially to the Democrats. This man should 
     and will be honored. He devoted a good part of his life to 
     the parks of Chautauqua County. He also helped Allegany State 
     Park. He was a member of the CCC (Civilian Conservation 
     Corps) that helped build it. He was in the Army before and 
     after the draft and before and after the war (World War II) 
     for about five years.''
       Trusso said that at their traditional breakfast meeting 
     Tuesday he brought a toast to the little restaurant where the 
     faithful gathered with an empty chair for Cusimano who was 
     remembered by his surviving comrades.
       Trusso concluded with, ``I owe him a lot. I don't see 
     anyone who can take his place. What a wonderful person.''
       He was influential in returning the City of Jamestown from 
     a ``non-partisan'' to the ``party'' system for local 
     elections. He was a past member of the Jamestown Area Chamber 
     of Commerce and served on its Governmental Affairs Committee 
     and its Greater Jamestown Industrial Development Committee. 
     Cusimano was a past member of the city Planning Commission 
     and served as chairman of the county Economic Development 
     Commission. He also served several years on the Advisory 
     Council to the state Legislature's Joint Legislative 
     Committee on Election Law, and for many years served as a 
     consultant and honorary member to the Election Commissioners 
     Association of New York State.
       ``He was considered the father of the Chautauqua County 
     Parks System,'' said Anthony M. Teresi, a longtime Cusimano 
     friend and former county legislator. ``He was very active 
     with the parks until the end. The West Side Trail was named 
     for him. He helped everyone who asked for help and it was 
     good help. With me, he was a good and loyal friend who helped 
     me a lot with some of the county issues when I was a 
     legislator. When he believed in something he pursued it until 
     it was done. I consider him the brother I never had. I miss 
     him dearly.''
       John C. Cheney of Belleview, Bemus Point, a longtime member 
     and former chairman of Chautauqua County Parks Commission, 
     said of Cusimano, ``He was with us for years. He was one of 
     the founders of it. He's a real loss. We've named one of the 
     trails after him. He had a lot to do with getting those 
     trails organized and started.''

  Fred was a man who fully understood how to live to its fullest and 
that Mr. Speaker is why I rise to honor him today.

                          ____________________