Snow this evening will transition to snow showers late. Low 27F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 100%. Snow accumulating 3 to 5 inches. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..
Snow this evening will transition to snow showers late. Low 27F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 100%. Snow accumulating 3 to 5 inches. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Updated: January 2, 2025 @ 9:37 pm
State Sen. Mary Anne Krupsak accepts an award of recognition from Schenectady Mayor Frank Duci, right, in 1974.
Lt. Governor Mary Anne Krupsak stands with Democrat friends during a testimonial dinner for Schenectady County Democratic Chairman Francis C. Behan in January 1975. From left are Rep. Samuel S. Stratton, Rotterdam Town Supervisor John F. Kirvin, Stanley Niemic and Behan. Krupsak was lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1978 and was the first woman to hold the office. A native of Schenectady, Krupsak grew up in Amsterdam.
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State Sen. Mary Anne Krupsak accepts an award of recognition from Schenectady Mayor Frank Duci, right, in 1974.
Lt. Governor Mary Anne Krupsak stands with Democrat friends during a testimonial dinner for Schenectady County Democratic Chairman Francis C. Behan in January 1975. From left are Rep. Samuel S. Stratton, Rotterdam Town Supervisor John F. Kirvin, Stanley Niemic and Behan. Krupsak was lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1978 and was the first woman to hold the office. A native of Schenectady, Krupsak grew up in Amsterdam.
Trailblazing former Lt. Gov. Mary Anne Krupsak, who was the first woman to hold the office in the state, has died. She was 92.
Krupsak was born in Schenectady on March 26, 1932, but grew up in Amsterdam and graduated from Wilbur Lynch High School. Her parents, Ambrose and Mamie, were both pharmacists who ran a drugstore on Hibbard Street.
Although she moved to Western New York in the 1990s, she remained “very fond” of Amsterdam throughout her life, said Edmund Luzine Jr., a second cousin. She died peacefully at her home on Seneca Lake in Geneva on Saturday, according to her obituary.
“She basically did everything a person could do, and more,” Luzine said.
Krupsak was an accomplished lawyer, politician and businesswoman. She earned degrees from the University of Rochester, Boston University and University of Chicago Law School. Luzine said she advocated for women’s rights throughout her life.
“It is my understanding that she always wanted to work and wanted things to be fair and equal,” Luzine said. “She saw the need to advocate for women to be given … a fair chance or a fair shot at working, or [at] some job or some opportunity that really, quite honestly, sex should not be a determining factor in.”
Politics were perhaps in Krupsak’s blood. Her father served as a Democratic member of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors representing Amsterdam’s 4th Ward. Her early career included working for Gov. W. Averill Harriman during his initial candidacy and throughout his four-year term prior to his re-election defeat in 1959.
Before attending law school, Kurpsak also worked for then-Schenectady Mayor Samuel Stratton, prior to his election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
After being surrounded by politicians, Krupsak entered the arena herself and was elected to two terms in the state Assembly representing Montgomery County and part of Schenectady County from 1969 to 1973 before being elected to the state Senate from 1973 to 1975.
During this period, Krupsak married Edwin Margolis in 1970. He was a law professor at Hunter College and a Democratic counsel for the state Assembly. He died in 1993.
In May 1974, Krupsak announced her bid for lieutenant governor. She earned a stunning victory in the Democratic primary over Mario Cuomo and Antonio Olivieri. She went on to win the general election, serving under Gov. Hugh Carey.
It was an impressive feat, according to Bill Buell, who interviewed Krupsak when Schenectady native Antonio Delgado became lieutenant governor in 2022.
“She is one of the few politicians to defeat Mario Cuomo,” said Buell, Schenectady County historian and columnist for The Daily Gazette. “She was an absolute delight to talk to when I chatted with her on the phone almost three years ago now and I could tell she loved talking about New York politics.”
While in office, Krupsak was heavily involved in efforts to preserve the iconic Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, which was being threatened with demolition to redevelop the site. It was designated as a National Landmark in March 1978.
“Radio City Music Hall is the symbol of the tourist industry of New York City, and highly regarded world‐wide. Clearly, it is worth fighting for. If it survived the Depression and wartime it can survive now,” Krupsak was quoted as saying by The New York Times in January 1978.
Krupsak and Carey eventually had a falling out. She apparently felt underutilized as his lieutenant governor and ran against him in the Democratic primary for governor in 1978. He defeated Krupsak and went on to be re-elected. She later ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 and then for state Senate in 1990.
Although that was the end of her political career, Krupsak went on to become senior partner at the law firm Krupsak & Mahoney, and a senior partner and co-founder of Krupsak, Wass de Czege & Associates, an economic development firm.
She also served on the boards of directors for several corporations, including Coleco Industries in Amsterdam. The toymaker introduced its Cabbage Patch Kids dolls during her tenure, which generated over $2 billion in sales in the 1980s.
U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, described Krupsak as a dedicated public servant who broke barriers for women in government. He knew her both professionally and personally from her political career and as a fellow city resident.
“She was committed to improving the lives of those in our communities, and the memory of her indomitable spirit will continue to echo across our state. My condolences to her loved ones and may she rest in peace,” Tonko said in a prepared statement.
Krupsak was a lover of food and wine, according to Luzine, who surmised that was part of what drew her to Western New York. She ran several restaurants with a friend in the 1990s and played a role in the development of the Finger Lakes wine industry.
“There are no vineyards in Amsterdam,” Luzine said.
Although she didn’t have children, Luzine said, she was close with her large extended family. He and his sister saw the sites in New York City with the lieutenant governor when they visited Krupsak as kids. It wasn’t unusual for her to play matchmaker, setting up some of her younger cousins, like Luzine, on dates when they were older.
“She was always around at family activities. She loved her family,” Luzine said. “She was to me a great role model growing up, a great friend, a great cousin and a great mentor.”
Krupsak also had a sense of humor, one of her memorable campaign slogans stated, “She’s not just one of the boys.”
“She had a smile that radiated everywhere,” Luzine said. “She always had this energy, this aura, like friendly, happy, outward-going and these intelligent, sparkling and curious eyes.”
Krupsak will be missed, Luzine said.
“She was always actively engaged with people. She always wanted to talk with people, hear what was going on, hear what their views were, their ideas,” Luzine said. “I’m blessed with that interaction that I had with her as one of the members of the family. It’s very special.”
Friends and family are invited to attend a mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. on Monday at St. Francis De Sales Church in Geneva. The burial will be at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn.
Reach Ashley Onyon at aonyon@dailygazette.net or @AshleyOnyon on X.
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