William J. Larkin Jr., longtime lawmaker and veteran, dies at 91

Former state Sen. Bill Larkin, a World War II veteran who served as a state lawmaker in New York for four decades, died Saturday. He was 91.

His family announced the death Sunday, calling Larkin a “dedicated public servant, soldier and statesman.”

Larkin represented a stretch of the Hudson Valley as an assemblyman from 1979 to 1990 and then as a state senator until his retirement last year.

A Republican, he was known for forging bipartisan friendships in Albany and advancing veterans’ causes and health care for infants. He was a longtime champion of the homeless men who lived at the former Camp LaGuardia shelter in Chester and for veterans everywhere.

An early enlistment

William J. “Bill” Larkin Jr. was born in Troy and was raised by his aunt and uncle. He thought he was 18 when, while still in high school, he enlisted in the Army in 1944. It wasn’t until years later that he discovered he was born in 1928, not 1926, as he had always believed.

“I wasn’t upset,” Larkin recalled last year. “I was in the armed forces. I met with people who cared about our country and I was very proud.”

Larkin served in the Pacific during World War II, where he saw combat in the Philippines, and also later fought in the Korean War, where he had to be evacuated in early 1951 after suffering severe frostbite to his feet.

After retiring from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1967, Larkin entered politics by getting elected supervisor of the town of New Windsor, near West Point.

He was first elected to the state Assembly in 1978.

‘The quintessential public servant’

Dr. Kristine Young, SUNY Orange president, called Larkin “the quintessential public servant.”

“If it was important to his constituents, there was no issue too big or too small for which Bill would not fight in order to improve life for all of us,” she wrote in a statement. “Among the countless issues on Bill’s agenda in Albany, education was right there at the top. He was a tremendous friend to SUNY Orange, and his imprint on our College will be felt for generations. He helped shape our vision of how SUNY Orange can more effectively serve students in Newburgh and throughout Orange County. Additionally, his backing of our BRIDGES program allowed us to create needed educational opportunities for students who might not otherwise have had access to college. All of us at SUNY Orange are grateful for Bill’s friendship and support.

Larkin is survived by his wife, Pat; eight children; 17 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

This story includes reporting by the Associated Press.