Obituary of Robert J. Conover

Mr. Robert J. Conover, 87 years old, formerly of Truax Road, died Thursday at Mt. Loretto Nursing Home. Mr. Conover was born April 27, 1919 in Amsterdam, New York, a son of Kenneth and Katharine Savage Conover. He graduated from St. Mary?s Institute in Amsterdam in 1936 and from St Michael?s College, Colchester, Vermont. In 1940, Mr. Conover served in the US Army and the Army Air Corps during WW II from 1940 until 1946 and was released from active duty in 1946 as Captain. He subsequently served in the US Air Force Reserve and the New York Air National Guard from 1947 until 1979, retiring as Major. Mr. Conover joined his father in 1946 as a partner in the Seely Conover Co., the family stationery and office supply business founded in 1879 by his grandfather who had served two terms as Mayor of Amsterdam. After Kenneth Conover retired, Robert incorporated the business, and with his wife Anne, continued the operation until he retired in 1986, when the business was sold to Wayne and Gary Bovee. Mr. Conover was a former President of the Lions Club and a chairman of the Downtown Amsterdam Association during the urban renewal battle to save downtown Amsterdam. He was also a director and treasurer of the United Way of Montgomery County for a number of years. Mr. Conover was a communicant of St. Mary?s Roman Catholic Church and a member of the church choir. In 1942 he married the former Anne Brizco of Amsterdam who died in January of last year. Mr. Conover is survived by his son, Bruce Conover of San Diego, California, a brother, Paul, and two sisters, Marie Therese Conover and Sarah Conover, all of Santa Barbara, California. He was predeceased by his daughter Judith Anne Evers in 1993. Private funeral arrangements are under the direction of Betz, Rossi & Bellinger Family Funeral Home, 171 Guy Park Avenue, Amsterdam, New York. Burial is in St. Mary?s Cemetery, Ft. Johnson. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated in San Diego, California.