SCHENECTADY — Alan C. Bauder, a land surveyor who helped preserve pieces of history submerged under water, loved fun, the outdoors, and taking care of his family.

Mr. Bauder died on Monday, May 26, 2014, at Kingsway Manor in Schenectady. He was 67.

Mr. Bauder worked in various positions in the Office of General Services for 30 years, eventually leading its submerged lands management unit. A custodian for the resources on the state-owned bottomlands for bodies of water in New York, he helped develop a fish hatchery off of Long Island, near Plum Island, he worked on salt extraction underneath Seneca Lake, and the federally recognized Lake George historical shipwreck program, according to Robert Staph, a friend who worked his way up in OGS alongside Bauder and became the Bureau of Land Management chief.

Many Bateaux, ships sunken during the French and Indian War, remain on the bottom of Lake George.

“He’s always fought to preserve sunken relics for diving expeditions and private diving,” his son said. “So people could actually go down and see the sunken relics within Lake George and Lake Champlain.”

“He was involved in helping the corps of engineers dredge and get permission from DEC to dredge the Hudson River to keep the channels open,” said Staph, referring to the cleaning of PCBs by General Electric, overseen by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

Born in Johnstown on Feb. 4, 1947, Mr. Bauder was the son of the late Alwyn and Geraldine Robinson Bauder.  They moved to the town of Bethlehem when he was 7 years old. 

Mr. Bauder graduated from Bethlehem Central High School in 1965, and attended the University of West Virginia, Worcester Junior College, where he received an associate degree, and Empire State College, where he received a bachelor’s degree in land surveying management. 

He worked as a private land surveyor, working as an assistant just out of college surveying the sewer system in New York City. He spent time with his elder son showing him how to do the work outside.

“He taught me how to hold the tape and hold the tape measure and mark the corners of properties,” said his son Justyn Bauder. “He would operate the gun, or the theodolite, and I was basically the legwork. I’d sit there and hold the target and he’d sight me and take his measurements through the instruments to measure the land.”

Mr. Bauder retired from the submerged lands management unit in 2009.

He also served as a Westerlo Town Justice for more than 25 years, retiring in 2009. 

For more than 20 years, Mr. Bauder’s sons showed horses at the Altamont Fairgrounds, under Hillcroftshire and Hillcroft Stables. He was a proud father and enjoyed helping take care of the horses and spending time among the other horse owners and riders at the fairgrounds.

His son said Mr. Bauder was ready with advice.

“He would let you fall on your face when you made a mistkae but was always there to help pick you back up,” said Justyn Bauder.

Mr. Bauder was a member and past president of the Westerlo Volunteer Fire Company, and past master of Bethlehem Masonic Lodge in Delmar.  When he was younger, he served as a coach for Berne-Knox-Westerlo Little League, and as a ranger for the youth stockade program at the First Baptist Church of Westerlo.

“He was a very giving individual,” said Mr. Staph. “He was always there to help somebody.” He trained seeing-eye dogs for the blind and also parented foster children, Mr. Staph said.

“His family was his life,” his son said.

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Alan Bauder is survived by his wife, Sally Tice Bauder; his sons, Justyn Bauder and his wife, Melissa, and Chad Bauder and his wife, Kayla; his grandchildren, Meghan, Joshua, and Jayden Bauder; and his nieces, Amanda Grover Joseph and Melissa Ann Grover Raney. 

His parents died before him, as did his sister, Jan Grover Franklin.

He was cremated privately and burial will be private at a later date.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial service at 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, June 1, at the A.J. Cunningham Funeral Home, 4898 Route 81 in Greenville.

Mourners may go online to ajcunninghamfh.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to Guiding Eyes for the Blind, 611 Granite Springs Road, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598.

— Marcello Iaia