RENSSELAERVILLE — The town of Rensselaerville is inheriting the estate of Jeffrey Bogue, who spent much of his life in Connecticut but had spent summers as a youth among the quiet hills here and had a hand turning the town’s hamlet into what it is today. 

His estate, which includes a home, is estimated to be worth more than $800,000. Minutes from the town’s Jan. 13 meeting indicate that the town’s attorney, William Ryan, recommended that the board “hire an investment advisor who specializes in municipalities to manage the funds.”

Ryan did not return a call from The Enterprise this week. The Virginia-based group overseeing Bogue’s estate could not be reached.  

The bequest was apparently a surprise to the Rensselaerville Town Board members, who were unfamiliar with Bogue until code-enforcement officer Tim Lippert asked Bogue’s cousin, Rosemarie Kuhar, who lives in Rensselaerville, to write a letter to the town providing some background. 

Bogue was born on Sept. 11, 1952 and died on Nov. 24, 2020 at age 68. Although he was born and raised in Connecticut, every summer as a teenager Bogue would visit his grandparents, John and Suan Kuhar, who lived on a farm outside the hamlet and owned dairy cows, Rose Kuhar wrote in her letter.

“Jeffrey developed juvenile diabetes as a youth and fought the disease all his life but you never heard him complain,” Kuhar wrote.

In his youth, he played tennis on the village courts and, with his teenage friends, hiked to Lake Myosotis to swim. “I was jealous he could float while I was a sinker,” Kuhar wrote.

Bogue went on to get a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from a school in Texas, then earned a master’s degree in Connecticut, after which he found work with that state “tracking down fathers who skipped out on child support,” Kuhar wrote. 

He and his late wife, Polly, were unable to have children because of medical issues, which also encouraged them to retire in Virginia, Kuhar wrote, where the climate was more agreeable and they could be near a “major medical facility,” all while staying close with the family that remained in New York. 

“Why did Jeff pick Rensselaerville to leave his estate to? Not sure anyone knows for sure,” she wrote, “but he did talk to me about his plans. I am not sure what the final legal papers stated but his initial plan had to do with honoring volunteers … One thing I know that had an impact on him is the amount of community volunteering he saw when he spent time with his grandparents. 

“He saw Uncle Jim, my dad, respond whenever the fire siren went off. Jim also worked with Mrs. Elmore to create the present playground, create the tennis court, and flood the playground for ice skating in the winter.”

Many of his relatives, including Kuhar, held volunteer positions within the town, Kuhar wrote. “His cousin Michael … was an ambulance driver for Rensselaerville Ambulance. [His cousin] Barry was also involved with the Fire company, ambulance, plus being on the Town Board and other committees. I have been a Rensselaerville Library Board of Trustees member, a member of the Rensselaerville Fire Company Battalion and very active with the Rensselaerville Historical Society.”

Bogue himself was a member of the historical society when he died, and had his mother’s paintings and carvings displayed at a historical society art show. Both of his parents and his wife are buried in the Rensselaerville cemetery, and his ashes were spread there in May, Kuhar wrote. 

She included a list of 10 ideas on how his money could be spent, ranging from repairing the village sidewalks to upgrading the playground.

The board will hold a special meeting to discuss the bequest on Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m, just before the regularly scheduled meeting that night.