VOORHEESVILLE — Gregory E. Burgoon, an incredibly courageous, humble, and persevering man, died on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. He was 65.

Diagnosed with mouth cancer, he was given four to six months to live — that was 16 years ago. He battled the disease “with courage and grace,” his family wrote in a tribute.

“His first operation wasn’t able to take care of the cancer,” said Sherry Burgoon, Greg’s sister. “And when it came back within a year, he was facing some incredible odds.”

Mr. Burgoon, his sister said, encouraged his doctor to proceed with what would become “some really groundbreaking operations.”

“He was willing to accept whatever consequences there were,” Mrs. Burgoon said. “He went through many, many operations and he never complained — he never complained. He accepted what he had to do.”

Gregory Burgoon was born in Sharon, Connecticut on Dec. 31, 1952, to William Leo and Margaret Burgoon. His father was an engineer at the New York State Department of Health. His mother worked as a waitress at Colonie Country Club; for 11 years, she was head waitress, said Sherry Burgoon.

“Growing up in Voorheesville, it probably was the best place ever — being a small community, and, being able to have a large circle of friends,” Mrs. Burgoon said. “Greg certainly had a large circle of friends from all avenues, it didn’t matter who it was.”

He was an excellent three-sport high-school athlete, playing soccer, basketball, and baseball. But Mr. Burgoon was multifaceted, his sister said.

“People would probably be surprised to hear that he was in the high school chorus, as a bass, for four years,” Mrs. Burgoon said, Her brother was also president of the Key Club, the youth arm of Kiwanis, an international community-service club.

It was during high school, his sister said, that Mr. Burgoon learned how to be an “extremely hard worker.”

“One of his first jobs, when he was around 14, was to work at my aunt and uncle’s farm in Dutchess County, for the summer,” Mrs. Burgoon said. “Getting up at the crack of dawn — believe me — and getting those cows milked with my uncle. Spending the entire day, all summer, doing the hard work of a farmer, from dawn until dusk.”

Mr. Burgoon graduated from Clayton A. Bouton High School, in Voorheesville, in 1970.

After graduation, Mrs. Burgoon said, her brother played American Legion baseball in the Albany area. She said that he had been asked by five Major League Baseball teams to try out as a catcher. “Greg was a very humble man; he would never go around and tell people that thing.”

Mr. Burgoon’s first “real job,” his sister said, was as a short-order cook at Chef Italia, in Albany. He loved to cook, Mrs. Burgoon said, and, when the family had an overnight stay during the holidays, her brother would set up an omelette station the next morning.

For more than 40 years, Mr. Burgoon was a truck-parts manager at Albany Mack/Truck Sales.

He was also a long-time volunteer. In 1974, Mr. Burgoon joined the Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department.

“As a young adult, that really became his focus,” his sister said.

The fire department became family; Mr. Burgoon was a lifetime member.

In 2006, he was named Firefighter of the Year by the Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department; in the same year, Mr. Burgoon was honored by the Albany County Volunteer Firemen’s Association, as its Fireman of the Year.

“Through the 16 years of his illness, there was never a question — if there was any need, we could call on them,” Mrs. Burgoon said of the members of the Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department.

When a family member couldn’t accompany Mr. Burgoon to New York City for treatment, members of the Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department stepped up and volunteered to drive, she said. When he had to be moved, members of the Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department were there with tape and boxes.

Mr. Burgoon had his hobbies, his sister said, he loved to race cars, and loved the demolition derby.

“He had his own little stock car in the early ’70s, and he would race it in Lebanon Valley,” she said, that led to his love of NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

Mr. Burgoon played in softball leagues when he younger, his sister said, and he was an avid and “a very good bowler.” He was a member of the fire department’s bowling team.

“Then, of course, the one hobby he was able to continue after all of his operations,” Mrs. Burgoon said, “was golf.” He continued golfing until this summer, she said.

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Gregory E. Burgoon is survived by his son, Matthew William Peter, and his wife, Annie; his siblings, Kathleen Valente, Sherry Burgoon and her husband, Joerg, Bill Burgoon and his wife, Mary, Patty Miller and her husband, Doug, and Steve Burgoon and his wife, Christine.  

He is also survived by 12 nieces and nephews, and by his Voorheesville Fire Department family.  

The family would like to thank Dr. Mark Urken’s medical team at Beth Israel Hospital, in New York City; Dr. Nini Wu, of New York Oncology and Hematology, and the many caretakers who provided for his care over the years.

Calling hours were held at the Reilly and Son Funeral Home on Oct. 17.

A memorial will take place on Thursday, Oct. 18, at 5 p.m, at the Voorheesville Fire Department, 12 Altamont Rd., Voorheesville, NY.  

Memorial contributions may be made to the Thyroid, Head and Neck Cancer Foundation, Post Office Box 1021, New York, NY 10276.

— Sean Mulkerrin