Robert R. Jorgensen

Robert R. Jorgensen
FORT MYERS, FL
Robert R. Jorgensen, age 80, of Fort Myers, FL, and formerly of New Hartford, NY, died peacefully at home on August 6, 2013. He was born in Auburn, NY, on November 3, 1932, a son of Delmar and Mildred Jorgensen. Mr. Jorgensen was educated at Union Springs Central School and Cortland State, where he was a multi-sport athlete, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1954. He then earned a Master degree from Washington State University in 1956 and spent three years in the Marine Corps, serving as a Second Lieutenant in Lebanon and Okinawa, Japan. He married Valerie Gallagher Riley in 1960 in Cortland, NY, and joined the staff at Mohawk Valley Community College after coaching for a year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Jorgensen was the founding father of Mohawk Valley Community College Athletics. He coached soccer and baseball, and was the golf coach for 23 years, turning out many excellent teams. As athletic director, he built the intercollegiate program from five sports to 21, and he helped pioneer women's athletics. The college named its new $15-million athletic complex for him in 2012. He earned that honorific through three distinguished decades as the navigator of the Hawks' physical education and intercollegiate athletic programs. Mr. Jorgensen was a teacher, coach, administrator, mentor, leader and, maybe most of all, a friend to many. An excellent golfer, he had a hole-in-one just three years ago at the Skenandoa Golf Club, his home course for many years. Mr. Jorgensen also was involved in youth golf, and was one of the founders of what became the Mohawk Valley Junior Golf Tour and was inducted into the Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Mr. Jorgensen was a past-President and member of the New Hartford Kiwanis, past-President and board member of the Skenandoa Golf Club, inductee into the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1994, inductee into the Utica Hall of Fame in 1999, inductee into the SUNY IT Hall of Fame, Utica, New York, Union Springs Central School Hall of Fame, Union Springs, NY, and founder of junior golf in the Utica area. He is survived by his wife, Valerie, of 53 years; four children, Chris and Wendy Jorgensen, Lynne and Jerry Abbott, Mark and Diane Jorgensen and Brian and Maria Jorgensen; and nine grandchildren, Elizabeth Abbott York, Kathryn Abbott, Riley Jorgensen, Robert Jorgensen, Parker Jorgensen, Mia Hobaica Shulman, Thomas Jorgensen, Samuel Hobaica Shulman and Jason Jorgensen; along with 10 brothers and sisters, Marilyn Jorgensen Signor, Jerry Jorgensen, Claudia Jorgensen Rouse, Maxine Jorgensen Martens, Roger Jorgensen, Teddy Jorgensen, Penny Jorgensen Salls, Glenn Jorgensen, and James and Jack Jorgensen. He was predeceased by his parents, Delmar and Mildred Jorgensen; siblings, Eugene Jorgensen, Virginia Jorgensen, Dorothy Jorgensen Kratzer, Beverly Jorgensen Shaw, Kenny Jorgensen, June Jorgensen Ryan and Sandra Jorgensen. The family would like to thank Dr. Mark Blaker, Dr. Lisa Ennis and Dr. Anthony De Orio. The funeral will be Monday, August 19, 2013, at 4:00 p.m., followed by a receiving line, at the New Hartford First United Methodist Church, 105 Genesee Street, New Hartford, NY 13413. Interment will be in Cortland Rural Cemetery on Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. Memorial contributions for the Robert Jorgensen Memorial Scholarship may be sent to the MVCC Foundation, 1101 Sherman Drive, Utica, NY 13501. Arrangements are with the Dimbleby, Friedel, Williams & Edmunds Funeral Home, New Hartford. For online expression of sympathy, go to www.dfwefh.com.