Edmund L. Luzine

GUILDERLAND – Edmund Luke Luzine of Guilderland died Tuesday evening, 29 July 2014. Born on 18 October 1936 in Amsterdam, NY, he was the son of Oliver and Mary Luzinas of Amsterdam. He was a graduate of Amsterdam High School and the School of Architecture at Syracuse University. Ed started his career in 1960 as an architect with William Cooper & Associates in Amsterdam, NY and then moved his family and his practice a few years later to a firm established in 1865 in the Albany area where he retired from in 2004 as the Senior Partner at Dodge Chamberlin Luzine Webber Associates Architects, LLP (now known as Mosaic Associates in Troy). During his tenure, he continued the firm’s excellence with educational facilities, expanded into commercial design and engineering, and opened new offices in Long Island and Plattsburgh. A few of the major highlights of Ed’s work include the award winning Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland, facilities at Siena College, new schools for the Saratoga and Shenendehowa school districts, Teresian House, the expanded Stratton Air National Guard Base at Schenectady County Airport in Scotia, the First National Bank of Scotia, NBT Bank’s operations center in Canajoharie, and the Freihofer baking plants. One of the more prominent projects of Ed’s architecture career included the winter facilities for the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid that he attended with his family. This work led to Ed’s role as a consultant to the Russian government in the late ‘90s on their winter sporting facilities. Ed’s natural talents with people always brought out something special in each and every project. Prior to college, Ed worked in construction for a year to enhance his skill set as a future architect. Upon retirement, Ed continued to serve as a consultant to Mosaic, and also worked as an advisor to Arcon in Albany. Ed served on active duty as a Lieutenant in the New York Air National Guard during the Berlin Crisis. He was actively involved in a number of professional and charitable activities – as a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity while at Syracuse; as the President, Eastern Region, American Institute of Architects (AIA); as a member of the Guilderland Zoning Board of Appeals; as a Board Member, Guilderland Library Foundation; and as a Board Director, Friends of Sanford Stud Farm, Amsterdam, NY. Ed was a devout Roman Catholic and a member of the Christ the King parish in Guilderland. In 2000, he and his wife were inducted into the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes of Malta and served as the Albany Area Co-Chairmen. During his membership in the Order, Ed made a pilgrimage to Malta and attended mass with Pope Benedict at the Vatican in February 2013. He also served on the Advisory Board at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Latham. Ed is survived by Elaine Violyn Luzine, his wife of over 50 years, also from Amsterdam, three children, Edmund L. Luzine, Jr. (Suzette), Marie Therese Luzine, and Christopher A. Luzine (Jennifer), along with three grandchildren – Veronica, Libby and Grayson, and his sister Francis Luzinas of Amsterdam. Ed was the oldest of 30 first cousins, and just returned from Chicago to celebrate his Uncle’s 90th birthday party with his family. Funeral services Monday 4 August 2014 at 11:00 am at Christ the King Church Catholic Church, 20 Sumter Avenue, Guilderland where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated. Relatives and friends are invited and may call on Sunday, 3, August 2014 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at the McVeigh Funeral Home, 208 North Allen Street, Albany. In Lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Little Sisters of the Poor, in remembrance of Edmund. To leave the family a message on his guestbook, obtain directions or view other helpful services, please visit www.McVeighFuneralHome.com

Tributes

Edmund L. Luzine

October 18, 1936 - July 29, 2014