John B. Isley, 60, a lifelong resident of Woodgate, passed away on Friday, October 4, 2013 at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Utica, after complications of heart disease.
Mr. Isley was president of North Country Communications, an advertising firm that was well known for its over forty year history in the local radio and newspaper industry. He was currently Deputy Supervisor for the Town of Forestport and had served as town historian for many years.
John was born in Constableville on July 7, 1953, a son of Harold D. and Margaret Lane Isley. He graduated from the Town of Webb Schools, Old Forge, and began his career in radio broadcasting at WBRV, Boonville at the age of thirteen.
He started his career by hosting the Tiger John Rock radio program on WBRV, later becoming the station news director. John also became the general news editor for the Boonville Herald, where he covered two large stories, the Moss Lake Indian Affair and the SAVAK Iranian Development in Boonville for United Press International.
He also was presented the International Journalism Award for his coverage of captive American Prisoners of War, by Project Freedom, an organization of which he was a founding member, while assisting President Reagan’s National Security Council at the White House.
At the age of seven he started printing the Woodgate Town and Country News and did so through his high schools years. In 1981, Isley started his own advertising agency and has served as its president since.
John also served as chief of Woodgate Volunteer Fire Department, as well as cecretary, and captain. He was the department’s first emergency medical technician. Prior to the formation of the Woodgate Fire Department in 1993, he served as secretary and captain of the Forestport Fire Fighters, having dedicated nearly fifty years to the fire and EMS services of the area.
He also served as secretary of the board of directors and emergency medical technician for the Prospect Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
He was president of the Woodgate Library Board of Trustees and was responsible for the new addition to the library in 1994. He also served as president of the Woodgate Community Hall, and president of the Woodgate Cemetery Board of Trustees.
As a member of the White Otter Fish & Game Club, he was responsible for the new complex built in 1997. He was a past member of the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department Auxiliary Division, New York State’s Adirondack Rail Line Advisory Committee, which was instrumental in the development of the Adirondack Scenic Railway.
John was also president of the Woodgate Citizens Committee and president of the Recreation in Oneida County Committee. He was instrumental in obtaining funds for the construction of the new Woodgate Fire Station and its equipment, the Woodgate AT&T cell site, the Woodgate Post Office and the Woodgate Community Hall.
John had several cousins including: George V. Isley, California; Verna Weiler, Frankfort; Raymond, Burton, and Dale Griffith, all of Hawkinsville; Edward Murphy, Boonville; Patrick Fergurson, Barneveld; and Kathleen Gydesen, Forestport.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, October 10 at1 p.m. at the Trainor Funeral Home, Inc., 143 Schuyler Street, Boonville. Interment will be private in the Woodgate Cemetery. There are no calling hours.
In lieu of flowers please consider a donation in memory of John to the Woodgate Library, the Woodgate Community Hall or to the Prospect Volunteer Ambulance Service.
For an online message of sympathy or to share a memory of John, please go to www.trainorfuneralhome.com.
