Joseph Shorty McCormick

Joseph C. “Shorty” McCormick. Adirondack Daily Enterprise, December 23, 1980.

Born: July 31, 1902

Died: December 22, 1980

Married: Rose Rule

Children: Francis McCormick, John McCormick, Richard B. McCormick, Patrick McCormick, Helen Muncil, Vivian Eccleston, Kathleen M. Becker, Joyce Taylor, Eileen Slate, Mary Nason, Sharon Loso Barry, Donna Moody

Joseph "Shorty" C. McCormick was a mechanic and auto parts dealer who was named Republican of the Year in 1977.

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Adirondack Daily Enterprise, January 5, 1966

“Shorty” Could Build You a Stutz!

by BILL McLAUGHLIN

Shorty McCormick is a modern day Ali Baba whose cave is the basement of the Saranac Lake Moose Club. Like stalagmites and stalactites, auto parts dating from 1902 hang from the ceiling or are piled row on row from the floor up. It is literally a jungle of iron artifacts.

In the four years since Shorty was injured in an automobile accident he has built up a store-house that can supply anything from an ignition coil for a Model T to a metal head gasket for an early Marmon.

There are thousands of car parts fully catalogued in Shorty’s head in a kind of general mental map of the interior. It has been a labor of love. He has never been very far awway form auto mechanics in his sixty-two years.

His experience as an automotive expert dates back to 1918 when the St. Mortiz Hotel in Lake Placid was called The Pines. He worked at The Pines Garage and later was employed by Phelps Smith at Paul Smiths Hotel where he drove a truck and worked on the repair and servicing of autos at the popular resort.

Shorty eventually gravitated to Saranac Lake where he became head mechanic for the Buick Motor Company on Depot Street. After learning the ABC’s and XYZ’s of the trade he went into business for himself.

He recalled with pleasure some of the magnificent engines used in bootlegging days when power and speed meant the difference between quick riches for some and federal prison for others.

His “education” included work on the Locomobile, Velle, Pierce-Arrow, Stevens-Duryea, Mitchell, Stanley-Steamer and Dort to name but a few. Today he can roam around his supply house and pick out a steering wheel for a Chalmers, a magneto or carburetor for a 1923 Dodge, or a hubcap for a Franklin if somebody needing the item is fortunate enough to find his parts complex which is out of sight of the public.

Yesterday the Monaco brothers of Make Believe Land stopped in to buy a steering post for a Model T. Ford. Shorty believes contacts like that will enable him to sell many more specialty items.

He spoke lovingly of the “fat man’s wheel” designed by Henry Ford which could be pushed up to allow a portly chauffer to get behind the steering assembly of the old Model T.

Shorty has worked on the Stanley Steamer and recalls the day the company offered a new car to anyone who could hold it wide open for five minutes on a full head of steam.

He enjoys a special love for the Stutz, a glamor runabout of the 1920’s, and could probably build one from scratch if he set his mind to it.

There is very little room left for incoming parts, many of which are obtained from garages in Vermont and New Hampshire, but with a little squeezing and re-shuffling, he might stock a Rickenbacker transmission or a Reo Flying Cloud fender if he thought somebody would need it in the next five years.

He has found time in spite of his voluminous experience in automobiles to raise a family of twelve children, the oldest now 42 and the youngest 19, split into four boys and eight girls.

You would have to search a long time to find a man as happy as Shorty who is doing exactly what he wants to do.

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Adirondack Daily Enterprise, September 28, 1977

“AMATEUR — Shorty McCormick shows former Governor Rockefeller a list of names of his 12 children. He called the governor an amateur because the state official was father to only five children. Extreme left behind Shorty is former assemblyman Hayward “Red” Plumadore, and center is Congressman Robert C. McEwan.” Adirondack Daily Enterprise, September 28, 1977.

A democrat in attendance: GOP honors one of its best

By James M. Odato

SARANAC LAKE — He wasn’t going to attend as his wife was sick with a cold. At 75, he himself wasn’t feeling terribly well.

But his children and friends urged him.

So Friday night at the Crossroads Restaurant in Moira, Shorty McCormick stood speechless, tears descending down his proud, stoic face.

For once, a very vocal resident of Saranac Lake was only able to utter: “Thank you, thank you.”

And a full three rooms of people  about 300 members and friends of the Franklin County Republican Party - stood, applauded and watched.

For the first time ever, a “Mr. Republican” award was presented “For unselfish devotion to the Franklin County Republican Party,” as the plaque reads, Joseph “Shorty” McCormick was its recipient.
 State Assembly Minority Leader Perry Duryea, Congressman Robert C. McEwan, Assemblyman Glen H. Harris and State Senator Ronald B. Stafford, all Republicans, and even chariman of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors David Vanderwalker, a Democrat, attended the annual GOP fund-raiser.

According to Lee Haig, Harrietstown party chairman, two outstanding Republican committeemen were to be given plaques.

“But we felt there just wasn’t anybody that could come up to Shorty’s qualifications,” Haig said. So, Shorty alone was the focus of Republican honors.

A Republican committeeman the past 35 years, Shorty has been a leading election enthusiast. His desire was always to win a Republican vote, but his object was to get people to the polls. He is inactive as a committeeman this year due to health reasons.

One year, he succeeded in getting 732 of 735 registered voters to cast ballots. “Two were in the hospital and one was out of town,” Shorty explains.

Just over five feet tall, he was a chauffer to former State Governor Nelson Rockefeller when he was on an Adirondack campaign swing. Shorty also was at the wheel for local politicians Hayward Plumadore, former assemblyman, and former mayor, Tony Anderson.

A retired master mechanic, Shorty used his automobile to conduct his mission as a GOP committeeman. “I got the worst of them to vote,” he said.

“I’d drive up to old ladies on the street, get them into the car, take them wherever they wanted to go. I’d drive them to Bloomingdale if they wanted,” he says, his thick eyebrows high above sparkling eyes.

“I knew everybody in the area by their first name,” he added.

“They wouldn’t want to vote, but I’d go out of my way to get them to,” he says.

He tells of the time he carried a handicapped voter to his car, and brought the man a wheelchair to the front steps of town hall to register to vote.

“He wouldn’t let his own brother do it,” Shorty recalls.

What was his trick?


Haig says, “Shorty had the gift - an uncommon gift - he met everybody personally; he knew everybody in town by their first name…”

Abandoned as an infant, Shorty was raised in a Catholic Protectory with 300 other boys.

He came to the North Country in 1911 to work with various farming families as a foster child.

His voice turns cold and hoarse as he recalls his childhood:

“You never seen one of us Protectory boys who’s tall - never - Oh, I been beat… They stunt your growth…”

He prizes his plaque, but treasures his family.

He and his wife, Rose, have been married since 1922. The first three things he is likely to show a visitor to his Cedar St. home is a picture of his family, a mug given to him by his children with their names inscribed on it, and a picture of him with state officials including Gov. Rockefeller in which he showed the governor a document that lists his 12 children’s names.

“I have 62 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and they tell me some more are comin’,” he repeats with proud glee.

A former garage owner, Shorty still operates a junk business on Forest Home Rd.

He has gone through every chair of the Moose and Elks clubs, as well as the Knights of Columbus.

He loves children and tells of buying ice cream cones for them and of them bringing him articles of junk.

“The kids always came to my garage. I remember giving the ice cream man a dollar to buy nickle ice creams and him askin’ for another quarter - that’s how many kids I treated,” he says.

Haig recalls that 35 years ago “I always knew him as Shorty - every kid in town called him Shorty - he was everybody’s friend.”

Once called “Grandpa Hippie” by some local people Shorty was always seen with long silver Santa Claus locks.

“But I don’t wear my hair that way no more. My wife don’t like it… gotta keep peace in the family,” he says.

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Adirondack Daily Enterprise, December 23, 1980

Joseph “Shorty” McCormick dies after long illness at age of 78

SARANAC LAKE — Joseph C. “Shorty” McCormick, a well-known auto parts dealer and active member of local Republican organization, died last night at the General Hospital of Saranac Lake after a long illness.

“Shorty”, as he was known to almost everyone, had come to the North Country in 1911, gradually working his way into the auto repair business over the years.

His automotive experiences included work at the St. Moritz in Lake Placid, then known as The Pines; and later, work for Phelps Smith at the Paul Smiths Hotel. After a stint as head mechanic for the Buick Motor Company on Depot St., in Saranac Lake, he went into business for himself.
For many years he had a car parts shop in the basement of the Saranac Lake Moose Club, and finally his “car parts morgue” - Shorty’s Auto Parts - located on Forest Home Road.

The Franklin County GOP named him “Republican of the Year” in 1977, an award McCormick said was one of the highlights of his life.

At the time of his death, he had made his home at 23 Cedar St.

Mr. McCormick was born in New York City, July 31, 1902.

Locally, he was also active in many community and church activities, including the Third and Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus, BPOE Elks, the Moose Lodge, and the Harrietstown, Saranac Lake and Franklin County Republican committees.

Survivors include his wife, Rose (Rule) McCormick, and four sons: Francis of Ilion, and John, Richard and Patrick of Saranac Lake.

Eight daughters: Mrs. Helen Muncil and Mrs. Mary Nason of Saranac Lake, Mrs. Vivian Eccleston of Frankfort, Mrs. Kay Becker of Long Island, Mrs. Joyce Taylor of Cranberry Lake, Mrs. Eileen Slate of Oswegatchie, Mrs. Sharon Loso of Islip and Donna Moody of Dannemora, and 46 grandchildren also survive.

Calling hours will be at the Keough and Son Funeral Home tonight from 7 to 9.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Wednesday at 11:15 a.m. in St. Bernard’s Church, with Father Steven Leehy as celebrant.

Interment will be in St. Bernard’s Cemetery.

The Fourth Degree Color Guard of the Knights of Columbus is asked to meet at 11 a.m., Wednesday, at St. Bernard’s Church.

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Adirondack Daily Enterprise, June 16, 2018

Joe ‘Shorty’ McCormick — Mr. Republican

by Howard Riley

Although I believe the term is sometimes used too commonly, Joseph “Shorty” McCormick was a real, honest-to-goodness, Saranac Lake legend.

A friendly, outgoing, bundle of energy wrapped into a stocky frame just over 5 feet tall. He talked a mile-a-minute, knew everybody, would help anybody and was Mr. Family Man, Mr. Catholic and Mr. Republican in that order … and I want people to remember him.

Joe was a hard-working man who with Mrs. McCormick raised 12 children here. He was a master mechanic who had his own garage on Bloomingdale Avenue where Sturdy Supply is located today; he was a huge supporter of St. Bernard’s parish as a member of the Knights of Columbus and always “took up the collection” at Mass every Sunday, when each Mass was always packed. One Sunday he came over to me when I was running for some political position and handed me the collection basket because he thought it might help me win the election … the Mr. Republican story I will get to in a minute.

How did Joe McCormick get to Saranac Lake when he was born in New York City? Joe, by his own words, he was abandoned when he was an infant and taken in by a Catholic Protectory [orphanage] in the city. There was a big Irish Catholic population here as an outgrowth of Father O’Donnell’s Saint Rose of Lima parish in Alder Brook.

That is the connection that sent many “Protectory Boys,” as they were known, to live with Irish farmers in the North Country and work for room & board. Joe said he “lived with many farming families as a foster child” when he arrived here in 1911. Of course, the living arrangements were all made ahead of time. I only remember a couple of the guys, Tommy Hunt and Billy McAvoy. I think Billy worked for Dick Hogan, Pat Hogan’s father, on their farm on Rock Street. Tommy worked for Dick’s brother, Francis on his farm near the Franklin Falls Road. They had a healthy, comfortable life style; worked hard, well fed with money for tobacco; and the farmers in many instances came to treat them as family.

Here are excerpts from a wonderful story written by Enterprise reporter, James M. Odato and published on Oct. 28, 1977:

“He wasn’t going to attend as his wife was sick with a cold. At 75, he himself wasn’t feeling terribly well.

“But his children and friends urged him.

“So Friday night at the Crossroads Restaurant [what a great place that was] in Moria, Shorty McCormick stood speechless, tears descending down his proud, stoic face.

“For once, a very vocal resident of Saranac Lake was only able to utter; ‘Thank you … thank you … ’

“And a full three rooms of people — about 300 members and friends of the Franklin County Republican Party — stood, applauded and watched.

“For the first time ever a ‘Mr. Republican’ award was presented. ‘For unselfish devotion to the Franklin County Republican Party,’ as the plaque reads, Joseph “Shorty” McCormick was its recipient.

“State Assembly Minority Leader Perry Duryea, Congressman Robert C. McEwen, Assemblyman Glen H. Harris and State Senator Ronald B. Stafford, all Republicans, and even chairman of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors, David Vanderwalker, a Democrat, attended the annual GOP fundraiser.

“According to Lee Haig, Harrietstown Republican party chairman, two outstanding Republican committeemen were to be given plaques.

“‘But we felt there just wasn’t anybody that could come up to Shorty’s qualifications,’ Haig said. So, Shorty alone was the focus of Republican honors.

“A Republican committeeman for 35 years, Shorty has been a leading election enthusiast. His desire was always to win a Republican vote, but his object was to get people to the polls.

“One year, he succeeded in getting 732 of 735 registered voters to cast ballots. ‘Two were in the hospital and one was out of town,’ Shorty explains.

Well, I bet there will be a few of Shorty’s descendants reading this column, because when he was the honored Mr. Republican in 1977 he said, ‘I have 62 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren and they tell me some more are comin’, he repeats with proud glee.”

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