Pete Gladd

Born: April 30, 1931

Died: December 31, 2018

Children: Peter Lee Gladd, Shellie Lynn Manning, Lisa Mary Amorosi, Velvet Larissa Kopach

Harold Lee "Pete" Gladd, a lifelong resident of Saranac Lake, was well-known as an auto dealer.

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, January 3, 2019.

Harold Lee “Pete” Gladd, 87, of Saranac Lake, died Monday, Dec. 31, 2018 at his home surrounded by his family following a long illness.

Born in Saranac Lake on April 30, 1931, he was the son of Monroe and Thelma (Martin) Gladd. Pete married Mary Elizabeth Salls on May 24, 1958 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Saranac Lake.

Pete graduated from Saranac Lake High School. He went to work for the Nash Car Dealer and then the Chevy Dealer. He later went into the car business with two brothers on Church Street in 1959. They named the business Lake Colby New and Used Car Exchange. They later renamed the business M. Gladd & Sons when they moved to Lake Colby Drive. He eventually bought his two brothers out and his son Peter worked with him for 13 years before he left to join the Saranac Lake Police force in 1997. Pete retired from the car dealership in 1998.

He spent 11 years on the Saranac Lake Planning Board. He served on the 4-H Board and was a senior warden at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Pete was a member of the Saranac Lake Elks Club BOPE 1508 and the Mason and Shriner’s. He was instrumental in getting the Lake Colby Intersection garden planted and helped his wife maintain it for 11 years.

He loved going to rodeos and car races that his son competed in, and his daughters’ summer softball games. He owned his own airplane, a 1959 Forney F-1, which he loved fling and flew many first time flyers. “N7569C, 69 Charlie clear for takeoff’.

He is survived by his wife, Mary, of Saranac Lake; one son, Peter Lee Gladd of Chiefland, Florida; three daughters: Shellie Lynn (Gary) Manning of Saranac Lake, Lisa Mary (Peter) Amorosi of South Glens Falls and Velvet Larissa Kopach of Dayton, Texas; one sister, Elizabeth English of Enfield Connecticut; six grandchildren: Shauna, Nick, Alexis, Anthony, Tanner and Brandon, whom he loved dearly and were all with him near the end; and many nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased in death by five brothers: Joseph, Eugene, George, William and Monroe; and one sister Dorothy Davis.

Calling hours will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 6, at the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A funeral service will immediately follow at 3 p.m. at the funeral home with the Rev. George Nagle officiating.

In lieu of flowers friends wishing to remember Harold Lee Gladd may make memorial contributions to the Gladd Foundation sending children with bleeding disorders to camp, P.O. Box 116, Clifton Park, NY 12065 or the Shriners Hospital for Children 1003 Decarie Blvd, Montreal, QC H4A )0A9 Canada or in care of the funeral home.