Beatrice Moores Cornell, 90, of the Town of Newburgh, died peacefully in her
home, Wednesday, June 25, 2014 surrounded by her loving family. Born June 15,
1924, Bea was the daughter of Leslie F. Moores and Anna Lochhead Moores. Bea
Cornell began her career in the Administration offices at Newburgh Free Academy
having graduated in the top ten of her class. After marrying Larry Cornell, her
"boyfriend of 60 years" that she met at the local roller skating rink, she
raised three children while working at both Bishop Dunn Memorial and as the
Church Secretary at the Unitarian Church. But it was her 30 years of devoted
public service at Newburgh City Hall in the Engineering Department during which
she was able to put her true talents to work….solving any problem, answering any
question, and getting to the bottom of any dilemma that was posed to her. In her
mind there was always a solution, an answer and a resolution. One of the biggest
puzzles she solved occurred in 1981 when she reconstructed 10 years of financial
records to recover nearly one million dollars owed to the City of Newburgh in
overdue state and federal reimbursements….a major windfall for a City with huge
budgetary challenges. After being named "Citizen of the Year" on "Beatrice M.
Cornell Day", the Evening News wrote: "Like Victor Hugo's unrelenting Inspector
Javert, who pursued the hapless Jean Valjean through the sewers of Paris in Les
Miserables, Mrs. Cornell labored patiently to piece together the documentation
that would pass muster with NYS auditors [in order to solve] the million dollar
riddle ." Ironically the monies owed were related to the construction of the
City's Sewer Plant. In Bea's usual manner, her reaction was " I don't know what
all the fuss is about. I really just did what I'm paid to." That might be true
if it were not for the endless hours at night and on weekends spent pouring over
and reconstructing the records. Her sister Elsie Pyburn, herself a well known
tireless and unpaid advocate for preserving many historic properties throughout
the City of Newburgh, described Bea as "a modest, unselfish lady of high
principle who fulfills the highest and best requirements of public service –
integrity, honor and loyalty to that in which she believes." Don Presutti, the
mayor at the time, was quoted in the Times Herald Record as saying "Bea was one
of those very unique public employees who thought she answered to a higher power
than the City Manager or City Council. The higher power was The People." Known
as "that spunky lady "who had no shortage of opinions and held no quarter for
those who did not meet her standards for either public or personal behavior, Bea
was the only person who knew where to find everything and to fix anything in the
city, including the iconic Street Clock outside City Hall, another of her "off
the clock " activities. When the circa-1800's clock stopped working, Bea took it
upon herself to find one of the few remaining clock-smiths out of Boston that
could repair the leaks in the cast iron and get the historic clock in working
order once again. If that wasn't enough, she also wrote the grants to pay for
the repairs and then, for the next 20 years, she and husband Larry would wind
the clock faithfully every Monday and Friday nights, otherwise known as "date
night" for Bea and her "boyfriend". Faced with a progressive neurological
disease which gradually robbed her of her ability to climb the four flights of
stairs to the City Engineer's office, it became time to retire after 30 years of
devoted public service and spend time with that boyfriend of hers. Even after
retiring, however, Bea Cornell never stopped serving her public. Until her
passing at age 90, anyone who called her son Les Cornell, the Town Historian,
with a question about Newburgh would inevitably end up talking to Bea who,
without fail, researched the question in hand and provided a complete and
thorough answer. In addition to Les Cornell, Bea is survived by daughters
Lauraine Cornell Marcus of Williamsville, NY and Linda Cornell ; beloved
grand-daughter Laura and grandson Stewart Marcus of Buffalo; and many nieces,
nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews. She outlived her siblings: Leslie "Bud"
Moores Jr, Colleen Bowen, Herbert Moores, and Elsie Pyburn, all of Newburgh.
Memorial donations made be made in Beatrice Cornell's memory to the Visiting
Nurse Association, 259 Lowell Street, Somerville, MA 02144. (www.vnaem.org)
Family and friends are invited to a gathering to celebrate Bea Cornell's life on
Saturday June 28th at 1 p.m. at the Family Homestead. (617-699-9680)
Beatrice Moores Cornell, 90, of the Town of Newburgh, died peacefully in her
home, Wednesday, June 25, 2014 surrounded by her loving family. Born June 15,
1924, Bea was the daughter of Leslie F. Moores and Anna Lochhead Moores. Bea
Cornell began her career in the Administration offices at Newburgh Free Academy
having graduated in the top ten of her class. After marrying Larry Cornell, her
"boyfriend of 60 years" that she met at the local roller skating rink, she
raised three children while working at both Bishop Dunn Memorial and as the
Church Secretary at the Unitarian Church. But it was her 30 years of devoted
public service at Newburgh City Hall in the Engineering Department during which
she was able to put her true talents to work….solving any problem, answering any
question, and getting to the bottom of any dilemma that was posed to her. In her
mind there was always a solution, an answer and a resolution. One of the biggest
puzzles she solved occurred in 1981 when she reconstructed 10 years of financial
records to recover nearly one million dollars owed to the City of Newburgh in
overdue state and federal reimbursements….a major windfall for a City with huge
budgetary challenges. After being named "Citizen of the Year" on "Beatrice M.
Cornell Day", the Evening News wrote: "Like Victor Hugo's unrelenting Inspector
Javert, who pursued the hapless Jean Valjean through the sewers of Paris in Les
Miserables, Mrs. Cornell labored patiently to piece together the documentation
that would pass muster with NYS auditors [in order to solve] the million dollar
riddle ." Ironically the monies owed were related to the construction of the
City's Sewer Plant. In Bea's usual manner, her reaction was " I don't know what
all the fuss is about. I really just did what I'm paid to." That might be true
if it were not for the endless hours at night and on weekends spent pouring over
and reconstructing the records. Her sister Elsie Pyburn, herself a well known
tireless and unpaid advocate for preserving many historic properties throughout
the City of Newburgh, described Bea as "a modest, unselfish lady of high
principle who fulfills the highest and best requirements of public service –
integrity, honor and loyalty to that in which she believes." Don Presutti, the
mayor at the time, was quoted in the Times Herald Record as saying "Bea was one
of those very unique public employees who thought she answered to a higher power
than the City Manager or City Council. The higher power was The People." Known
as "that spunky lady "who had no shortage of opinions and held no quarter for
those who did not meet her standards for either public or personal behavior, Bea
was the only person who knew where to find everything and to fix anything in the
city, including the iconic Street Clock outside City Hall, another of her "off
the clock " activities. When the circa-1800's clock stopped working, Bea took it
upon herself to find one of the few remaining clock-smiths out of Boston that
could repair the leaks in the cast iron and get the historic clock in working
order once again. If that wasn't enough, she also wrote the grants to pay for
the repairs and then, for the next 20 years, she and husband Larry would wind
the clock faithfully every Monday and Friday nights, otherwise known as "date
night" for Bea and her "boyfriend". Faced with a progressive neurological
disease which gradually robbed her of her ability to climb the four flights of
stairs to the City Engineer's office, it became time to retire after 30 years of
devoted public service and spend time with that boyfriend of hers. Even after
retiring, however, Bea Cornell never stopped serving her public. Until her
passing at age 90, anyone who called her son Les Cornell, the Town Historian,
with a question about Newburgh would inevitably end up talking to Bea who,
without fail, researched the question in hand and provided a complete and
thorough answer. In addition to Les Cornell, Bea is survived by daughters
Lauraine Cornell Marcus of Williamsville, NY and Linda Cornell ; beloved
grand-daughter Laura and grandson Stewart Marcus of Buffalo; and many nieces,
nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews. She outlived her siblings: Leslie "Bud"
Moores Jr, Colleen Bowen, Herbert Moores, and Elsie Pyburn, all of Newburgh.
Memorial donations made be made in Beatrice Cornell's memory to the Visiting
Nurse Association, 259 Lowell Street, Somerville, MA 02144. (www.vnaem.org)
Family and friends are invited to a gathering to celebrate Bea Cornell's life on
Saturday June 28th at 1 p.m. at the Family Homestead. (617-699-9680)