Sherwood Boehlert’s name is on the train station for a reason
The Utica-born Republican served 24 years in Congress, chaired the House Science Committee and steered money to Union Station and the Rome lab.
By Owen Tafel
Sherwood Boehlert was born in Utica on Sept. 28, 1936, and graduated from Utica College. He served two years in the Army, from 1956 to 1958, and worked in public relations before going into politics.
He was Oneida County executive from 1979 to 1983. Then he won a seat in the U.S. House, where he represented a large stretch of central New York from 1983 to 2007. He was a moderate Republican and chaired the House Science Committee from 2001 to 2006.
His work shows up around the county. Federal money he helped win paid for the renovation of Union Station in Utica, now the Boehlert Transportation Center, and for new science facilities at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Information Directorate in Rome.
In his later years he endorsed some Democrats, including Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 and Anthony Brindisi for his old district in 2018.
Boehlert died in New Hartford on Sept. 20, 2021, at 84. His funeral Mass was held at Our Lady of Lourdes in Utica.