~ "The following article by John Mariani from the 
Syracuse Post Standard dated May 11, elaborates 
on the obituary notice for Marshal Larrabee."

        "Marshal H. Larrabee, who put Skaneateles 
Trains, Tracks and Blocks into the hands of thousands 
of children around the world, died Sunday in California. 
He was 93.
        " I hate to say this, but I think it marks the end 
of an era, at least from our perspective, because of the 
way he lived his life," said Bob Cof fin, technical Man-
ager of T.C. Timber/Habermaass Corp., the company 
Larrabee founded as Skaneateles Handicrafters.
        Coffin recalled a mentor who was loyal to his 
workers and giving to the community. "Mr. Larrabee
 was a man who gave so much of himself to other 
causes and other people. He was a man who would 
not turn anyone away," Coffin said. 
        "Anytime that anybody passed away in the 
community, he would donate a book to the public 
library in their name."
        Larrabee's family has asked that contributions 
be made to the Skaneateles Library Association. 
        Born in Syracuse and raised in Germany and 
Syracuse, Larrabee was a young, newlywed banker 
when he was stricken with tuberculosis. He and his 
wife, Elizabeth, moved to Skaneateles in 1934 to aid 
his recovery.
        He took up woodworking when his doctors 
urged him to find an interest. It was Elizabeth who 
suggested he make a wooden train small enough for 
youngster's hands. His toys soon were the hit of the 
neighborhood. 
        Encouraged, he started showing his wares to 
department stores. He was derailed repeatedly, until 
the toy buyer at Marshal Fields, the mammoth Chicago 
department store, said she would take all the trains he 
could make. 
        By 1940, Larrabee's Skaneateles Handicrafters 
was in production in Mottville. 
        As a boss, Larrabee believed in letting workers 
come and go as they pleased and letting them choose 

their own jobs. Those who worked Saturdays were 
invited to Larrabee's home for a 1 p.m. pancake feast, 
Coffin said. 
        Larrabee sold the company to the German firm 
Habermaass GmbH in 198O but continued as secretary 
until 1999, when he retired to California. 
        The Onondaga Historical Association recognized 
Larrabee's work in 1990 with an exhibit of his toys. The 
New York Art Teachers Association honored him in 
1998 for his generosity in giving away millions of 
pounds of scrap wood to teachers and educational groups.
        He is survived by his wife; two daughters, Ethel 
Ilmanen of Solvang, Calif., and Jean McRae of Ocala, 
Fla.; a son Marshal H. III of Broomfield; eight grand-
children, and 10 great-grandchildren. Services are at 
11 a.m. July 29 in the First Presbyterian Church, 
Skaneateles."
        At the Technology Club, Marshal Larrabee was 
satisfied to remain the treasurer for many years and, 
with his background as a businessman, his perform-
ance was outstanding. Marshall also edited and 
published a newsletter for the Technology Club. He 
had a friend in technical publications at the Carrier 
Corporation who did the printing, and at the end of 
every board meeting, the directors would attach 
mailing labels, fold the pages, and sort them according 
to zip codes. Marshal would then take the box and 
deliver hundreds of newsletters to a very small post 
office near Skaneateles.
        Our personal recollections of Marshal Larrabee 
are fascinating. At the end of the first World War, 
Marshal's father, who was a dentist, returned to 
Germany with his family and lived there for several 
years. Marshal attended grammar school in Germany 
and it was interesting to hear him compare his rather 
regimented experience in the classroom with some 
of the revelations in our public schools. 
        While Skaneateles Lake has been surrounded 
by fine homes for many years, Marshal reminded us that 
when he arrived at his home there, it was in a canoe. 
Technology Club members and their spouses were 
always invited to an annual picnic at Marshal's home 
where they were expected to socialize, ride in his 
sailboat, and not discuss Technology Club business. 
Considering that Marshal usually played tennis before 
he came to the Technology Club meetings, his recovery 
from tuberculosis was remarkable. 

In the April Issue of the Technologist, a " Thank 
You" compliment was extended to 18 companies 
andinstitutions that supported the Celebration of 
Tech-nology Banquet. Since that time the list has 
nearly doubled, and the Banquet Committee would 
like to recognize the original and additional 
contributors listed below:

C&S Companies - Engineers
Lockheed Martin - Naval Elect. & Surveil. Systems
Barton & Loguidice, P.C. - Consulting Engineers
ASCE - American Society of Civil Engineers
MACNY - Manufacturers Association of CNY
SU Center for Business Information Technologies
Parsons Engineering Science, Inc.
WCNY TV & Classic FM - Syracuse
Syracuse Research Corporation
SU College of Engineering & Computer Science
Knowledge Systems and Research, Inc.
Inficon - Corporation Headquarters
Plumley Engineering - Site Planners and Engineers
Stearns & Wheler Companies
Lawrence Angus Controls - Controlled Cameras
570-WSYR The News & Weather Station
Hoffman - Air & Filtration systems
Francis Audio-Visual - Event Staging
SP Eng
ASQ - American Society for Quality
Northern Circuits
Cable Express
G. A. Braun
Konski Engineering
Microwave Filter
Ram-Tech
Robson & Woese
Odyssey Software
Chamber of Commerce
Bryant & Stratton
Stephan Gould
L.A. Controls, Inc.
OCRRA

Technology Club Officers
2001-2002

     President
          William Busher         656-3679
     First Vice President
          Michael R. Hayes P.E.  455-2000
     Second Vice President
          Albert A. Brandenburg  434-2549
     Secretary/Editor
          Bert K. Erickson P.E.  637-6861
     Treasurer
          Louis J. Ragonese      652-8383
     Past President
          Dr. Marjory Baruch     637-0033
     Web Page Editor
          Philip R. Horan        446-2586
     Membership Chair
          Francis Sidnam         432-2400
     Teacher Awards Chair
          Dr. Vernon A. Tryon    343-9692


Material Tested - - Metals, Plastic, Rubber, 
Coatings, Platings, Paints, Weldments, Circuit 
Boards. 
Services - - Metallurgical Testing, Failure Analysis, 
Chemical Analysis, Mechanical Testing, Micro-
electronic analysis, Weld Testing, Environmental 
Simulation, Polymer Testing, Full Machine Shop.

~ "Marjory Baruch, Chair of the nominating com-
mittee, presented the following impressive credentials 
for individuals recommended to become members of
the Board of Directors."

Biography for John Duffy

John Duffy is Chief Engineer at WCNY-TV/FM where
he has been working in various technical and engineer-
ing positions since 1974. He manages the staff respons-
ible for television and radio transmissions, websites, 
and production studio,. He is currently immersed in the 
station's anticipated conversion to digital broadcasting 
in May of 2003. 
He received his BA. degree in Television and Radio 
from SUNY Oswego in 1974, and has continued his
professional development taking courses at 0CC. He 
serves on the technical advisory boards of several local 
organizations and is a member of Chapter 22 of the 
Society of Broadcast Engineers.

Biography for Tom Frawley

Tom Frawley is a Technology Education Teacher at G. 
Ray Bodley High School in Fulton. There he teaches 
the communication sequence, printing, and photo
graphy. He has BS and MS degrees in Industrial Arts 
from SUNY Oswego. He is president of Central New 
York Technology Education Association and presid-
ent-elect of that Statewide organization. He is active 
in the Technical Societies and was chair of this year's 
Celebration of Technology Banquet. 

Biography for Michael Masingale

Michael Masingale is Associate Professor of Chemistry 
at Le Moyne College. His specially is inorganic chemistry 
and he is active in both research and teaching. He 
received his BS. from Morehouse College and a PhD. 
From Syracuse University. He is active in ACS. 

Biography for John Mays

John Mays is currently the Project Officer for Keane, 
Inc.'s Upstate New York Branch, headquartered in 
Syracuse, NY. He has had a wide variety of experiences 
in his career. After serving in the United States Marine 
corps for twenty years, he worked in the defense 
industry, designing signal processing algorithms for 
naval surface-to-air missiles and implementing these 
algorithms in existing missile systems. John has also 
worked with surface ship sonar systems in a systems 
engineering role. Additionally, he has served as the 
Vice President for Technology at a community college, 
and has Managed software development projects in a 
number of different industries. Mays received his Ph.D. 
in Management from La Salle 

Biography for Ellen McKinnon

Ellen McKinnon is Director, Information Technology 
for the MONY Croup. She is a Fellow of the Life 
Management institute. She is graduate of SUNY 
College at Brockport, NY with BS in Computer 
Science. Ellen is a member of American Computing Machinery - Syracuse Chapter. She is a member of 
Leadership Greater Syracuse Class of 2001 and an 
active board number of the Hughes Parent-Student 
Association, a volunteer for the Boys & Girls Winter 
Basketball league, and a supporter of INROADS 
Upstate New York Along with her family, Ellen 
established the Ann McKinnon Memorial 0CC College
Scholarship. Community interests encompass education 
and mentoring at-risk youth. Ellen' s hobbies include 
reading, movies and traveling. 

Biography for Sudha Raj

Sudha Raj is an Assistant Professor in the Department 
of Nutrition and Hospitality Management at Syracuse 
University, She has been involved in research and 
teaching there since 1985. Her areas of expertise are 
nutrition management in the vegetarian diet, and the 
diets of Asian Indians and Pakistanis. She received her 
MS. and Ph.D. in Nutrition Science from Syracuse 
University. She has numerous research and clinical 
publications in nutrition science, gives frequent profess-
ional presentations and is active in Professional Devel-
opment. She is a member of the Institute of Food 
Technologists and a Registered Dietitian of the 
American Dietetic Association. 

Biography for Ed Wilson

Ed Wilson works as Industrial Hygienist and Safety 
Manager at O'Brien and Gere. As manager of the 
Health and Safety Program Mr. Wilson audits ongoing 
activities to identify health and/or safety hazards and 
recommend corrective actions. He investigates occup-
ational accidents and work related illnesses, identities 
causes and recommends corrective and preventive 
measures. He also monitors the execution of the 
Medical Surveillance Program and the provision of 
regulatory based training, such as that required for 
general employee hazard communication training. 
hazardous waste operations training and asbestos 
worker training. Ed received his BS in Sanitary Eng-
ineering and Oceanography from Cornell University 
and a BS in Hygiene from the University of Pittsburgh. 
He is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified 
Safety Professional. He is an active member of the 
American Industrial Hygiene Association, the Cornell 
Society of Engineers, and the Stockbridge Valley 
Flying Club. He is married and has two sons in college.