Anthony Otrembiak
Anthony Otrembiak, a Skidmore College retiree, died February 1, 2005, at his home
in Milton, N.Y.
Born January 15, 1914, in Chicago, Anthony was six when his family moved to Czechoslovakia,
where he remained until 1938. Upon his return to the United States, Anthony worked
at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, started his own chandelier business, and worked
at the Navy Depot in Scotia. He also served as a medic for the cavalry of the Czecho
Slovak Army and the U.S. Army.
In 1953, Anthony began his career at Skidmore College—first as a boiler man on the
Scribner campus, then as a maintenance mechanic. He also provided assistance with
audio-visual technology. He retired in 1978. Anthony is remembered for his part in
extending the faculty tuition waiver to all full-time staff members, with the support
of several members of the foreign languages department. His daughter, Monica Varley,
was the first child of a non-faculty employee to graduate from Skidmore, earning a
degree in nursing in 1972.
Anthony was a 4-H leader and a member of Adirondack Squares, Southern Adirondack Bee
Keepers Association, Saratoga County Cooperative Extension, American Legion, and St.
Joseph’s Ladies Guild. He spent hours in his flower gardens, farming his land and
raising farm animals, and he frequently joined his sons at the Saratoga Farmers Market,
where they sold plants and produce—including honey—from the family farm. He enjoyed
harness racing and trained and drove his own horses.
He was a communicant of St. Clement’s Church on weekdays and St. Joseph’s Church on
Sundays, where he was an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and often brought
Eucharist to the sick.
Anthony is survived by his children, Mary Beth Wing, Monica Varley, John, and Stephen,
a member of Skidmore’s Media Services/CITS staff; son-in-law, Jack Varley; daughter-in-law,
Nancy Osberg-Otrembiak, secretary in American Studies and Liberal Studies; grandchildren,
step-grandchildren, and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.