NORWICH – How you played the game, not whether you won or lost, was one of the many fatherly lessons Alton B. Doyle taught his daughters, Barbara and Katharine.
His sense of integrity will be remembered by many in Chenango County.
The well-known Chenango County politician and former Oxford Academy sports coach passed away Saturday after a two and a half year battle with cancer. He was 84.
“First and foremost, he was a good friend,” said Chenango County Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard B. Decker. “I’m really sorry that he’s gone.”
Former Chenango County Sheriff Thomas J. Loughren remembered Doyle as a long time family friend, football and baseball coach and Chairman of the Chenango County Safety and Rules Committee.
“Al Doyle was a huge advocate of law enforcement, and first and foremost, for what was right. Even though we would joke around in committee, if there was something brought to his attention, he was a straight shooter and called them how they were,” Loughren said this morning.
Doyle served Chenango County and the Town of Guilford, where he was previously a town justice and currently completing his seventh, two-year term as town supervisor. He will be remembered for spearheading two large building projects during his tenure: the Chenango County Public Safety Facility and the construction of Guilford’s new Town Hall and Highway Garage. He was also a member of the Chenango County Finance Committee.
The Guilford Lake resident was a 55-year member of the Oxford Fire Department, a sergeant under retired Chenango County Sheriff Joseph Benenati and a captain of the Oxford Emergency Squad.
He was honored earlier this year with the Chenango County Liberty Bell Award and a citation from the New York State Assembly for his life-long service to his community.
Doyle began his coaching career at Oxford Academy and Central School in 1950 and went on to coach every sport. He became the school district’s athletic director and was appointed Oxford School District Director of Public Health, Education and Recreation in 1957. During his career at Oxford, “Coach” Doyle was at the helm of two League Championship football teams, Susquehanna League Champions in 1953 and Pioneer League Champions in 1963.
From 1975 to 1990, he was the executive director of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. He was inducted into the NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame in its inaugural year, 2003.
His daughter, Barb, who worked alongside her father at the NYSPHSAA, said he was always a politician.
“He would bring up an issue and understand that there were two sides. It didn’t mean that he didn’t have his own very strong opinion. He worked very hard and tirelessly, and unless it was absolutely impossible, until he got his way.”
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Oxford. Burial with full military honors will be in Sunset Hill Cemetery, Guilford.
A complete obituary appears in today’s edition of The Evening Sun.