Class of 1958

Stephen Borgos has spent his life putting family and community first. A proud 1958 graduate of South Glens Falls High School, Steve’s life story is one of enduring service, civic leadership, and integrity—qualities he traces back to the values and lessons of his hometown.

Raised in South Glens Falls, Steve got his first taste of responsibility working in the family business, Robinson Laundry. By 18, he was climbing on the back of a fire engine as a volunteer with the South Glens Falls Volunteer Fire Company—a commitment he has carried with him for years.

“When the fire whistle blew, Gardner Congdon and I would race each other to the firehouse,” Steve recalls with a grin. “Gardner almost always won the race!”

Steve also served with the West Glens Falls and Queensbury Central Fire Companies for a total of 43 years of active duty. He was the president of Queensbury Central in 1977 and started the Fire Service Administration degree program at Empire State College in 1980.

That sense of duty grew with him. After graduating, Steve built an impressive career that spans business, public service, education, and emergency response. He became a licensed real estate broker, eventually earning the distinction of Realty USA’s Commercial/Investment Real Estate Agent of the Year in 2009.

For over three decades, he shared his business acumen with students as a professor at Adirondack Community College, now SUNY Adirondack, teaching with the same down-to-earth wisdom that defined his own career. He was the chairman of the Business Division from 1985-1987.

He served the Town of Queensbury and Warren County as a Supervisor and was later appointed Executive Director of the Regional EMS Council, serving as liaison between the New York State Department of Health and approximately 100 ambulance services in Warren, Washington, Essex, Clinton and Franklin Counties from 2000 to 2004.

In every chapter of his career, Steve brought compassion, clarity, and a focus on long-term community health and growth.

“Public service is a privilege,” Steve says. “It’s not about having the loudest voice. It’s about listening and showing up—even when no one’s looking.”

Though Steve made his adult home in Queensbury, his roots in South Glens Falls remained deep. He returned regularly to Betar’s Barbershop—having

had his first haircuts from Harry Sr., followed by Harry Betar, Jr. He bought the old potbellied stove from the barber shop and used it to heat a small cabin on the top of West Mountain for several years.

Steve spent many happy hours sitting on the long green bench in front of the old firehouse with Tim Lynch, Bebo Donovan, “Chiefo” Tom Tracy, Charlie Willett, and many members of the Bruce family.

In October of 1963, Steve joined the South Glens Falls Rotary Club and later transferred membership to the Glens Falls Rotary Club, having served as president from July 1980 until June 1981. He will soon complete 62 years of active Rotary membership.

Steve was also a Queensbury PTSA Co-President, Little League coach, Assistant Coach for the SUNY Albany Freshman Baseball team for three years, 22-year member of the Queensbury Board of Assessment Review, and a trusted advocate for public involvement.

Steve’s impact echoes across classrooms, firehouses, town halls, and neighborhoods throughout the region. His professional excellence has been recognized with listings in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in the East, and Who’s Who in Advertising.

But beyond titles and accolades, it is Steve’s quiet humility, unwavering presence, and genuine care for others that have left the most lasting impression.

Stephen Borgos exemplifies Bulldog Pride—not only in what he’s accomplished but in how he’s lived. Steve is grateful for his late parents, William and Stephanie Borgos, who taught him that hard work is good. He is most proud of his wife, JoAnn and their five children and nine grandchildren. “They have made life complete,” said Steve.

For a lifetime of leadership and heart, we are proud to induct him into the Bulldog Pride Hall of Fame.

A respected public servant who showed an extraordinary commitment to the South Glens Falls community, Tom Tracy was a critical member of the South Glens Falls Fire Company for more than 65 years.

From 1954 until his death in 2019 at the age of 83, Tom served the fire company in a myriad of official and unofficial roles. In addition to being a firefighter, he was also a board of directors captain, assistant chief, chief of department and ultimately past chief. Tom was known for visiting sick members, and for making sure expansion projects were completed on time and on budget.

“Tom also stood out over the years as a natural leader who wanted to do the right thing for the community,” said longtime friend and past chief of department Nick Quinn.

“In the 1980s, Tom was pivotal in the formation of the South Glens Falls Fire Company Dive Team. At the time, there were no teams in the tri-county region who were performing water rescue."

“While Tom did not want to become a diver, or perform the rescues, he attended all of the training and was a leader for water rescue for more than three decades, making sure that new members obtained the correct training, existing members continued their training and had the proper gear, and that all members at the scene of an incident followed procedures and were safe while doing so.”

“Tom also formed the South Glens Falls Junior Firefighters program that allowed children ages 5 to 15 to join the fire company and to learn about the fire service, fire prevention and volunteering.

“...Noticing a gap between the junior firefighters program and when a member could join the Fire Company at age 18, Tom chaired the formation of the Apprentice Firefighter program.”

A St. Mary’s Academy graduate and a Marine Corps Corporal, Tom served in the Captain’s Guard on the aircraft carrier Essex. He later worked at the former Grand Union, which stood in the spot that the Joy Store later occupied.

Tom and his wife Charlene had two children, Tim and Tammy.

Tammy said her father “didn’t want accolades or a pat on the back. He was a behind-the-scenes kind of guy and very unselfish.”

In 2014, Tom was named Citizen of the Year by the South Glens Falls Rotary Club and April 26, 2014 was declared “Tom Tracy Day” in the Village of South Glens Falls. Two years later, he received the Joseph Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award by the Hudson Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association.

Late in his life, when the annual South Glens Falls Holiday Parade was in danger of ending, Tom stepped up and joined South Glens Falls Fire Auxiliary member Megan Quinn in convincing the Fire Company to host the parade, which it has done ever since.

Quinn, in his nomination, wrote that Tom Tracy’s “passion for the fire service, for teaching, for volunteering and for his community” continue to this day.