Saturday, July 27, 2024

In Memoriam: Peter Markou

Gossips has learned that Peter Markou died yesterday.

Photo: Colin DeVries
Markou served as executive director of Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) and Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2010. Among the initiatives undertaken by him during that time was the plan for the adaptive reuse of Washington Hose Firehouse at the entrance to Promenade Hill as the location of the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce and the offices of HDC and HCDPA. Interestingly, Markou's plan for Washington Hose was the subject of Gossips' inaugural post on January 20, 2010. 

After resigning his position with HDC and HCDPA in November 2010, Markou focused his attention on the other side of the river, serving as Catskill supervisor and as treasurer for Greene County. This article, which appeared in the Register-Star on November 15, 2010, announcing his resignation from HDC and HCDPA, recounts some of his experiences while working in Hudson: "City bids farewell to Peter Markou."

Markou is remembered by friends and associates as a wonderful, decent, kind man but also very intelligent and highly proficient, someone who understood the machinations of state and federal funding and excelled in all things financial.
COPYRIGHT 2024 CAROLE OSTERINK
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1 comment:

  1. Carole OsterinkJuly 28, 2024 at 12:11 AM

    Susan Troy submitted this comment:

    Mr. Markou believed that to be a successful, productive public servant, you had to be good at politics. In that spirit, he always sought to help, never to hinder, a worthwhile project or initiative. Likewise, he was never a saboteur, but always a supporter. He didn't see red or blue, Republican or Democrat; he saw potential and possibility. Mr. Markou was a public servant first, a politician, second. He was literally delighted and joyful at the ribbon-cutting for Crosswinds.

    Across the bridge, he was an enthusiastic cheerleader of Catskill's Music in the Park Summer Program, and the wildly successful Cat N Around street art installation and Auction. Ever the volunteer, with his wife Ann, you could find them on Thursday nights selling raffle tickets at Music in the Park, and he even took a turn (or two) as Auctioneer at the Cat N Around Auction.
    (https://cat-n-around.com/cat-n-around-catskill/)

    Mr. Markou was a Navy Veteran who believed that acts of service and sacrifice were more potent acts of patriotism than words and speeches.

    An extraordinarily good and kind man. An extraordinary public servant.

    A sad, huge loss.

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