OXFORD – Otto J. Gesslein, 94, of Oxford, passed away Saturday afternoon, Feb. 2, 2008, in the New York State Veterans’ Home of Oxford, where he had made his home for the past several months.
The son of Bernhard and Bertha (Splelman) Gesslein, Otto was born in New York City in June of 1913. He attended the local schools there and was a 30-year employee of the New York City School System, where he worked in the Maintenance Dept. as Head Custodian. Otto and his wife, Grace Bainton Gesslein, were married in the Bronx on Nov. 26, 1933. During his years there, he was very actively involved in semi-pro baseball, having been seriously considered for recruitment by the Brooklyn Dodgers. A veteran of the U.S. Army, he had served his country in the 1940s. A kind and generous man who at one time took on a part-time job to help an unemployed neighbor buy Christmas presents, he was an excellent dad, granddad, and great granddad. Otto left New York in 1972 to settle in the Norwich/Oxford area. While living here, he worked in the Maintenance Dept. of the Cooperative Extension offices in Norwich.
Otto is survived by his children: Grace Gesslein and her friend Aileen Brauer of Oxford, Robert Gesslein and wife Arlene of Oxford, and George Gesslein and wife Wendy of Maywood, N.J.; by his sister: Margaret Hutchinson of California; and by grandchildren and their spouses: Dawn and James Hopsicker of Schenectady, Elizabeth and Lou Corsale of East Rutherford, N.J., Michael and Tanya Gesslein of Victoria, B.C., Robert Gesslein Jr. of South New Berlin, Joseph Gesslein of Oxford, John and Tammy Gesslein of Norwich, Margaret King of Redwood, Calif., Diane Gesslein of New Jersey, and Linda and Steve Rozell of New Jersey. Otto is also survived by great grandchildren: Alyssa Hopsicker, Maya Verry; Melany, Hannah and Josiah Williams; Amy Iannarella, and Stephen and Matthew Rozell; and step-great grandchildren Krista and Melissa Corsale. He was predeceased by his wife, Grace, on April 23, 1997; and by several brothers and sisters.
A Mass of Resurrection for Otto will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday from St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church. The Rev. Douglas Cunningham will officiate. Interment will be at a later date in St. Joseph’s Cemetery of Oxford. Friends are invited to call at the R.J. Fahy Funeral Home on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m.
Please consider contributions in Otto’s memory to the Oxford Emergency Squad, Oxford, NY 13830.