| Birth: | Jun. 12, 1905
Brooklyn
Kings County
New York, USA | | Death: | Jul. 8, 1988
Pittsfield
Berkshire County
Massachusetts, USA | 
RAYMOND BARBUTI, 83 OLYMPIC MEDALISt: - July 9, 1988
Raymond J. Barbuti of Canaan, Columbia County, a prominent former Olympic gold medalist, football official, and a director of the New York State Civil Defense Commission, died Friday at the Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Mass., following surgery. He was 83.
Barbuti, a member of the Syracuse University Hall of Fame, highlighted his athletic career in football and track 60 years ago when he won two gold medals in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Holland.
Barbuti won the 400-meter run in 47.8, upsetting Canada's Jimmy Ball with a final lunge at the tape.
"I remember standing on the field as the Dutch band played the Star Spangled Banner," Barbuti recalled recently. "Tears were running down my face."
Later, he anchored the U.S. 1,600- meter relay team to the gold medal.
Barbuti, a native of Lawrence, L.I., subsequently had his amateur status revoked in a dispute with the Amateur Athletic Union.
One year after his Olympic exploits, Barbuti retired from competive athletics and began a 34-year career as a college football official. He worked 10 successive Army-Navy games and every New Year's Day bowl game except the Rose Bowl, and was a past president of the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Football Officials.
Barbuti entered the U.S. Army Air Force as a private in 1942, and was honorably discharged in 1945 as a major. He was decorated with the Air Medal, Bronze Star, Conspicuous Service Cross and Presidential Citation.
A member of the 12th bombardment group, he served in 12 campaigns in World War II in Africa, Europe and the China-Burma-India theater.
Barbuti's career outside sports began in 1945 when he was appointed supervisor of veterans activities in the New York City metropolitan area. In 1962, he was named director of administration for the New York State Civil Defense Commission. From 1963 to his retirement in 1972, he was the commission's deputy director.
Barbuti is survived by a son, Edmund F. Driscoll
of Simsbury, Conn.; four daughters, Marie Ruth Meyer of Texas, Elizabeth Kyle of Arizona, Cathy Reinhardt of Nassau, and Barbara Patti of Wantagh, Nassau County; and 10 grandchildren.
Services will be held at the Bond Funeral Home, Route 9, Valatie, at 10 a.m. Monday, with burial to follow at St. James Cemetary, Hudson Avenue in Ghent.
Calling hours at the funeral home are 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Sunday.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Raymond J. Barbuti Memorial Athletic Scholarship Fund, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.
| | | Burial:
Saint James Cemetery
Ghent
Columbia County
New York, USA |
Created by: K
Record added: Jul 07, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 93234421 |
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Added by:
K
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Added by:
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Cemetery Photo
Added by:
Fred Saar
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