Syracuse, NY -- John Gorke had served 19 years and nine months as a state trooper when he was killed in a bicycle accident on Route 20 in Pompey last July 3. Just three more months of work would have qualified his widow and three teenage sons for the monthly pension benefits state troopers receive after 20 years of service....
Syracuse, NY -- John Gorke had served 19 years and nine months as a state trooper when he was killed in a bicycle accident on Route 20 in Pompey last July 3.
Just three more months of work would have qualified his widow and three teenage sons for the monthly pension benefits state troopers receive after 20 years of service. Instead, Leslie Gorke would receive a one-time death benefit of $167,000 but no pension.
The state Legislature voted to change the law to boost Gorke’s record to 20 years of service. The bill was sent Thursday to Gov. David Paterson for approval.
The new law would allow state police officers who die with enough unused vacation and sick time to reach 20 years to qualify for the pension benefits due a 20-year officer. The law would be retroactive to July 2, 2009, the day before Gorke died.
Gorke’s family now can expect to receive about $357,000 over time, according to Assemblyman Al Stirpe, D-North Syracuse.
The morning he died, Gorke, 47, was bicycling with a friend to warm up for a 12-hour Fourth of July shift on a marine unit on Oneida Lake. He was hit by a car driven by Charles W. Brewer, of Steuben County. Brewer was driving home from Boys State, an American Legion leadership convention at Morrisville State College. Gorke was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gorke had been assigned to work for the marine unit since 1995 and patrolled the canals and Oneida and Onondaga lakes in the summer and worked on the Thruway in the winter.
Stirpe said he met Leslie Gorke at her husband’s wake and told her to call if she needed help. Stirpe said both he and Gorke have children with disabilities. Gorke later called to say her husband was just short of qualifying for a pension, Stirpe said.
“It was just a tragedy,” Stirpe said. “He had three young kids and a wife and all of these expenses fast approaching, college tuition, and now she’s out there all by herself.”
Stirpe said he asked the state Assembly to change the law to help Gorke. The Assembly unanimously approved the bill Thursday. The Senate passed a matching bill, sponsored by Sen. Dave Valesky, D-Oneida, in June.
Stirpe said he has not heard about anyone else who would be helped by the bill and he hopes no one else falls into the same circumstances.
Dan Sisto, second vice president of the NYS Troopers PBA, praised the Legislature for helping a real family with a real problem after a tragic loss. “At such a difficult time to be in Albany, the ability of lawmakers to come together to support this measure is a testament to their hard work and dedication to the members of the NYS police,” Sisto said.
Contact Michelle Breidenbach at mbreidenbach@syracuse.com or 470-3186.