Former Welland mayor Eugene Stranges dies at 76
Eugene Stranges was a man who knew what he wanted Welland’s future to look like and set out to accomplish it both as a city councillor and mayor, say two of his former colleagues.
Stranges died March 21 at Garden Gate Hospice in Cheektowaga, N.Y., after a battle with cancer at age 76.
“He was one of the best, if not the best, mayors Welland has ever had,” said Ivy Riddell, who served on council with Stranges when he was mayor from 1978 to 1984.
Scandal and an ensuing arrest put an end to his political career.
Stranges was first elected to Welland council in 1967, one of the youngest aldermen at the time, and served as planning committee chair during most of his 11 years as a Ward 3 councillor.
Riddell said Stranges was able to accomplish a lot during his time on council, including to work on a neighbourhood improvement program which saw the Dunkirk, Dover and Duncan neighbourhoods enhanced with new roads and sewers.
He also worked to get Highway 406 extended to Welland. Former mayor Allan Pietz said Stranges worked with him to ensure the highway would extend further south.
“It would go and then stop and we had to keep pushing …” said Pietz.
According to his obituary, Stranges was instrumental in developing a residential rehabilitation program in concert with the province. The program led to the renewal of a number of older Welland neighbourhoods such as the Station Street area, West Main/Niagara Street and Dain City.
“He was a very strong man, a very strong politician in what he believed in and what he wanted to accomplish,” said Riddell.
She said in addition to having a great sense of humour, Stranges was a caring man and a caring politician.
Said Pietz, “He was good to get along with.”
He said Stranges worked hard while serving on a number of committees in the city, especially on planning.
“I was always satisfied with all of the work he did.”
Stranges was born in Niagara
Falls, N.Y., and graduated from Notre Dame College School in Welland in 1959. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in French and Spanish in 1963 and a master’s degree in education in 1965 from Niagara University in Lewiston, N.Y.
His master’s thesis titled “Do Bilingual Elementary Schools Provide a Better Education?” examined a topic of extreme importance to the advancement of bilingual education in the Niagara region.
He taught for three years at Lewiston-Porter High School in Lewiston before his career in politics.
Stranges was a strong supporter of downtown renewal, providing the original impetus for the redevelopment of Welland’s market square and the addition of the newer market building.
His political career came to an end in the 1980s.
Stranges, along with Father David Foley, a history teacher at Notre Dame, was charged in 1983 with bingo fraud involving the theft of about $120,000. The two ran weekly bingo games in Welland and Fort Erie to raise money for Notre Dame and a church in Fort Erie. Stranges in 1984 was sentenced to two years in jail.
Stranges is predeceased by his parents, Victor Stranges, Maria Theresa (Serianni) Stranges, his brother Victor Jr., and his sisterin-law Rose (Wasas) Stranges. He is survived by his brother, Anthony Stranges and his wife Sonya (Rudy) of Bryan, Texas, his brother John Stranges and his wife Albertine (Maurice) of Niagara Falls, and his brother Robert and his wife Gale (Taylor) of Welland.
Cremation has taken place. A family funeral mass was celebrated on April 7 at St. Mary Church in Welland.