Newly elected Johnsburg Supervisor Smith dies at 62; town to name interim

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

“Warren County is mourning the loss of Johnsburg Supervisor Mark Smith, who passed away this week after a battle with cancer,” the county posted Friday.

“Supervisor Smith was a very intelligent, dedicated member of the community, and he will be deeply missed.”

Town board member Anna Bowers shared their statement, “The Town of Johnsburg wants to acknowledge with deep sadness the unexpected passing of Supervisor Smith. His leadership and service to our community were greatly appreciated, and he will be sincerely missed.”

Mr. Smith previously served as Johnsburg Supervisor in 2023, appointed by the Town Board after Andrea Hogan resigned.

Later that year, Kevin Bean challenged him successfully in the general election.

In November, in a rematch, Mr. Smith prevailed over Mr. Bean by six votes.

Mr. Smith, 62, was hospitalized at the time he was elected. He had suffered a stroke in mid-October, he told The Chronicle shortly after the election.

He expected to recover and serve, he said in that phone interview, while still at Albany Medical Center.

In January, Mr. Smith was sworn in, in person, and he presided over the Town Board’s January 6 organizational meeting. He did not attend the January 21 meeting, nor did he attend any Warren County Board of Supervisors meetings.

Ms. Bowers said the Board planned to meet with its legal counsel on Wednesday, after Chronicle press time.

“We will be discussing the next steps, which will be advertising for letters of interest for the interim supervisor. We will follow the process that is outlined.”

She said the four Town Board members — Ms. Bowers, Paul Heid, Mindy Preuninger and Matt Parobeck — will interview candidates, then vote to appoint an interim Supervisor.

The Chronicle asked former Supervisor Mr. Bean if he would submit a letter of intent for Supervisor now. “No,” he said.

He added, “I feel badly for the people of Johnsburg.”

Mr. Smith had not appointed a deputy supervisor. He said at the January 6 meeting that he wanted to wait on that, “to get a sense of things.”

Johnsburg Supervisor was already scheduled to be back on the ballot in November after a truncated one-year term, to fulfill New York State’s mandate shifting local elections onto the same even-year cycle as state and federal elections.

Canajoharie grad, Army, Japan

Mark Robert Smith was born September 3, 1963, in Amsterdam and graduated from Canajoharie High School in 1981, said his obituary. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Clarkson University and joined the Army, serving from 1986 to 1989 and attaining the rank of Lieutenant.

He was most recently president of Global Pharma Solutions in Pharmaceutical Research Development. Before that, he worked in Japan as a business development and project manager.

He wrote three books, To Form a Perfect Union, The Forgotten American Social Contract, and Doing Business in Japan.

In his spare time, his obituary said, “He enjoyed playing his guitar, studying history and being outdoors.”

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