Sanford Bookless

03/06/2001

Sanford Bookless, 84, formerly of Epoch Assisted Living at Melbourne and 267 Linden St., died Tuesday at Kimball Farms Nursing Care Facility in Lenox. Born in Pittsfield on Dec. 10, 1916, son of Samuel and Anna Bookless, he graduated from Pittsfield High School and from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, then known as Massachusetts State College. Mr. Bookless was a veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers, 91st Infantry Division. He served in the African, Italian and Mediterranean campaigns, and fought in the battle of Anzio. He was first employed by Borden's Ice Cream in a postgraduate placement. He then returned to Pittsfield to work with his father and brother, Max, in the family milk business, the White Cross Dairy. He was most recently employed by the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture as a farm inspector. Mr. Bookless served two terms on the state Board of Agriculture, appointed first by Gov. William Weld and subsequently by Gov. Paul Cellucci, on the recommendation of Lt. Gov. Jane Swift. He was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 448 in Pittsfield. He enjoyed politics and was a longtime chairman of the Ward 6 Democratic committee. According to former Mayor Remo Del Gallo, Mr. Bookless was active in many campaigns on the local and state levels and never missed a state Democratic convention. He was a member of the Sheriff's Department, the New England Milk/Food Inspectors Association and the Masons. He was also a member of the American Legion and the Jewish War Veterans, both in Pittsfield. He leaves a brother, Max I. Bookless of Pittsfield; two sisters, Evelyn Reder of Fairport, N.Y., and Eleanor Liss of Naples, Fla. The funeral will be Sunday at 1 at Knesset Israel Synagogue, 16 Colt Road, with burial to follow in Knesset Israel Cemetery on Peck's Road. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Ben and Sanford Bookless Cemetery Endowment or the Anna and Samuel Bookless Endowment in care of Knesset Israel Synagogue. The family will receive visitors at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Max Bookless, 23 Foote Ave., Pittsfield, on Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m. and Monday from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. DEVANNY-CONDRON FUNERAL HOME is in charge of arrangements. He was predeceased by a brother, Benjamin Bookless, and a sister, Mrs. Muriel Medney.

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