Longtime Ulster board member Joel Brink passes on

Former Ulster Town Board member Joel Brink died last week from complications following a recent surgery. Brink was honored by the Town Board later that evening. 

“This morning he wanted the supervisor to know that he couldn’t make the meeting tonight. And then he passed this afternoon,” said Deputy Supervisor Clayton VanKleeck during a meeting held on Thursday, March 17. “To Joel Brink, there was never a meeting that was not worth attending. If it was a Town Board meeting, the agenda, no matter how light it was, the meeting was important to him. So to have him pass away on a day like today when it is a Board meeting, it seemed fitting. Because he cherished being a Town Board member in the Town of Ulster.”

Brink was elected to the Town Board for the first time in 1999, running on the Republican line. During his 20 years as a councilman, Brink served under four different supervisors: Lisa Groppuso, Fred Wadnola, Nick Woerner, and James E. Quigley III. Groppuso and Woerner were Democrats, Wadnola and Quigley Republicans. Brink’s brother David was a Democratic member of the Town Board in the mid-2000s. 

Brink lived in the Town of Ulster his entire life, graduating from Kingston High School in 1954 and serving in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1952 to 1960. During his last Town Board meeting as a councilman on December 19, 2019, Brink confirmed that he had no plans to leave the Town of Ulster. “I want to thank the people of the Town of Ulster for giving me the privilege to serve in the Town of Ulster, where I have lived all my life,” Brink said, at that time. “I was born and raised here. I went to school in the Town of Ulster. I worked in the Town of Ulster. I raised my family in the Town of Ulster. I have no intentions of leaving.”

Brink’s fifth term was his last, as he decided not to run again in 2019. But he still regularly attended Town Board meetings after he was no longer a councilman. 

“As you know, I wouldn’t have put in 20 years if it wasn’t for the voters in the Town of Ulster and I thank them,” he said at the December 19, 2019 meeting. “And I also want to thank the employees at the Town and the public officials because they were very instrumental in helping me. Because when you come on the Town Board, you think you know it all; after the first meeting, you don’t know anything. So you have to rely on these people to help you. And they helped me and I really appreciate it. And some of the old time committeemen, council members, they also helped with their experience and it didn’t make the job a lot easier, but it made it somewhat easier.”

At that same meeting, Brink also acknowledged the support of his family, beginning with his wife Gisela. “She put up with a lot of anxiety with me going to meetings,” Brink said. “She had stuff planned and I’d come home and say, ‘Can’t do it, I’ve got to go to a meeting.’ And she accepted that and she helped me get through the 20 years. I also have my daughter Lisa (Cohen), and she was very instrumental in keeping me in politics. She kept saying, ‘Go, go, keep going.’ And I listened to her. She listened to me for a good many years, so I had to listen to her, and I’m glad that I did. And I have a son-in-law that supported me, and my grandson. So I had a lot of family support.”

Town Supervisor Quigley was not in attendance at last week’s meeting. But on December 19, 2019, he grew emotional as he read a resolution honoring Brink. 

“Whereas Joel Brink began his service as a Town of Ulster Town councilman on January 1, 2000 and will retire from Town government on December 31st, 2019, and whereas Joel will have served on the Town of Ulster Town Board for 20 years, having been elected to five terms as Town Councilman,” Quigley said. “And whereas Joel has been committed and dedicated public servant, and has worked tirelessly and cooperatively to promote the wellbeing of the citizens of the Town of Ulster. And whereas Joel has been involved in numerous initiatives of great importance to the Town of Ulster and is served in his role as Town councilman with professionalism, integrity, humanity and compassion. And whereas Joel is a lifelong resident of the Town of Ulster and he hails from a family with a commitment to public service that spans the generations. And whereas the Town of Ulster wishes to recognize Joel for his dedication and excellent service to the citizens of the Town of Ulster and express appreciation for his work. Now therefore be it resolved that the Town of Ulster Town Board hereby honors Joel B. Brink for a long and distinguished career in local government in the Town of Ulster and for his commitment, dedication and leadership. The Town of Ulster Town Board hereby expresses its appreciation for his service to our community and wishes him a healthy, fulfilling retirement.”