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UB to commemorate 204th birthday of Millard Fillmore
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
The 204th anniversary of the birth of Millard Fillmore, UB's first chancellor and 13th president of the United States, will be observed in ceremonies to be held at 10 a.m. Jan. 7 in Forest Lawn Cemetery.
The annual observance honors Fillmore, who played a major role in the founding of numerous cultural, civic and community organizations in Erie County.
Voldemar A. Innus, vice president and chief information officer, will deliver this year's memorial address.
Born on Jan. 7, 1800, Fillmore was instrumental in founding the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, the Buffalo Club and the Buffalo General Hospital.
His activities also led to the creation of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences.
Some historians credit the former teacher, postmaster, lawyer and member of Congress with establishing the White House Library.
Col. James W. Kwiatkowski, commander of the 107th Refueling Wing of the New York Air National Guard based at Niagara Falls International Airport, will place a wreath from President Bush at the gravesite.
Larry Gingrich, associate dean of Millard Fillmore College; Robert P. Fine, president of the Buffalo Club, and Fred R. Whaley, president of Forest Lawn Cemetery and Mausoleum, also will place wreaths at the gravesite.
Special guests will include members of the Abigail Fillmore Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and members of Forest Lawn's board of directors.
Also participating in the ceremony will be Donald H. Dayer, Aurora town historian and Warren C. Moffett, former Aurora town historian, representing the Aurora Historical Society, which administers the Millard Fillmore Museum housed in a building where Fillmore and his wife once lived, and William H. Siener, executive director of the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society. The Rev. Joel Miller of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, where Fillmore was a member of the congregation, will deliver the invocation.
Flags will be presented by University Police under the direction of Richard C. Linde, assistant director. Also participating in the ceremony will be the Buffalo Assembly, Fourth Degree, of the Knights of Columbus honor guard. Taps will be played by Mark Filsinger.