Dennis Gorski

Dennis T. Gorski (July 20, 1944 – July 4, 2021) was an American politician in New York and a Marine.

A resident of Cheektowaga, New York, Gorski served as County Executive of Erie County, New York, which includes Buffalo and many of its suburbs.

He was the first Democrat-elected Erie County Executive and the first Erie County Executive elected to three four-year terms.

Gorski was an Erie County Legislator and a member of the New York State Assembly prior to three-term service as county executive.

During his second term as County Executive, he ran for Congress to succeed Democrat Henry Nowak, but he was defeated in the general election by Republican Jack Quinn.

Like many Buffalo Democrats, including Buffalo mayors Anthony Masiello and James D. Griffin, Gorski was known for being more conservative than the mainstream Democratic Party platform, and was regularly cross-endorsed by the Conservative Party of New York.

As county executive, he rivaled his contemporary Buffalo Mayors and on some issues his contemporary New York State Governors in power: He succeeded in bringing the World University Games to Buffalo, and since the National Football League's Buffalo Bills play in suburban Orchard Park, it was his responsibility to broker a deal to keep the team from leaving town.

He also helped the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres finance Marine Midland Arena (now known as KeyBank Center).

During his early years he brought about economic recovery and kept the county on solid financial footing during his tenure.

He has been described as the only County Executive to balance the budget.

Gorski was a Vietnam War veteran and remained active in veterans' affairs while in office.

After leaving the county executive's office, Gorski worked in private business in Buffalo, New York.

He spent his first nine years of public life working for HealthNow (Parent company of BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York) and was subsequently hired by McCullagh Coffee Co. of Buffalo.

Gorski was the son of Helen (Pieprzny) and Chester C. Gorski, a former Buffalo City Councilman and former member of the United States House of Representatives.

His brother Jerome Gorski was a New York State Supreme Court judge.

Gorski was raised in Buffalo's far east side in a Polish community where he served as an altar boy and played baseball and basketball.

He was the starting catcher for the Roman Catholic Timon High School and later became a political activist at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York.

He also attended the 1964 AFL season championship game.

Gorski earned a degree in English literature from Le Moyne in 1966.

Joining the United States Marine Corps, he attended Marine Officers Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant at Marine Corps Base Quantico in 1967.

After this he was deployed to South Vietnam, beginning his tour of duty in December 1967.

Initially he served as a platoon commander in a motor transport battalion stationed at Gia Le near Da Nang, under the command of Colonel Robert Reilly.

While deployed, Gorksi took part in the Battle of Huế during the Tet Offensive, at which time his unit was employed largely in an infantry role.

In April 1968, Gorski was the officer responsible for the night watch of battalion headquarters in Gia Le, when a People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) assault breached the perimeter wire fence.

During the skirmish that followed, Gorksi directed artillery and mortar fire.

About a dozen PAVN soldiers were killed in the engagement, along with three Marines.

In January 1969 Gorski returned to the United States, having risen to the rank of captain.

He earned no medals for bravery, however, nor was he wounded.

He followed the Bills while in Vietnam and as an Erie County Legislator he attended the 1972 groundbreaking ceremonies for Rich Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.

He would eventually rise to be both a season ticket holder and the team's landlord, on behalf of the people of Erie County.

During the Vietnam War Gorski volunteered to serve in the military "because he thought it was the right thing to do" even though he could have sought a graduate school deferment.

Gorski was a member of the Erie County Legislature from 1972 to 1974.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1975 to 1987, sitting in the 181st, 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th and 187th New York State Legislatures.

In the Assembly, he chaired the Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation from 1980 to 1984, and the Committee on Local Governments from 1984 to 1987.

In 1984, Assemblyman Gorski co-sponsored legislation that amended state no-fault insurance laws in order to preserve the right to declare "loss of fetus" as a serious injury in an automobile accident.

As of February 1990, he and Mary Jo had been married for 15 years.

At that time, they had five children ranging in age from 1 to 7 with the oldest two adopted.

When he served in the New York State Assembly, he shared a house with Assemblyman Richard J. Keane.

Gorski was a Buffalo Bills fan growing up, and he attended the first official game in franchise history at "The Rockpile" when he was 16 years old.

It was an exhibition game against the Boston Patriots.