District Judge Jim Haggerty, who was previously the mayor of Kingston for 20 years, passed away at Roswell Park Cancer Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y., on Wednesday night.
Haggerty was admitted to the Buffalo hospital on his 58th birthday, Nov. 6, 2023, and a day before the General Election when he won a second six-year term as district judge serving Kingston and Edwardsville.
“Our community was lucky to have someone like Jim who served his country in the U.S. Army and completed his bachelor's degree at MIT and his Juris Doctor degree at Georgetown University. He was an incredibly intelligent man who contributed a lot to our community,” said Kingston Administrator Paul Keating.
After being admitted to the cancer hospital, Haggerty shared multiple updates on social media about undergoing immunotherapy treatments, which prompted hundreds of responses sending prayers and good wishes.
A fan of Notre Dame and the New England Patriots, Haggerty was elected district judge in Kingston and Edwardsville in the 2017 General Election and was reelected to a second six-year term last year.
When he took the oath of office for district judge, Haggerty resigned as mayor of Kingston, a position he held from 1998 until 2017.
After becoming mayor, he hired Keating as administrator of Kingston at a time when the municipality was faced with $2 million in unfunded debt.
“He said by definition, you and I were just kids when we started this but we got a lot done. There is a lot of truth to that statement,” Keating said. “You can’t drive around Kingston in terms of our library, our firehouse with Forty Fort and the Kingston pool without looking at something that is part of Jim’s legacy.”
Haggerty and Keating, along with Kingston council, eliminated the $2 million debt five years ahead of schedule.
“That was one of his proudest moments when we are able to pay off Kingston’s unfunded debt, $2 million in outstanding debt were were able to erase,” Keating said.
Haggerty affectionately called Keating “The Admiral” because Keating signed paperwork with “adm.”
“We signed everything. When you have a government the size of Kingston, adm was a lot easier than administrator,” Keating said, adding, “That’s where he came up with nicknaming me The Admiral.”
Haggerty graduated from Georgetown University School of Law in 1990 and from Wyoming Valley West High School in 1983.
“Unless it was a dire emergency, we learned to never call Jim when Notre Dame or the Patriots were playing,” Keating said.