James Burpoe Receives Public Service Award
James Burpoe, the Orange County Commissioner of General Services and Information Technology, was recently awarded the “General John Hathorn Public Service Award.” This award, given for the first time, recognizes an individual who has dedicated his or her life to public service and has strived to make a difference in people’s lives and in their community. It was presented to Burpoe by Assemblyman Karl Brabenec at his annual Ball held a few weeks ago at the Chateau Hathorn in Warwick.
The award was named in honor of General John Hathorn, a Revolutionary War general who lived in Warwick and was a teacher and private business owner. He later served his community as a member of the New York State Assembly, Speaker of the Assembly and member of Congress during its first session.
James Burpoe has served as Commissioner of General Services for Orange County since 2009. Previous to that he owned a computer business in the Town of Wallkill and also served as a part time officer with both the Town of Wallkill Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. He also served with honor and distinction in the U.S. Army. He’s married to Jeanette Burpoe and has one son, James, Jr., who currently works for the NYPD.

I’m sure Mr. Burpoe is generous, kind and a great member of our community… so congratulations. The news release seemed to list James community employment, jobs. Are these his life time dedications or should more of his unpaid good works been mentioned? In reference to this being first time award I wonder what criteria is used to select an honoree. Perhaps the author of the news blog had more “good works” not jobs, they intended to report in this article. I’m curious to know more about James as he will be noted historically as the first recipient.