Earl Gene Baucom Jr

Earl Gene Baucom Jr., 62, passed away peacefully on November 23, 2024 at home. The son of JoAnn Louise Dagati and Earl Gene Baucom, Sr., he was born in Schenectady, New York on March 3, 1962, spending his formative years there and also briefly in Imperial Beach, California. For the last three decades of his life, he made his home in Plattsburgh, New York, having worked as operations manager of WCFE-FM and later as a master-control operator at Mountain Lake PBS. His talent at drawing led to his being hired to create cover art for comic books. Earl lived a fascinating and colorful life. The child of carnival people, his first job, at age three, was as a shill, demonstrating the fun of riding the carnival rides to prospective patrons. From a very early age, Earl read books far beyond his grade level and enjoyed immersion in a plethora of topics of interest to him, consistently keeping his mind occupied in his thirst for research into his favorite subjects. A self-taught film scholar, he had an encyclopedic knowledge of motion-picture history and would regale members of his inner circle with examples of his expertise, often with a wonderfully unusual sense of humor. Per a visit to his home during a massive DVD-inventorying project with countless discs temporarily strewn about his personal archive, one disc's sleeve in particular caught an onlooker's eye. The latter's expression of his envy prompted Earl, whose attention at that moment was engaged elsewhere in the mix, to look over and say with deadpan nonchalance, "Can you reach it?" His houseguest's response of "Not sure, maybe" was quickly met with "If you can reach it, you can have it." Earl is survived by his sister, Christine Elizabeth Smillie and her husband, John Joseph Smillie, his step-father Roger Burton LaDuke, granddaughter Ariel Kayea, two aunts, one uncle and many cousins. Arrangements under Brown Funeral Home, Plattsburgh, NY. For online condolences, please visit www.brownfuneralhomeny.com