TRR photo by Tom Kane “Bud” Stranahan, a Narrowsburg fixture, retired from his office with the fire district. (Click for larger image)

‘Bud’ Stranahan: A true town father

By TOM KANE

NARROWSBURG — If ever anyone merited the title of town father in Narrowsburg, it’s Milton “Bud” Stranahan.

Stranahan, 79, spent 45 years working at, and finally owning, a Main Street hardware store that he and his father bought from the Schneider brothers.

He served as Town of Tusten Clerk and Register of Vital Statistics for 25 years, and Secretary/Treasurer of the Narrowsburg Fire District for 45 years.

Stranahan retired from the fire district and received a plaque for his service on April 5.

“As secretary/treasurer, he pretty much ran the operation for so many years,” said Chris Ropke, chairman of the fire commissioners.

His Main Street store, called Stranahan’s, began as a general merchandise store but later handled mainly hardware. “I had a liquor license so I continued to sell beer and some groceries,” he said.

Back in 1991 he tried to sell his hardware business, but couldn’t find a buyer.

“When I closed the doors of that store, it was the first time since 1865 that it wouldn’t be a store anymore,” Stranahan said. “I felt all those people who owned the store before me were looking down on me calling me a slacker.”

A native of Narrowsburg, Stranahan left for a time to seek his fortune in New York City after graduating from high school.

“The fortune that I found down there was my wife, Ella, who was from Brooklyn,” he said. The couple married when he returned from serving three and a half years in England in the U.S. Army Air Force as a supply sergeant at a Royal Air Force airdrome north of London.

He returned to Narrowsburg soon after leaving the service with the rank of staff sergeant. “I realized that I really didn’t like New York City,” he said.

Narrowsburg was a different town than it is now, he said.

“We had two barbers, five grocery stores, two meat stores, one drug store, one bakery, a shoe shine and three bars,” he said. “You couldn’t go down Main Street on a Saturday, it was so crowded with people doing their shopping.”

That all changed soon after the war when owning an automobile became common and supermarkets and shopping centers began to appear. In recent years, the town began to pick up as a place to visit, Stranahan said.

“The town has become a center of culture and entertainment, with antique shops, an art center, a theater and galleries,” he said.