Obituary of James M. Friedlander

Portland - James M. Friedlander passed away on June 26th, 2021. He was born in New York City in 1926 to Daniel Adrian and Ann Gladstone Friedlander. He served in the Navy on a mine sweeper in the Phillipines during World War II. After he returned to the United States, he earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from the University of Colorado Boulder, a Masters in Public Administration from New York University and a Masters in Planning and Housing from Columbia University. He was executive director of the Greater Portland Council of Governments. He previously held similar posts in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, Carson City, Nevada and Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was planning director for the Hudson River Valley Commission. As a consultant, he contributed to the development of Battery Park City in Manhattan, the rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Betsy and other projects throughout the country. After retiring from planning, he and his second wife, Glynrose Young Friedlander, opened the Isaac Randall House, Freeport’s first bed and breakfast, in 1983. In recent years, he had been active in veterans’ affairs, with a focus on housing. He was a founder of the Veterans Housing Coalition. He served as Commander of Chapter 15 of Disabled American Veterans for several years and was also Commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America until his death. Glynrose Friedlander passed in 2013. His first marriage to Arlene Kantor Friedlander ended in divorce. He is survived by a daughter, Susan Friedlander, of New York City. He was a man of ideas until his very end. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Environmental Defense Fund www.edf.org