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- Buffalo News
Robert L. Binns, Dedicated State Trooper, Athlete
Robert I. Binns worked hard and played hard, whether he was on the job as a state trooper, bowling, playing baseball or poker, or riding his motorcycle. Family members weren't surprised that he served with the state police for 26 years. As a 15-year old growing up in Cheektowaga, he spotted some people stripping cars one day. So he called police - and chased the young hoodlums. With friends and family by his side in Erie County Medical Center, Mr. Binns died early Saturday of injuries suffered in an accident while riding his motorcycle in Cheektowaga the day before. The West Seneca resident was 52. Family members remembered Mr. Binns as a hard-working trooper, who didn't hesitate to volunteer for duty in New York City immediately after Sep 11. "He was the kind of person who would dare death in the face," said one of his nieces, Nadine Zygaj. "He would risk his own life to help someone else." Mr. Binns graduated from Bishop Turner High School, before earning degrees from Erie Community College and Buffalo State College. At ECC; he was an all-star baseball player. He joined the state police in the early 1980s, retiring in 2007 from his job in the state police at Boston barracks. An avid bowler, Mr. Binns had several 300 games and 700 series to his credit. He also played on numerous baseball and hockey teams, liked to hunt and enjoyed a good game of poker and backgammon. Family members also considered him a great storyteller, about anything from childhood hijinks to anecdotes from his days as a trooper. "The life of the party, he'd light up any room the minute he walked in," Zygaj said. Surviving are his daughter, Nicole; his mother, Emily; two sisters, Susan Bieger and Barbara Sparaga; and brother Leonard. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 11 a.m. Friday in St John Vianney Church, Southwestern Boulevard, Orchard Park, following a 10:15 a.m. prayer service in the James W. Cannan Funeral Home on Orchard Park Road.
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1957 - 2009 (52 years)