ALLEGANY, N.Y. — Robert L. Granger Sr. was just out riding his bike. Along for the run was his dog.
The 83-year-old Korean War veteran known by the nickname “Spaghetti” did that often, enjoying the picturesque Allegheny River Trail to the fullest, according to one of his granddaughters. But Wednesday’s ride on a sunny afternoon was his last.
New York State Police on Thursday identified Granger, of Allegany, as the man found dead in the river the afternoon prior. Police believe he had stopped to rest on one of the benches off the trail overlooking the river when he fell down the embankment for an unknown reason.
“It’s certainly an unfortunate situation. He was just out on his bike,” said Trooper James O’Callaghan, public information officer for NYSP Troop A, which is headquartered in Batavia.
Authorities have ruled out foul play.
“It was such a nice day out, and he loved riding,” Kate Himes, one of Granger’s granddaughters, said. “Yesterday was a normal day for him. He loved that trail. … I remember on Sundays after church when we were younger, we’d all take our bikes down to the trail.”
Emergency responders including state police and members of the Allegany Engine Co. volunteer fire department retrieved Granger from the river, roughly 200 yards southwest of the St. Bonaventure University campus athletic fields. Authorities did not release his name that day.
An investigation to determine the cause of death continues. The state police Forensic Investigation Unit is heading the case.
“We know he had made a phone call shortly before the time of death,” O’Callaghan said. “It was a matter of him sitting down at that bench and falling in somehow. We’re not sure the reason why at this point.”
Granger’s body was found eight-tenths of a mile downstream from the bench, O’Callaghan said. A Cattaraugus County dispatcher said a passer-by using the trail alerted authorities to a person in the river at 12:11 p.m.
The Allegany Engine Co. swift-water rescue team responded from the 1st Street boat launch in the village. After making first contact with Granger close to the Allegheny’s north bank, the team removed the body from the water and yielded to the state police investigation, said Gordon Scott, Allegany Engine Co. press officer.
Scott could not definitively note if the man was alive or dead as the rescue team reached him. An autopsy, O’Callaghan said, will clarify when exactly Granger died during the ordeal.
“We’re waiting on that to determine if it was the fall into the river or the water that ultimately was responsible for his death,” the public information officer said.
Granger’s dog was found safe at home, Himes said.
In an earlier interview, Granger detailed his four-year military service at the outset of the Korean War. He enlisted with the U.S. Navy and served from 1951 to 1955.
He spent his final two years aboard the famed USS Intrepid working on auxiliary engines and generators. He was in charge of a large staff for engine maintenance on more than a dozen boats.
Although Granger didn’t see action in the war, the Navy offered many lessons.
“It made a man out of me,” he said. “It taught me there’s a place for everything, and everything should be in its place.
“(Military service) showed me more of what life was like, and I became more appreciative of everything.”
Granger worked 11 years for the Pennsylvania Railroad and later became a member of the International Sheet Metal Union.
“He was so great,” Himes said. “When we were little, we couldn’t say ‘Grandpa,’ so we called him ‘Gumpa,’ and I know my cousins called him ‘Papa.’”
