Donald Atlas, 2002 Family photo
Native Staten Islander Donald Atlas, 82, of Slate Hill, N.Y., a retired NYPD officer and a U.S. Army veteran who enjoyed raising standardbred horses, died Wednesday in Orange Regional Medical Center, Middletown, N.Y.
Born in West Brighton, he attended Curtis High School. He later moved to Stapleton and lived there until 1987, when he relocated to Slate Hill.
Mr. Atlas served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954. A corporal in the military police, he was stationed in Germany.
He had a 20-year career with the city Police Department, retiring in 1979. In Slate, he and his son, Scott, began the Atlas Concrete Co. The family also owned and raised standardbred horses on their 50-acre farm, and horses from this farm raced at harness tracks around the state.
Mr. Atlas was a parishioner of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel R.C. Church, Middletown, N.Y.
“After retiring from the construction business, he and his wife enjoyed their life together on their farm,” the family said. “Their home was a place of joy and laughter.”
Mr. Atlas was preceded in death by his son, FDNY Lt. Gregg Atlas, who was killed on 9/11, and his son, Keith Atlas, in 2014.
Surviving, along with his son, Scott, are his wife of 62 years, the former Ruth Russell; his son, Don; his daughter, Valerie Fernandes; 12 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
The funeral will be Tuesday from the Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home, Middletown, with a mass at 10 a.m. in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. Burial will follow in St. Joseph’s Cemetery, also Middletown.
