DOUGLAS B. SCHELLENG: Man was en route to Franklin Building ceremony when involved in car accident

TYLERVILLE — A former local economic-development official died Friday when his car collided with another on Route 12 in the town of Champion.

Douglas B. Schelleng, 50, of Saratoga Springs, was on his way to a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the newly refurbished Franklin Building in Watertown when his westbound compact car apparently spun out of control in a snowdrift and entered the opposite lane.

His car was struck on the passenger side by an eastbound vehicle driven by Scott K. Gray III, 75, Campbell Street, Lowville, police said.

Mr. Gray's car stopped crossways in the eastbound lane. Mr. Gray and his wife, Barbara, 75, were said not to be seriously injured.

Mr. Schelleng had been president of the Watertown Local Development Corp. board of directors and a program administrator in Jefferson County for Empire State Development. In 2008, he was promoted to a job at ESD in the Albany area and moved to be closer to his family in Vermont.

Longtime friend Gary C. Beasley, executive director of Neighbors of Watertown, said that Mr. Schelleng fought for the Franklin Building project when it had been stalled.

"He said it was the right thing to do and not to walk away," he said. "He was the strongest champion of the project."

During Friday's ribbon-cutting, Mr. Beasley wanted to thank his friend for his dedication to the project and looked out on the crowd to thank him. Mr. Beasley said he was surprised not to see him.

"He wanted to make sure we'd let him know when we had a ribbon-cutting because he really wanted to be here," Mr. Beasley said.