PLATTSBURGH -- Former City Court Judge Robert P. Wylie died Thursday evening at his home in Cliff Haven.

He was 78.

"He was a good man," Clinton County Democratic Party Chairman Martin Mannix said.

"He was a loyal Democrat, but more importantly than that, he was a very loving father, and he took such great delight in his children and grandchildren."

Wylie served as City Court judge from 1975 to 1990 and was acting City Court judge from 1966 to 1970.

He attended Michigan University and Tennessee University, from which he graduated in 1951. He graduated from Fordham University School of Law in 1954.

Wylie worked for the Plattsburgh law firm of Robinson and Holcomb from 1956 to 1959 before moving to Lewis and Meconi from 1959 to 1969.

He then worked for Jerry, Lewis, Wylie and Lyon from 1970 to 1986.

In 1986, he ran for Clinton County Surrogate Court judge against Charles Lewis but lost.

Lewis remembered Wylie as a good lawyer and friend.

"We were on different sides of some issues, but he was a good friend, a good lawyer, and I enjoyed working with him.

"He was a man of faith, and I am sure he is in a good place now."

Wylie had his own private practice from 1986 to 1988 before he was joined by his son, Andrew Wylie.

Andrew is now the Clinton County district attorney.

Mannix said the senior Wylie also helped others in the political arena.