ALBANY — The Capital Region is mourning the loss of a gregarious and well-respected Albany County public defender with deep family ties in Albany’s legal and political worlds.
Donald Partyka, 42, an assistant public defender known for his exuberant personality and fierce advocacy of indigent defendants, was laid to rest Tuesday at St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands following a funeral service at Mater Christi R.C. Church in Albany. Partyka died June 1 at Albany Medical Center Hospital after a sudden illness several days earlier in his office.
An attorney since January 2012, Partyka was a graduate of Albany Law School, Albany Academy for Boys and Fairfield University in Connecticut. Partyka volunteered for Democratic Party campaigns and elections. He belonged to the Albany Elks club.
“Donald’s passion, positivity, love and excitement knew no bounds,” Albany City Court Judge Joshua Farrell, who is Partyka’s cousin, told mourners in a eulogy. “To meet him for a moment you could feel it. We all experienced it. He brought his passion and excitement to everything.”
Farrell highlighted Partyka’s penchant for sending him light-hearted text messages with photo-shopped images of the judge, as well as Partyka’s love of live music. Partyka’s more serious side was on display in 2016 when Farrell successfully ran for City Court. Partyka was an enthusiastic member of Farrell’s election law team counting ballots in the Democratic primary race.
He was equally driven to defend the poor, his cousin said.
“Donald found his niche in indigent defense, where he could blend his passion and courage,” Farrell told mourners. “He threw every fiber of his being into each and every one of his cases … you could tell he loved the work because of how much he would talk about it, whether he was at the office, or at court, at a live hearing or around a campfire. He would tell anyone who would listen all about each and every one of his cases in minute detail.”
Partyka’s relatives include Appellate Justice Michael Lynch, who sits on the state’s second-highest court in Albany and state Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch. Partyka’s maternal grandfather, the late Albany attorney Donald L. Lynch, was a close confidante of legendary Albany Democratic Party machine boss Daniel O’Connell and served as a longtime Albany County clerk. Partyka’s maternal grandmother, Marie B. Lynch, was O’Connell’s niece.
A cross-section of the Capital Region’s legal community — judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, court staff and sheriff’s deputies— were among the legions of visitors paying respect to Partyka during his calling hours Monday at the McVeigh Funeral Home in Albany. On Facebook, a long list of mourners wrote on Partyka’s page, recalling him as a fun-loving and selfless colleague quick with a kind word or joke from the courthouse to Lark Street.
In an interview with the Times Union, Michael Murray, Partyka’s lifelong friend and the son of prominent Albany attorney Cornelius D. Murray, explained that he and Partyka often spoke about both of them becoming attorneys. Murray remembered that Partyka was fully supportive of his decision to pursue a career in swimming. Murray is CEO of the Victor Swim Club outside Rochester and president of the American Swimming Coaches Association. Murray said Partyka paused his studies at Albany Law School to follow a Catholic mission and said Partyka aided the poor in Syracuse and worked in soup kitchens before ultimately following his love for the law.
“Donald went to Albany Law, he finished and, in service to some deep-rooted beliefs that he had, he fought for those people who couldn’t afford to be represented by a big law firm and he did it in a way where he passionately argued for them and whatever situation they came to be in,” Murray said.
Albany County Public Defender Stephen Herrick described Partyka as jovial, full of life and one to pull the occasional prank.
“From the minute I met him, it’s like experiencing a contained cyclone and all that energy,” said Herrick, who retired as an Albany County judge before becoming the public defender. “He’s just going to be missed by everybody here incredibly.”
The Times Union has reported on Partyka’s work to obtain transparency, in one case obtaining evidence from prosecutors following justice reforms that shed light on a decorated drug investigator’s missteps, and in other efforts squaring off in Colonie town court when it put him and his office at odds with a court clerk and longtime justice.
“He was intolerant to any injustice that he perceived,” Herrick said. “He was a pit bull in reference to any legal issue, especially when it was used against one of our clients or against somebody who was repressed by society.”
James Bartosik, an assistant public defender who worked with Partyka, told the Times Union that lawyers around the Capital Region would frequently ask Partyka for advice.
“More importantly though, he was an even better friend and mentor than he was an attorney,” Bartosik said. “He would speak to his friends and loved ones every day. And when he called, he would always make it a point to ask about your family and what you were up to — not because he felt he had to, but because he cared about you.”
Bartosik added: “People as genuine, forthright and unapologetically themselves the way Don Partyka was don’t come around often.”
Partyka’s is survived by his mother, Joan Lynch Partyka; sisters, Bethany Frankel and Margaret L. Partyka; and aunt Leta Lynch. His father, James E. Partyka, died in March 2021.