After serving in the Army, he graduated from Utica College in 1961 and managed public relations for the Wyandotte Chemical Company.
As a supporter and advocate of progressive New York Republicans, he was lured into politics. Nelson A. Rockefeller, Senator Jacob K. Javits, and Alexander Pirnie, an upstate Republican became his chief of staff. He later held the same job for Mr. Pirnie’s successor, Donald J. Mitchell, also a Republican.
After serving a four year term, he was elected to Congress in 1982. His Central New York district included the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, that helped him account for the Yankee regalia in the office and Cornell University. He would return to his home district every weekend, which was a departure from many of his colleagues.
When he announced in 2006 that he would not seek re-election, he told The Syracuse Post-Standard that he regretted the increasing division in Washington.
“I came to Capitol Hill 42 years ago, and I have never seen a higher level of partisanship and a lower level of tolerance for the other guy’s point of view,” He said.
After Mr. Boehlert’s death, Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who is the Senate majority leader, praised him for his “rich legacy, his support of science, his commitment to combating climate change, and his deep love” for his district.
In 1976, Mr. Boehlert wed Marianne Willey. Along with her, he is survived by two children, Tracy VanHook and Leslie Wetteland, and a stepson, Mark Brooks, from his marriage to Jean Bone, which ended in divorce; a stepdaughter, Brooke Phillips, from his wife’s first marriage; and six grandchildren.