Remembrances

Horace Mann School remembers with fondness the following members of our community who have passed away.

We recently learned that J. Richard Judson ’43, the William R. Kenan Junior Professor (1974-1993) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, passed away some time ago on June 29, 2020. Condolences can be sent to Carolyn (Callie) Judson, 67 Cummings Rd., Hanover, NH 03755.

His former student, Dr. Jane Carroll, wrote the below obituary for the Historians of Netherlandish Art.

I first met J. Richard Judson as I sat in a darkened classroom at Smith College. I was seeing art in a new way as Jud led us through a painting. I will talk about his scholarship and disciplinary contributions, but I want to start with a fact that is rarely mentioned—he was an extraordinary teacher. Jud believed in the primacy of the object. Art could be enhanced by cultural information, but the object itself had things to tell. And you could only have that dialogue if you took the time to look deeply at the artwork. He came to class laden with carousels of slides that would move you through a work, detail by detail, as he asked you to draw conclusions. He allowed the art to have a voice and taught us to listen to it. Jud grew up in New York City, attending Horace Mann School. Upon graduating high school, he enlisted with the United States Naval Reserve, serving with them during World War II. Afterward, he enrolled in Oberlin College where he had the good fortune to study under Wolfgang Stechow. They formed a connection and, following Stechow’s retirement, Jud invited him to Smith in 1969 as the William Allan Nielson Chair of Research. In 1953 Jud earned a M.A. from the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU. While at the Institute, he was taught by other foundational art historians such as Craig Hugh Smyth, Walter Friedlaender, and Erwin Panofsky, who served as a Visiting Professor from Princeton. It was also at this time that he met and married Carolyn French Judson. They honeymooned in Brussels, as he liked to say, on the dime of a Belgian-American Educational Foundation grant. For his Ph.D. in 1956, Jud went to the University of Utrecht to study with scholars of Golden Age Dutch art such as J. G. van Gelder. When choosing a subject for his dissertation, he was asked to select either Hendrick ter Brugghen or Gerard van Honthorst. He told me that he chose Honthorst on the strength of a single painting, the Christ before the High Priest in London, only later to wish he had chosen the other artist. But Honthorst would be the subject of his first book (1959) and of the last volume he wrote, a revision of that early work, with Rudolf E. O. Ekkart discussing the portraits (1999). His writings were numerous, focusing primarily on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century art from the Low Countries. Jud consistently found riches in the lesser-explored areas of his field, causing scholars to study Northern art more broadly. Notable among his books was Dirck Barendsz. 1534-1592: Excellent Painter from Amsterdam (1970) in which Jud studied the second half of the sixteenth century through the lens of a Dutch artist with ties to Venice. The volume explored the connections that influenced both art and the wider culture. Three years later, in The Drawings of Jacob de Gheyn II, he brought to our attention the superb draughtsmanship of that artist while illuminating Jacob’s output as evidence of contemporary Humanist intellectual trends. Jud’s first volume for the Corpus Rubenianum was Book Illustrations and Title-pages (1978). The richness of that topic, Rubens’ literary visual language, resulted in an exhibition at the Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp, P. P. Rubens als boekillustrator (1977). His second work for that series, The Passion of Christ (2000), explored Rubens’ balance of tradition and innovation in a Post-Tridentine religious world. Between the two Rubens volumes, Jud was part of the team that created the landmark exhibition The Age of Brueghel: Netherlandish Drawings in the Sixteenth Century (1987). With John Oliver Hand, William W. Robinson, and Martha Wolf, Jud created the exquisite catalogue and sensitive scholarship that elevated the study of Northern drawings.

Jud’s scholarship earned him multiple fellowships from Fulbright, Guggenheim, and ACLS, as well as invitations from the American Academy in Rome and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in Wassenaar. In 1977 he was the recipient of the Rubens medal given by the City of Antwerp. During the course of a long academic career, Jud taught at two institutions: Smith College for eighteen years, and as the W. R. Kenan Junior Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for nineteen years. With Seymour Slive, Jud was a member of that first generation of American-born scholars who worked on Dutch art. They set out the path for those who have followed. Once retired, Callie and Jud returned to New England, though they remained loyal to North Carolina basketball. Desiring to be near an academic library, they moved to Etna, New Hampshire, near Dartmouth College and then to the retirement community of Kendal at Hanover. Aside from art and family, Jud’s other passion was sailing, both racing and cruising up the New England coast. He was a member of the Catboat Association, the Wharf Rat Club, and the Nantucket Yacht Club. On Nantucket, he and Callie had a home on what seems to be the perfect name for a road, Easy Street. There they summered for decades with their four children and grandchildren. On Jud’s desk at UNC there were no photos of his family, just a single photo of his boat riding the waves.

Edward (Ed) Meyer ’44, legendary American advertising agency executive who served for more than 35 years as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Grey Global Group and who, together with his wife, Sandra, authored a transformative $75 million gift to create the Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, surrounded by his family. Ed was born on January 8, 1927, in New York City, the son of Irving H. and Mildred (Driesen) Meyer. He was raised in New York City, attending Hunter College elementary and middle schools and Stuyvesant High School before graduating from Horace Mann School. He enrolled at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, taking time off to serve honorably in the U.S Coast Guard Reserve from 1945 to 1947. Returning to Cornell after his war service, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in economics, with honors, in 1949. Upon graduation from Cornell, Ed started his career with the Bloomingdale's division of Federated Department Stores (now Macy's, Inc.). In 1951, he began his 55-year career in the advertising business, starting initially with The Biow Company, where he developed his career-long, close business relationship with the packaged-goods giant, Proctor & Gamble. In 1956, he joined Grey Advertising, the predecessor to Grey Global Group. Over 50 years at Grey, he held numerous positions, becoming president in 1968 and chairman and chief executive officer in 1970. Over the next three-and-a-half decades, Ed built Grey into a multinational advertising and marketing communications behemoth, with operations in 96 countries. He orchestrated the sale of Grey to another global media conglomerate, the WPP Group, in 2005, retiring as chairman in 2006. In 2005, he joined with his son, Anthony (Tony) Meyer, to establish Ocean Road Advisors, Inc. as the family office management company for the Meyer family. He served as chairman of Ocean Road Advisors until his passing. Edward Meyer married the former Sandra Lee Raabin on April 26, 1957, and had two children, Margaret (Meg) Meyer, an official fellow (professor) in economics at Nuffield College, Oxford University; and Anthony (Tony) Meyer, a serial entrepreneur and private investor who currently runs the Meyer family office, Ocean Road Advisors, Inc. He served with great distinction as a board director of numerous American public companies, including Harman International Industries, Inc., Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., Allconnect, Retail Opportunity Investments Corporation, and National CineMedia, Inc. Ed also served proudly on the advisory board of Pershing Square Capital Management from the inception of that firm. An active and committed philanthropist, together with his wife and family, he supported such important causes as Weill Cornell Medicine, the American Jewish Committee, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and Cornell and New York Universities. He also served as a trustee of numerous New York City- based charitable, community and arts organizations including Weill Cornell Medicine, the American Jewish Committee, the American Museum of Natural History, the Guggenheim Museum, the New York University Medical Center, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Ed was also a member of numerous social and recreational organizations including the Economics Club (New York City), the University Club (New York City), the Harmonie Club (New York City), Century Country Club, Atlantic Golf Club, and the Palm Beach Country Club. He was predeceased by his parents and his siblings, Alvin Jay Meyer and Anne Meyer Dubin, and is survived by his wife, Sandy; his two children, Meg and Tony; his niece, Emmie Dubin; and five grandchildren (David, Katherine, William, Olivia, and Victoria). The burial and shiva were held privately, and a public memorial service was held at Central Synagogue in Manhattan on April 15th. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to UJA- Federation of New York or Women for Women International. Published by New York Times on Apr. 12, 2023.

Samuel David Arnspiger ‘46, 94, passed away at the Cottage of Spring Branch in Houston, TX, on May 18, 2023. He was born July 25, 1928, in Sherman, TX to Fay Geraldine King and Varney Clyde Arnspiger. David joined older siblings Varney Clyde, Jr., and Fay Genevieve. He graduated from Horace Mann School for Boys in Bronx, NY, in 1946 and Beloit College in Beloit, WI, in 1950. David was a proud Marine and Purple Heart recipient, who served and was wounded in the First Marine Division, Korea. David lived life to the fullest every day, providing an example of perseverance, optimism, and achievement to his children and grandchildren that they will carry through their lives. He lived with purpose, believing that working and contributing was a way of life. David's career began in the oil business in Wichita Falls, TX, where he was introduced to Marian McFall, who became his adored wife of 54 years. The couple made their way to Dallas, where David's interests shifted toward banking, and they welcomed daughter Allison (Bailey) in 1955. They moved to Houston in 1959, where they added a son, Christopher David, and a daughter Adrian (Buchanan) to their family. In Houston, David worked as an investment banker focusing on public finance for the remainder of his career, joining investment firms Rowles Winston, Underwood Neuhaus, and founding Arnspiger, Cox & Iverson. Marian and David were a fun and fun-loving couple with a wide circle of friends and were known to cut a mean rug on the dance floor, to the delight and amazement of their children. Once David retired, he found that he could not rest, so he started a business, sold cars, and finally settled down to become Houston's oldest Uber driver, a job he loved until he was 90 and his children begged him to stop. David was a true charmer - he loved flirting with women of all ages and regaling all with hilarious stories. He particularly loved dressing as Santa Claus every Christmas to enchant the neighborhood children and deliver gifts to friends and business associates. One of his favorite tricks was walking up to a child on the street while dressed as Santa and exclaiming, "Where have you been, I've been looking everywhere for you?" He loved playing gin rummy with his friends after a golf game and would often return home to treat his family to dinner out on his winnings, even though he would always answer "eleven dollars," when asked how much he'd won or lost. He taught his children to love and listen to all types of people, to enjoy every day to the utmost, to keep moving as long as you have breath in your body, and to use the skycap at the airport! His son Chris and sons-in-law, Norman Joseph Bailey and Trey Buchanan, found him a fun partner in crime, an avid fellow cheerleader at almost every Houston Oilers home game, and a boon companion on the golf course, as well as the source of endless anecdotes. David became a beloved "Kani" to five grandsons:  Norman Joseph Bailey, Jr. (Alice) and Christopher Bradley Bailey (Regan) both of Houston, TX; and Matthew McFall Buchanan, Duncan Chapman Buchanan, and Douglas Allison Buchanan of Austin, TX. Kani was also a very proud great-grandfather to Virginia Elizabeth Bailey, John Edwin (Teddy) Bailey III, and Isla Finn Bailey. We will miss our beloved father and Kani, but we hear him saying, even still, "After a while, crocodile!" The family would like to extend their enduring gratitude to Donna McLaurin, who was David's fun-loving caretaker, companion, and dance partner in his final years, as well as to Dr. Zahra Nizami and the caring staff of the Cottage of Spring Branch. The kindness and love these professionals showed to us and our father will remain with us always. A memorial service honoring David's life will be held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, TX, on June 2, 2023, at 2pm. In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions in his name be directed to St. Martin's Episcopal Church Endowment Fund, 717 Sage Road, Houston, TX 77056, or to the charity of one's choice.

Donald H. Kalman ’47, born on August 7, 1930, father of Robin (Allan) and James (Alison), grandfather of Jason, Rebecca and William, died peacefully on March 30, 2023. He graduated from Horace Mann School, Brown University, and Columbia Law School. After service in the U.S. Coast Guard, he joined the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He later became Vice Chairman of Manhattan Industries where he worked for more than 20 years. Subsequently, he headed worldwide licensing as an executive vice president of Calvin Klein. He retired in 1992. Donald and his beloved late wife Ellen, deceased in August 2022, lived in New York City, Longboat Key, FL, and East Hampton, NY. They traveled extensively, visiting more than 100 countries and all 50 states, during their 37 years of happy marriage. A man of many interests, he enjoyed reading, rare book collecting, painting, tennis, and golf. He loved his children and grandchildren and his small white dogs Little Boy and Bonnie Lassie. Published by New York Times on Apr. 20, 2023.

Jerome Serchuck ’47, age 92, passed away on March 22, 2023. Beloved husband to his beautiful Joan for nearly 70 years, devoted father to Marcie (Miles d.), Leslie (Lynnae), and Mark (John), proud grandfather of Blake (Stephanie) and Mallory (Stuart), and adored GG to Zachary, Ella, Willow, and Miles. His whole life was his family. Jerry was the ultimate gentleman, full of warmth and compassion for everyone who knew him. An attorney by training, Jerry was a real estate developer, biotech investor, and philanthropist. He served on the boards of Union College, Temple Beth- El of Great Neck, and North Shore University Hospital/Northwell Health and as chairman of the Deans Advisory Board at Boston University School of Medicine. He will be remembered by the lessons he taught and the examples he lived.

The following obituary was published by the New York Times on May 2, 2023. We mourn the passing of Roger Miles Rose ‘48, distinguished physician, medical litigation consultant, and Navy veteran. He passed away peacefully on April 29, 2023, surrounded by his family. He was 91. Roger was born on September 25, 1931, to the late Ben Henry Rose and Rose Marie Rose. After graduating from Horace Mann, Yale, and NYU School of Medicine, he proudly served his country as a physician in the US Navy. He went on to pursue a successful career in medicine and was an invaluable mentor to many at NYU and Lenox Hill hospitals. But Roger was more than just a talented doctor. He had a zest for life, fine wine, and travel (especially to find the next piece of folk art to add to his collection). His home-cooked meals would have landed him a four-star Michelin rating. This, coupled with his sharp wit and an irreverent sense of humor, endeared him to all who knew him. Roger was a loving husband to his wife of nearly 50 years, Alyce Rose. He had two children, Maura Rose and Brett Rose, who were his pride and joy. Roger was also blessed with a beautiful granddaughter, Una, whom he adored and cherished. Roger will be deeply missed. His memory will live on in the hearts of his loved ones and the countless lives he touched throughout his career. A memorial will be held to celebrate his life at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made in his memory to OpenGate, a community serving the disabled:  https://www.opengateinc.org/

George Kaskel Bernstein ‘51, age 88, of Alexandria, VA, passed away on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. Beloved husband of Caryl S. Bernstein; loving father to Ellen Deborah Terry, Mark David Terry, James A. Bernstein, and Susan Bernstein; brother to Rachelle Schaffzin; grandfather of Gus Passov, Shaina Bernstein, Leah Bernstein, Haley Passov, Annalise Reber, and Ari Bernstein. George will truly be missed. A funeral service was held at Jefferson Funeral Chapel, with interment at Fairfax Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Agudas Achim Congregation of Northern Virginia: 2908 Valley Dr., Alexandria, VA 22302.

The following article is excerpted from an obituary written by Robert D. McFadden and published in the New York Times on April 14, 2023. Maia Coleman contributed reporting.

Edward Koren ‘53, the New Yorker cartoonist who created a fantasy world of toothy, long-nosed, hairy creatures of indeterminate species that articulated the neuroses and banalities of middle-class America for six decades, died on Friday at his home in Brookfield, Vt. He was 87. His wife, Curtis Koren, said the cause was lung cancer. With Charles Addams, James Thurber and Saul Steinberg, Mr. Koren was one of the most popular cartoonists in The New Yorker’s long love affair with humor. To connoisseurs, his bristling pen-and-ink characters, with or without captions, were instantly recognizable — non-confrontational humans and a blend of fanged crocodile and antlered reindeer who poked fun at a society preoccupied with fitness fads (bike-riding), electronic gadgets (cellphones) and pop psychology. The only child of a New York dentist and a teacher who subscribed to Reader’s Digest and National Geographic, Mr. Koren studied art in New York and Paris, struggled for years to create a unique style, and found it hiding in plain sight: the subtle humor of life’s contradictions. He published his first New Yorker cartoon in 1962. It depicted a struggling writer in a “Shakespeare” sweatshirt, puzzling over his typewriter. In a career that seemed oblivious to the wars, racial strife and calamities that bloodied the rapiers of more combative cartoonists, Mr. Koren forged his mythic realm of benign beasts and humans with snouts in some 1,100 cartoons for The New Yorker, including dozens of covers, and many more for The Nation, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair and other publications. “My trajectory was a comedy of manners,” Mr. Koren said in an interview for this obituary in 2018. “I was drawn to sociology and cultural anthropology. My work was a bit tame, I suppose. I avoided sex. It was political in a different sense. I examined the middle class, and everywhere I looked people were outraged. I did not want to manifest that in my work. I just gravitated toward animals.” Elaborating on his anthropomorphic creatures, Mr. Koren said: “Animals are gentle and funny. There is a long tradition in English and French literature, going back to the 19th century, of using animals in humor. For me, it was a framework, a way of getting above the political fray and the passing controversies of the day.” Besides his New Yorker work, Mr. Koren published collections of his cartoons, wrote and illustrated children’s books and illustrated books by Delia Ephron, George Plimpton and Alan Katz. His cartoons, drawings and prints appeared in shows and galleries across the United States and in England, France and Czechoslovakia. Many became part of museums’ permanent collections. “Woody Allen’s world is Tolstoyan by comparison,” Ken Johnson wrote in a Times review of a Koren retrospective at Columbia University in 2010. “Within his comfort zone, though, Mr. Koren can be funny, psychologically acute and philosophically provocative. He has a pitch-perfect feel for gag lines, and with his scribbly draftsmanship has forged one of the most distinctive styles in cartooning.” Mr. Koren also drew some frankly commercial, if slyly humorous, cartoons for private clients — vineyards, banks, clothiers, mutual funds, university course catalogs and credit cards. “Out of the unkempt hair styles and ragamuffin dress of the sixties, Mr. Koren has distilled a marvelously ironic comedy of manners,” the Times art critic Hilton Kramer wrote in 1975 about an album of New Yorker cartoons. “His hairy creatures, with their smirky animal faces and sloppy social vanities, add something genuinely new to The New Yorker’s chronicle of wayward sociability.” As the passing years brought new technology, income disparity and the ravages of aging to America’s bourgeoisie, Mr. Koren jabbed at myriad targets:  “I’m the kind of American middle-class folk I like to draw,” Mr. Koren told the Knight-Ridder news service in 1982. He found subjects everywhere. Walking in the woods in California, he was passed by a jogger, who called out: “Working on my quads!” “There’s a cartoon,” Mr. Koren said. Mr. Koren usually tried to express something positive in a bad situation. For a New Yorker cover after terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001, he drew “The Best Offense,” a mouselike creature holding up a long nib pen in its right paw and a short sword, point down, in its left. “There’s an immense sweetness to his personality that radiates through his work,” David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, said in an interview on Friday. “This was not an acerbic comic spirit. He had a very different sensibility. There was a real soulfulness to everything he did.” While Koren creatures were rarely depicted as threatening to humans, he thrust a jab now and then at the environmental crowd. Edward Benjamin Koren was born in Manhattan on Dec. 13, 1935, to Harry and Elizabeth (Sorkin) Koren. He was raised in Mount Vernon, N.Y., from which his father commuted to a dental practice in Manhattan. His parents wanted Ed to become a doctor or lawyer, but he began drawing as a teenager and was hooked. After graduating from Horace Mann School in the Bronx in 1953, he attended Columbia College, where he edited The Jester, a student humor magazine. He graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree. He studied printmaking, etching and engraving for two years with S.W. Hayter at the prestigious Atelier 17 in Paris, and he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 1964. He soon joined the faculty of Brown University, where he taught the arts until 1977, long after he became famous. In 1961, he married Miriam Siegmeister. They had two children, Nathaniel and Alexandra, and were divorced in 1973. He married Catherine Curtis Ingham in 1982 and had a son, Benjamin, with her. Besides his wife, he is survived by his sons; his daughter, who is known as Sasha Koren; and two grandchildren. Mr. Koren illustrated some 25 books and wrote nine of them, including “Behind the Wheel” (1972), which put readers in the driver’s seat of a subway train, a tugboat, an airplane and other conveyances; “Well, THERE’s Your Problem” (1980), a joshing of pop psychology nostrums; and “What About Me?” (1989), a collection that featured a beastly Napoleon and a motorcyclist with ram’s horns. Mr. Koren, who never retired, worked until the end, his wife said. For The New Yorker’s April 17 issue, he drew Moses on a mount overlooking his people and holding up a stone tablet of the Ten Commandments in Roman numerals while proclaiming, “Time for an update!” After vacationing in Vermont for years, Mr. Koren became a full-time resident of Brookfield (population 1,200) in 1982. He joined the volunteer fire department (and was a captain for 30 years) and rode a bicycle nearly every day — he called it “an addiction” — through the changing seasons of a peaceful countryside, far from the cares of cities. “When I ride, I often recall lines from Arthur Conan Doyle” (from “Scientific American” 1896), he said in the interview for this obituary, and he recited them: “When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.”

Michael Seitz ’53 died on December 16, 2022. He had a remarkably varied, rich, and full life. After graduating from Horace Mann, he attended Dartmouth College. He spent his junior year in Paris with the Sweetbriar College program. The experience made a mark on him as indelible as his academic work in French poetry with Raymond Guthrie was at Dartmouth. Michael won a full scholarship to Harvard's doctoral program in French languages and literature, completed his MA there, and went to University of Michigan to complete his PhD, writing his dissertation on Rimbaud. He taught French for a number of years at Rutgers and Wilkes University, then moved to Manhattan where he pursued his passion for film, teaching at NYU and writing reviews for The Progressive. He decided he wanted to make more of difference in students' lives and taught study skills at City University of New York (CUNY) in its open admissions programs as an adjunct faculty member. A life-long advocate of social justice, he was dismayed at defunding of public higher education and the exploitation of adjunct faculty and became active in CUNY's union of faculty and professionals, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC). He was widely liked and respected for his principled advocacy, kindness, intelligence, and respect for teaching, so much so that after his death he was honored by the PSC for his contributions. He carried his passion for France, literature, and art with him throughout his life. He became an expert on Romanesque art and architecture, especially the Pilgrimage route. He and his wife, Lois Weiner, also an academic, toured and lived in Europe from late spring until fall for many years, living in almost every department in France. He loved the opera, a focus of many trips to Europe. Though he thrived amidst the cultural life of cities, he maintained a passion for the outdoors, the reason he decided to attend Dartmouth. He adored fishing, surfcasting and freshwater fishing, which he pursued even while living in Manhattan until the travel became too physically arduous. He is survived by Lois, their daughter, Petra Seitz, two sons from a previous marriage, Phillip and David Seitz, and his sister Jo Rieber.

Peter Buirski ’61 was born February 7, 1944 in New York City. He spent his early life in both New York and Johannesburg. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from Adelphi University in 1969 and immediately joined the faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (City University of New York) where he served as Chairman of the Psychology Department from 1979-1983. Concurrently he completed Psychoanalytic Training at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health in New York City where he served as Dean from 1983-1988.

In 1991, Peter was recruited by the University of Denver to become the Director of the Graduate School of Professional Psychology. In 1993 he became the first Dean and served in that role until 2012. He was also on faculty of the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis. He especially enjoyed teaching and supervising and forged many close relationships with students and faculty. Peter taught and lectured both nationally and internationally. Early in his career, Peter studied and wrote about animal behavior. He worked with baboons in Kenya and chimpanzees with Jane Goodall in Gombe. In his private practice Peter cared deeply for his patients.

As a clinician, his scholarly work has focused on Intersubjective Systems. He published many journal articles and several books and is the co-author of Making Sense Together, which has been translated into other languages.

He had many hobbies over the years: sculpting, playing the saxophone, scuba diving, windsurfing, tennis, golf, and travel. He was a collector of first edition books and movie posters. Each hobby was tackled with complete enthusiasm. He was especially known for his sense of humor.

In the last 12 years he had many health challenges which he fought with determination and grace, allowing him to enjoy a full life.

He loved his friends and relatives, many of whom are life-long relationships.

He is survived by the family he was so devoted to: his wife, Cathy Krown Buirski, his son Max and daughter-in-law Romanne, his daughter Diana and son-in-law Eric, and his three granddaughters Nina, Sydney, and Marissa. We are heartbroken that we have lost him.

Thomas Jones ’63 passed away, peacefully, on May 4, 2023, in his newly adopted home in Delray Beach, FL. Tom came into this world on December 10, 1945, to Rosalie and Richard Jones. He was an educated man, matriculating, respectively, at Hunter Elementary, Horace Mann High School, and Columbia College. Not satisfied with "only" a bachelor's degree, Tom fulfilled his dream of becoming an attorney upon his admittance to the New York Bar in 1976, shortly after graduating from Fordham Law School. Tom had a more than distinguished career in the law, as evidenced by his admittance to the partnership at the highly regarded law firm, Cahill, Gordon and Reindel, where he was widely acknowledged as one of the most effective litigators at that august firm. Tom managed to fit three wives into his busy schedule. First, there was Jill, and then came Margaret, from whom he was widowed after 30 years of wedded bliss. Finally, and against all odds from an encounter on J-Date, Tom met the love of his life, Riry Muhlrad. Tom's passing came just months before the couple's twentieth anniversary, a milestone in what was known to one and all as an exceedingly exciting and loving union. While Tom had no children of his own, he more than made up for that deficit through the love and admiration he harbored and consistently displayed towards Riry's children. Both Jennifer and Eric were constantly in his thoughts and the joy he derived from his step- grandchildren, Dalya and Zoe, was written all over his face. I can say without fear of contradiction that Tom touched everyone he came into contact with during his long and productive time on this earth. He was truly a beautiful soul. When they say "they don't make them like that anymore," they are referring to Tom, who displayed a rare and enviable combination of character traits including intelligence, integrity, generosity, and unmitigated sincerity. His smile was infectious. Tom is survived by his wife, Riry, her children, Jennifer and Eric, and his cherished step-grandchildren, Dalya and Zoe. Funeral Services were held on May 8th at The Riverside (76th St. and Amsterdam Avenue). Published by The New York Times on May 7, 2023.

Arthur Zenker Moss ’64, age 75, passed away on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at home surrounded by his loving family. Art was born to Ruth and Charles Moss in Akron, OH, the younger of two boys, and was raised in New York City. He received his undergraduate degree in 1968 from Columbia University and his PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1973. Art subsequently had a 40-year career at DuPont. For his first 20 years, he did research, making several contributions to the understanding of transport through porous membranes. In his next 20 years, he was a registered patent agent, achieving great respect for his legal acuity and often serving as a resource in the DuPont legal department. He met the love of his life, Karen Gold, in an art history class at the University of Delaware. They were married in 1977 and together they raised three children. Art was a passionate family man, followed by his love for reading, musical theater, and intellectual pursuits. In his retirement, Art volunteered at the Contact Lifeline Suicide Hotline; he led three different tours at Hagley Museum (Steam Engine, Machine Shop, and Roll Mill); and he became, very proudly, a fully-fledged "Train Man" on the Wilmington & Western Railroad. His wit, his laughter, and his love will be sorely missed by his friends, family, community, and all who knew him. Art is survived by his wife, Karen, and his children, Jessica, Noah (Cornelia), and Anna (Kit). Funeral services were held on March 9, 2023, at Congregation Beth Shalom in Wilmington, DE. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in his memory be directed to the Wilmington & Western Railroad (www.wwrr.com) or a charity of your choice.Posted online on March 8, 2023; published in The News Journal.

Epidemiologist Gary B. Beringer ‘68, age 70, passed away suddenly on January 27, 2021, at his home in Chicago, IL. Gary, an only child, is survived by his wife, Nancy M. Abbate, who worked closely with Beringer. Until his death, Beringer was working as the Principal/CEO of Beringer & Associates, providing scientific case preparation for attorneys and law firms, and as a corporate officer and senior researcher at Abbate Group, LTD, which assists foundations, government and nonprofit organizations. "I think he would want to be remembered as a loving husband—someone who was supportive of me—who was ultimately a man of science and an excellent epidemiologist," Abbate said. Born and raised in New York, Beringer began his education in New York Public Schools, where he showed early signs of extraordinary intelligence. Beringer then transitioned and graduated from Horace Mann School, a college-preparatory K-12 school in the Bronx. After graduating from Horace Mann, he earned a Bachelor of Science in 1972 from Fordham University in psychology and biology. He then received a Master of Public Health in 1974 and a Doctor of Public Health in 1976 from Columbia University Faculty of Medicine in epidemiology with a concentration in chronic diseases. Following graduation, Beringer received training as a post-doctoral research fellow in psychiatry and a post-doctoral trainee in mental health services research and evaluation at Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 1976 to 1978. Years later, Beringer also earned certificates in mediation from DePaul University School of Law. Beringer's postgraduate career was diverse and spanned more than 40 years. He worked as a full-time tenured faculty member at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He also served the New York Health Department as Assistant Commissioner and Director of the Division of Planning and Evaluation. In 1994, he founded Beringer & Associates Litigation Support, which provided attorneys and law firms comprehensive case preparation in civil and criminal matters related to medical, health care, and scientific issues. Although based in Chicago, the practice offered services to law firms across the United States. Renowned doctor Pascal James Imperato, MD, MPH&TM, MACP, remarked that Beringer & Associates created "a vital role for epidemiologic analysis in the judicial world." Abbate said Beringer's intellect was a driving factor in her initial attraction to him. The two married in 1995 after serving on several federal review panels together in Washington, D.C. "He was the love of my life, a deeply caring person, and had just an amazing intellect and a quest for knowledge of all kinds," Abbate said. In 2003, Beringer had the first of four strokes he would have over the course of 17 years. The strokes left Beringer living with disabilities including limited functioning of one arm and leg. Beringer continued to work and became an advocate for others living with disabilities. He also served for years on the boards of both AIDS Foundation Chicago and the Near North Health Services Corporation. Donations in his memory may be made to https://www.aidschicago.org/

Alan Harris ’68 – Tucson, AZ - With immense sadness, the family and friends of Alan Harris share the news of his sudden and tragic death on Sunday, May 24, 2020. Alan, a skilled cyclist, was riding his bike in Tucson, Arizona, where he and his wife, Diane Lebel, have a second home, when he apparently crashed after hitting a large unmarked hole in the ground on a section of a bike path under construction. Alan's real name was Nathan, something his friends never let him forget, and he was born in Yonkers, New York, in 1950. He attended Horace Mann Prep and then went on to Stanford University in California where he received a Bachelor’s degree. He received his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and a Master’s of Public Health from the UCLA School of Public Health. Alan and Diane, a pathologist, came to Worcester to practice medicine in 1982 and Alan established his own allergy practice in 1983. He retired in 2016. Alan and Diane lived in West Boylston and Alan was a long time member of the town's Board of Health. If Alan were reading this he would say get to the interesting parts, and poetic license is preferred. Alan was a great writer and took many in-person and online courses to perfect his craft. He would often chronicle his adventures with friends and we will forever cherish his writings. He had many interests and pursued each with a vengeance. He was well read and passionate about the issues of our times, especially women's rights. He had strong opinions, about many things, including how to make a cup of coffee and the right way to load the dishwasher. Alan had unwavering energy and his enthusiasm was contagious. His smile and laugh will forever be a part of everyone who had the pleasure to call him friend. Alan and Diane loved adventure travel and with friends they visited every continent. Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, trekking in Nepal, and exploring Antarctica were among the highlights. Their most recent adventure was a seven-day rafting trip on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Alan became a connoisseur of craft beer and dragged many a friend to the newest brewery - sometimes just barely after breakfast. He organized a "Thirsty Thursday" group for fellow beer enthusiasts in Tucson. He also loved dogs and the beloved and recently departed Andy was succeeded by his latest companion Gus. While once upon a time he was a regular at Alan Bilzarian (a high end clothing store in Worcester and Boston), his favorite attire was jeans and a t-shirt, and one he wore most proudly said it all, Alpha Dog. Alan ran the Falmouth Road Race every year. And the story was always the same. He complained of some alleged injury and then ran the race finishing high in his age group. His friends were not impressed. And then there was cycling. Alan was a great athlete and few things made him happier than being on a bike. He was a founding member of a little known but highly regarded group called the JOMITS, which is an acronym for Jewish Old Men in Tights. The group began 22 years ago, when they were not so old, and they never missed a year of exploring some part of New England for a challenging long weekend of cycling and scotch. Diane and Alan would have been married 44 years on June 4th. We will get together to celebrate Alan's life, but for now we suggest you experiment with a new craft beer in his honor, take a photo, and share it with all of us. If you would like to make a donation, we recommend a dog rescue organization.

The following obituary was written by Michael Paulson and appeared in the April 19, 2023, edition of The New York Times. 

Todd Haimes ’74, who rescued New York's Roundabout Theater Company from bankruptcy and built it into one of the largest nonprofit theaters in America, died on Wednesday at 66. His death, at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital in Manhattan, was caused by complications of osteosarcoma, according to a spokesman, Matt Polk. Mr. Haimes had lived with the cancer since 2002, when he was diagnosed with sarcoma of the jaw. As the artistic director and chief executive officer at Roundabout, Mr. Haimes had an extraordinarily long and effective tenure. He led the organization for four decades, turning the nonprofit company into a major player on Broadway, where it now runs three of the 41 theaters. The theater company has focused on classics and revivals but has also been a supporter of new work, and under Mr. Haimes's leadership, it has excelled on both fronts, winning 11 Tony Awards for plays and musicals it has produced and nurturing the careers of contemporary American writers, including Stephen Karam, Joshua Harmon and Selina Fillinger. Among Roundabout's biggest successes during his tenure was a 1998 revival of “Cabaret,” originally starring Alan Cumming and Natasha Richardson, that survived a bumpy start (interrupted performances for four weeks) and then ran for nearly six years, returning a decade later for a one-year reprise. There were many other triumphs, including a 2020 revival of “A Soldiers Play” that is now touring the country. Both productions won Tony Awards. Catalyzed by America's social unrest over racial inequality in 2020, Mr. Haimes led Roundabout in an effort to unearth lost gems written by artists of color. One result was an acclaimed Broadway production of Alice Childress's 1955 backstage drama “Trouble in Mind,” which had never made it to Broadway because the Black playwright had refused to soften the show's ending to make it less challenging for white theatergoers. Mr. Haimes joined Roundabout in 1983 as the company's managing director. He was just 26, and the company, founded in 1965 and saddled with debt, was operating in rented space in Chelsea. At one particularly desperate point, he used his own credit card to keep the company afloat, but a few weeks after he arrived, the board of directors voted to shut it down. A board member donated enough to buy the company some time, and Mr. Haimes engineered a turnabout, cutting staff members, reducing expenses, improving marketing and, over time, expanding the audience with measures such as to attract an after-work crowd, special events for singles and gay theatergoers, and discounts for children. In 2016, he became the first presenter to allow the livestreaming of a performance of a Broadway show, a much-praised revival of “She Loves Me.” Bernard Todd Haimes was born on May 7, 1956, in New York City to Herman Haimes, a lawyer, and Helaine Haimes, a homemaker. His onstage life was exceedingly brief:  In elementary school on Manhattan's Upper East Side, he wore a dress to play the title role in a production of “Mary Poppins.” He later claimed he had landed the part because he was the only child who could pronounce “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” He earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. at Yale. Before arriving at Roundabout, he worked as general manager of the Hartman Theater Company in Stamford and as managing director of the Westport Country Playhouse, both in Connecticut. “I had no desire to trade stocks and bonds, and making Nivea cream wouldn't turn me on,” he told The New York Times in 1986. “I've loved the theater all my life. I have no desire to be on stage, but I get a tingle just being around one, ever since I worked on the stage crew for 'How to Succeed in Business' on Broadway when I was in 10th grade.” He became producing director of Roundabout in 1989 and added the title of chief executive in 2015. “The advantage of my background is that all of my artistic decisions are being informed by management concerns,” Mr. Haimes said in 2004. “No one's ever going to accuse me of being a crazy artist. The disadvantage is the same: that perhaps there are brilliant things other people could accomplish that I just can't.” He is survived by his wife, Jeanne-Marie (Christman) Haimes; two children, Dr. Hilary Haimes and Andrew Haimes; two stepdaughters, Julia and Kiki Baron; and four grandchildren. His first two marriages, to Dr. Alison Haimes and Tamar Climan, ended in divorce. Mr. Haimes led Roundabout's move to Broadway in 1991, when he began presenting work in the Criterion Center, which no longer exists. The move was a turning point for the company, he said: “Because of the Tony Award eligibility, we will have a tremendous advantage when it comes to obtaining the rights to plays, securing directors and attracting distinguished actors.” In 2000, he moved the company into the renamed American Airlines Theater, which is now Roundabout's flagship house. It has since also acquired the theater at Studio 54 and assumed operations of the theater now known as the Stephen Sondheim. Among the Tony-winning shows produced by Roundabout during Mr. Haimes's tenure were revivals of the plays “Anna Christie” and “A View from the Bridge” and of the musicals “Nine,” “Assassins,” “The Pajama Game” and “Anything Goes.” Roundabout was also among the producers of Tony-winning productions of two new plays, “Side Man” and “The Humans.” The company now runs five theaters, all in Midtown Manhattan, including the three Broadway houses, and an Off Off Broadway black-box space that it developed to give a platform to emerging playwrights. Over the years there have been flops and budget deficits, as well as successes, and some critics have suggested that Roundabout was overextended. Its enormous real estate footprint became a financial challenge that the company addressed partly by renting out some of its Broadway venues to commercial producers. The company made a significant amount of money, for example, by renting out the Sondheim for five years to the producers of “Beautiful,” the Carole King biomusical. Mr. Haimes was also one of a handful of leaders of nonprofit theater companies in New York whose decades-long tenures have raised eyebrows among those who want more turnover. He held onto the Roundabout job even when he took another one for the deeply troubled Toronto theater company Livent, in 1998; that company collapsed, and Mr. Haimes stayed at Roundabout. Roundabout's size - 150 employees and a $50 million annual budget - has given it the ability to support significant endeavors offstage. It operates substantial education and training programs, including school partnerships that serve more than 4,000 students each year and a partnership with the stagehands union to train theater technicians. But like many nonprofits, it has not yet fully rebounded from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It staged one show on Broadway this season, a revival of “1776.” Mr. Haimes, who was often content to remain in the background rather than grabbing the spotlight, was a well-liked figure in the industry, and retained an enthusiasm for the art form. He was active in both the Broadway and the Off Broadway communities, serving on numerous committees, and over the years he taught at Yale and Brooklyn College. But he remained a businessman and a booster at heart. “Basically I'm incredibly insecure and don't take myself seriously as an artist,” he said in a 1998 interview. “But somehow my taste seems to match up with what the public wants.”

Jon Buder ‘79 – The Alumni Office received word from a classmate that Jon passed away a couple of years ago. His profile on roadducks.org, the website of a classic/southern rock/Motown band called the Rodducks that Jon played with for years, states:  “Keyboards, vocals, played 10 years in the band, played keys on both albums, Syracuse and Horace Mann alum, grew up in the Bronx, lifelong Yankee fan and Roadduck for life."

Marie Irwin (nee Heffernan), former HM parent and faculty member, passed away on April 27, 2023, a few weeks shy of her 95th birthday. She died peacefully in her apartment on Greystone Avenue in Riverdale, where she had resided since her teenage years. Marie was the only child of Francis and Lillian Heffernan, and came of age during the tumultuous days of the depression and World War II. Her father was a devout Irish Catholic and her mother the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Austria. As a young woman, Marie began pursuing what would become lifetime passions– travel, reading, theater, cinema, popular music, and taking in all of the culture New York had to offer. She initially attended Marymount College and subsequently transferred and graduated with a degree in Psychology from Barnard College. In the early 1950's she met and ultimately married Bill Irwin, an All-American champion swimmer at Rutgers by way of Brooklyn. She had two sons, Billy (Bill Irwin ’74) and Eddie (Ed Irwin ’78), whose happiness and well-being became her life's work and whose accomplishments and families brought her great pride and joy. Marie and Bill separated and eventually divorced, and her loving and generous parents helped with the kids as she began full-time secretarial work at Fieldston School. After getting advice from one of the nuns at St. Gabriel's School that the boys should consider a more academically challenging school, she managed to get both boys admitted to Horace Mann School, secured scholarship funds for them, and then made the life changing move of taking a job at Horace Mann's Lower School as its principal's executive assistant. While, in the short term, this allowed her to take advantage of faculty tuition discounts for the boys, in the long term she made lifelong friendships with many colleagues and even found the time to befriend Tara Casey, a first grade teacher and the future mother of three of her grandchildren. Marie ended up working at Horace Mann for 30 years, mentoring younger colleagues, running a tight ship, and providing a formidable first line of defense for the principal vs difficult parents or recalcitrant teachers. Throughout the 80's and 90's she took advantage of the school calendar by taking overseas trips nearly every summer, usually to exotic place with church groups organized by her close friend and confidant, Father James Griffen. After Bill and Debby purchased a house on Martha's Vineyard, that became her favorite destination, and she spent many happy vacations there with family and friends. After retiring from Horace Mann, she worked part time for a local Riverdale optometrist and settled into her favorite role as "Grandma Ree" a nickname she had decided her grandchildren would call before any of them were even born. A willing baby sitter and later a fixture at every game, school play, or concert she could find, she was a constant presence and positive influence on her five grandkids, Katie, Chris, Eric, Robbie and Charlotte. She loved to spend time with them and they in turn loved their quirky and opinionated Grandma Ree. They will be swapping stories about her for the rest of their lives. Though an only child, Marie had close relationships with her cousins, and was a loyal and lifetime friend to many people from all phases of her life. For friends and family she was someone you could always count on in good times or bad. She wasn't always the easiest person to get along with, and didn't try to be. She would make her feelings known and live with the consequences. But she had a soft heart and an open mind, and served as a great role model for all of us. In the last few years as her health declined and she became increasingly dependent on her family, a funny thing happened. We stopped taking her for granted and began putting her needs first. We spent more quality time with her and came to better appreciate her wisdom and sense of humor. We were fortunate to find three wonderful dedicated women to take care or her around the clock. The family would like to acknowledge and thank Georgia Harris, Avis Clough and especially Sandra Jones for everything they did for us to improve Marie's quality of life and provide peace of mind to the family day after day through some challenging times. It was nice during these final years to hear people constantly tell Marie how lucky she was to have her family taking such good care of her. But in our heart of hearts, we knew they had it backwards – we were the lucky ones. Published by Riverdale-On-Hudson Funeral Home Inc.

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