Jordan M. Young 

Jordan M. Young, born September 25, 1920, died peacefully in his apartment in Middlebury, Vermont on July 21, 2016. His most recent trip to Brazil, in May and June of this year, capped his 75-year career in the study of Brazilian politics and history. Born in New York City, he first visited Brazil in 1941, arriving just before the U.S. entry into World War II. Unable to return to the U.S. because of war travel restrictions, he continued his studies at the University of São Paulo, worked as a rural sociologist in the Amazon, and helped organize Brazilian rubber workers to support the war effort. While in Belem at the mouth of the Amazon he met Dionir de Souza Gomes. After a stint as a civilian in the Armed Services Forces Language Unit he served in the U.S. Army from 1943-45.

He completed his undergraduate studies through the G.I. bill at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1946. He was the first recipient of the Dougherty Fellowship for the study of Chile, and did research there in 1947 and 1948. On the way there, he once again ran into Dionir, this time in Rio de Janeiro. In 1949 he received a U.S. State Department research fellowship in Brazil. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1950 he was invited to study for his PhD at the Graduate School at Princeton University. It was in Princeton in 1952 that he and Dionir were married — a partnership that lasted 62 years, until her death in 2014.

After a brief period in investment banking in Brazil and as a chemical plant manager in Venezuela in 1956, Jordan settled into his life-long role as “Professor Young” at Pace University in New York, where he taught courses on U.S. history, Caribbean history and culture, and Brazilian history, culture, and politics. He and Dionir lived in Princeton for 55 years, where they were hosts and surrogate parents to generations of Brazilians who passed through Princeton University.

Frequently during his teaching career he invited political leaders to address his classes via long-distance telephone, leading to long-running associations with Prime Minister Michael Manley of Jamaica and Governor Carlos Lacerda in Rio de Janeiro. The latter led to the naming of an elementary school in Rio de Janeiro as the “Escola Pace.” In the 1980’s, in an effort to create links between Brazilian entrepreneurs and the financial markets in New York, he founded the Brazilian-American Business Institute, affiliated with Pace University. Later in the 1980’s he co-hosted a series of seminars around Brazil on environmental law, in conjunction with the Pace University Environmental Law program. In 2014 he was the recipient of the Rodolfo Lima Martensen Medal of Honor from the Escola Superior Propaganda e Marketing in São Paulo, Brazil.

He was the author of three books on Brazil, including Brazil 1954-1964: End of a Civilian Cycle, which was widely read in Brazil as one of the first books to provide historical perspective on the rise of the military government in 1964. His memoir, Lost in the Stars of the Southern Cross: The Making of a Brazilianist, was published in 2014.

His interest in travel never abated. In the last years of his life he traveled to Hawaii, Cuba, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, and Brazil (several times), as well as the Canadian Maritimes, the Canadian Rockies, and Alaska. Whether speaking Portuguese or English, he had an extraordinary ability to connect with people. It was the unusual person with whom he could not find something in common after a few minutes of conversation, and he formed life-long friendships in places as unlikely as the Princeton-to-New York commuter train. After moving to Middlebury in 2013 he created a place for himself as the senior member of the small community of those with ties to Brazil in his area, as well as creating a network of relationships at the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society and Eastview at Middlebury.

Jordan is survived by his son Jordan M. Young II, daughter-in-law Margaret Levine Young, grandchildren Margaret V. Young and Christopher Isaac Young, and many nieces and nephews in Brazil. He was predeceased by his sister Annette Young Regal and wife Dionir. Donations may be made in his memory to the Jordan M. Young Sr. Trust, which will provide educational opportunities for those in Brazil or studying about Brazil (1042 Ridge Rd, Middlebury VT 05753). A memorial service will be held in the fall at the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society in Middlebury, Vermont. Interment will be in Princeton, also in the fall.

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Gloria Lerner Tener

Gloria Lerner Tener, 78, passed away on August 7, 2016 at Stonebridge at Montgomery in Skillman, after struggling with dementia for several years.

Gloria was born in Buffalo, N.Y. and graduated from the Elmwood Franklin School before graduating from the Buffalo Seminary in 1955 and Vassar College in 1959. She married Barry Korman shortly after graduation and they lived in Buffalo; West Hartford, Conn.; Dallas, Tex.; Winnetka, Ill; and Rochester, N.Y. before moving to Maplewood, N.J. in 1975. She had two children, Heidi Beth Sloss and Tracy Korman. She was active in the League of Women Voters and equal housing efforts when her children were young.

Gloria, who moved to Princeton in 1985, began working as a labor mediator with the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission in 1976 and retired as the director of conciliation after 25 years of State service in 2000. In retirement, she participated in several volunteer activities including being a docent at Grounds for Sculpture.

She is survived by her husband, Jeffrey B. Tener, of 25 years as well as her two children and four grandchildren, Dakin Sloss and Kamala Sloss, and Milo Korman and Sylvie Korman.

A private celebration of her life will be held at a later date.