John Frederick Bernard

John Frederick Bernard, longtime insurance executive and ice hockey enthusiast, often described as “Mr. Hockey,” died on Friday, January 12, 2018 at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. He was 94 years old and a longtime Princeton resident.

Born in 1923 in Cambridge, Mass., Mr. Bernard grew up in Wellesley Hills, Mass. where he enjoyed playing ice hockey and other sports. He attended Wellesley High School and graduated from Exeter Academy in 1943. He served in the U.S. Army with the 20th Armored Division in Europe for two years before attending Princeton University where he played varsity hockey and lacrosse and was a member of Tiger Inn.

After graduating from Princeton in 1949, Mr. Bernard began working as a special agent for the Phoenix Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn. After several years, he and Mel Dickenson, a Princeton classmate whom he had known at Exeter, decided to start their own firm, MP Dickenson, which began in Philadelphia and later moved to Princeton. In 1958 they merged it with the firm owned by H.C. (“Cobbles”) Sturhahn to become Sturhahn, Dickenson, and Bernard or SDB.

Mr. Bernard was married in 1952 to Peggy Donahue, who grew up in Vermont. They lived in Montclair, N.J. for several years before moving to Princeton in 1958. As his two sons reached the age at which they could skate, he founded Pee Wee Hockey, based at the University’s Baker Rink. Modeled on the Youth Hockey Program he started in Montclair in 1957, the program grew from 20 boys the first winter to nearly 200 and was the subject of feature stories in Boys Life magazine and the New York Times.

In addition to his administrative duties for the program, Mr. Bernard coached and served as a referee for 15 years. Later he wrote two stories about ice hockey for children, “The Mouse Who Lived at Baker Rink” and “Ballerina on Ice.”

Mr. Bernard served as a member of the board of the Lawrenceville School’s boy’s hockey tournament for many years. In 1973, having helped get the women’s hockey program started at Princeton, he was named the first coach of the University’s Women’s Hockey Team. As a hockey referee he was a member of the National Ice Hockey Officials Association. He also refereed lacrosse.

Mr. Bernard provided insurance coverage to USA Hockey and played a major role in its growth. He was founding director of the US Hockey Hall of Fame and host of the Swedish hockey team at the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. He was also host to various Soviet Union hockey teams that visited America in the 1980s.

In 1987 he was co-director of the European Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament played in Russia. In 1989 he hosted the Norwegian Women’s ice hockey team in a series with USA women that was played in Princeton. He was also involved in the 2001 World’s Ice Hockey Championship held in Russia.

Mr. Bernard was inducted in the first class of honorees of the Atlantic District of the USA Hockey Hall of Fame. In addition, he received a certificate and trophy from USA Hockey for 30 years of service and was also honored at a dinner for his many years of service to the Lawrenceville Invitational Hockey Tournament.

In addition to his travels in connection with hockey, Mr. Bernard and his wife enjoyed visiting India and other places around the world. Sailing, skiing, and enjoying the outdoors at their summer home in remote Washington, Vt. were important pastimes as was attending opera at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

Artwork, consisting of painted cutouts applied to wood, creating religious icons that he gave to friends at Christmas or making wall plaques of three-dimensional ship models, was a major hobby in retirement. An exhibit of his artwork was shown at the Nassau Club, where he was a 50 year member. One piece of artwork, entitled “Wind in the Willows’ was displayed at Rat’s restaurant at the Grounds For Sculpture, Trenton, NJ. His artwork was also on display in his garage, which he called his museum.

Predeceased by his wife Peggy, he is survived by his daughter, Shelley Bernard Kuussalo of Louisville, Ky.; and two sons, Jay Bernard of Princeton and Peter Bernard of Staunton, Va. He is also survived by six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Interment will be in Vermont at the convenience of the family.

Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.

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Leonard Blank

Leonard Blank, 90, of Princeton, New Jersey, passed away at home surrounded by loved ones. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1927, he was the son of Sam and Molly Bernstein Blank. Leonard was married to Bernice Bukar Blank who passed away in 1991. He is survived by his three children, Jordan and Lyda Blank, and Rona Blank Rundle; and two grandchildren, Asa and Julian Rundle.

Leonard Blank was a significant member of the professional psychological community. He was certified in Psychoanalysis 1968, postdoctoral Fellow in Clinical Psychology at Stanford University 1955, PhD in Clinical Research at NYU 1955, Diplomate in Clinical Psychology, licensed MFT, and President of Princeton Association of Human Resources. Dr Blank was an Adjunct Professor at Union Graduate School — Antioch College, Associate Professor — Rutgers University, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Chief of Psychological Services — Stanford Medical School. Dr Blank was President of the NJ Group Psychotherapy Association in 1974 and a long-standing member of the APA in New Jersey and New York. Dr. Blank was in private practice in New York City, Kingston, and Princeton, New Jersey. He authored innumerable publications, texts including The Age of Shrinks, Psychology for Everyday Living, and Change: Components of Behavioral Modification, and novels including The Diogenes Group and Chinese Paper.

A private gathering to celebrate Leonard Blank’s memory was held in his home.

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Dr. Judith Elaine Mikeal Gross

After almost three years living with advanced lung cancer, Dr. Judith Elaine Mikeal Gross died peacefully and surrounded by family in her home in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 8, 2017 at the age of 76. She is survived by her daughter, Rosa Mikeal Martey, son-in-law, Nii Martey, granddaughter, Rowan Martey, and brother, Stephen Mikeal. Judith’s love, support, and boundless wisdom will be deeply missed.

Judith was born in High Coal, West Virginia in 1941 to Ruth Petty and Frank D. Mikeal. High Coal was one of the many “coal camps” of the region — towns created and run by coal companies in the first half of the 20th century — where her father worked as a miner for Anchor Coal Company. After attending Maryville College in Tennessee (BA, ‘63), she attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (MA, ‘65), where she wrote her thesis on a series of previously undiscovered letters to and from the labor union leader “Mother Jones.” She went on to be one of the first women to get a PhD in economics at Princeton University in 1975.

Judith and her husband Graham Gross lived on Cleveland Lane in Princeton for over 30 years. Judith was a member of Trinity Church, where she supported her daughter’s choral singing and was a devoted member of the Trinity book club. She also taught English as a second language for the Princeton Y.M.C.A. for many years.

Judith and Graham were active participants in the Civil Rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and Judith worked for the “Poor People’s Campaign” of the Southern Poverty Law Center, organized by Martin Luther King in 1968. Although she and her husband attended fewer rallies, sit-ins, and protests after the birth of their daughter in 1970, Judith never stopped wearing her Birkenstocks.

Judith was an avid reader and a dedicated diarist. She left over 60 years’ worth of near-daily writings chronicling her day-to-day life from age 15 onward. She lived a life full of enduring curiosity, learning, and kindness that she shared with all those she encountered.

And she was proud to be a coal miner’s daughter.

Services will be held at Trinity Church in Princeton on Saturday, February 10th at 1 p.m. All are welcome.

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Robert Greiff

Robert Greiff, 92, of Princeton, died January 15, 2018, at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. He was born in New York City, June 15, 1925, to Victor and Fannie Ferbstein Greiff, who predeceased him. He also was predeceased by his aunt, Helen Greiff, who raised him.

He grew up in Belle Harbor and Neponsit, New York. He graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnical High School in 1942 and served in the United States Navy from 1942 until 1945. He graduated from Columbia College with the class of 1946 and received a Master’s degree from Columbia Engineering School in 1951. Robert worked for the Curtiss-Wright Corp. in New York, Chicago, and Princeton. He then spent several years with Electronics Associates Inc. in Princeton before becoming a partner in Management Advisors of Princeton, an executive-recruiting firm. He retired in 1995.

Robert is survived by his loving wife, Constance Greiff, of Princeton; son James and his wife Beatriz of New York City; son Peter of Madrid; and three grandchildren, Rachel, Samuel, and Lara. He brought joy, humor, and love to those who knew him. He was a gentle and kind soul, and for many years he was a fixture on the Delaware-Raritan Canal towpath, walking a series of much-loved dogs. He will be much missed, but never forgotten. A memorial service will be held in February.

Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.

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Memorial Service Announcement

The McClure family welcomes our friends to a gathering in memory of Donald McClure on Saturday morning, March 10 at 10 o’clock in the Princeton University Chapel.