Carol Hollander
July 17, 1946 — August 13, 2021

For those who knew me and those whose lives I have touched.

I was born into a big Italian family. The date was July 17, 1946. My blue eyes caused quite a stir, and I rose like a bright star in the hearts of my loving parents, Lena and Eugene Martinelli. The stories and history that ran through my family shaped the person I would become. Even now as I write this, I can fall back all those years to big family dinners, raucous weddings, and simple days at the Italian Club watching the old men play bocce ball on perfectly sculpted courts. There was a sense of community, connection, a shared history, and a passion for life that has informed my entire being. I loved school from the beginning, and by the age of 8 knew I wanted to be a teacher. My brother Paul, who is six years younger than I, can attest to my early awakening to a passion for teaching when, as a precocious 10-year-old, I would make him sit at a desk for hours as I honed my skills.

I found many joys as a teen, including theater and cheerleading, culminating in the beginning of a relationship with Michael, who was to become my husband and partner of almost 60 years. I the cheerleader captain and he the captain of the football team, my own personal fairy tale. I attended William Paterson College and graduated with honors in 1968 with a B.S in Education, followed a number of years later by an M.S. in Speech Pathology at California State University Fullerton.

What followed was a 43-year career in teaching, where I found all I could have ever hoped for in a profession, as well as a group of lifelong friends whom I love and respect to this day. I held each student who passed through my classroom as a precious and unique individual deserving of my full attention and respect and of the opportunity to grow into a competent and curious adult. As co-president of the Teacher’s Union, I help lead the union through some difficult and important milestones in the history of the school district, with results that reflected my deep commitment to the profession and my belief in the importance of education to the fabric of every culture.

Along the way, we were blessed with the arrival of our son Jason, who would grow to become an accomplished and compassionate doctor and who with his wife Sarah blessed us in turn with our granddaughters Alex and Jesse. Watching those girls grow into beautiful, kind, and competent young women has been nothing short of extraordinary and life-affirming. I know they will continue to bless the world with their presence.

Throughout my life I traveled far and wide, climbed a few mountains, toured Alaska, parts of Europe, and much of the continental United States and Canada on a motorcycle and was blessed with abundant gifts of a well-lived life.  In the end my biggest joys came from family and from my lifelong quest to bring people together whenever it was in my power to do so. I leave this world with a big thank you and with gratitude to all those who have blessed me with their presence and friendship throughout my life. Now I make room for another to be blessed by the gifts of life. May they find as much joy and fulfillment as I have.

In lieu of flowers please send contributions to the MDS Foundation, 4573 South Broad Street, Suite 150, Yardville, NJ 08620. And please consider donating blood to the Red Cross. The gifts of being a blood donor are remarkable.

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Marguerite Kovalakides

Marguerite Kovalakides, 89, a lifelong resident of Princeton, passed away on Tuesday, August 10, 2021. She was a member of Girl Scout Troop 1 of Princeton and graduated from Princeton High School in 1949. She was the longest full-time employee at the Firestone Library at Princeton University. She was an avid fan of the Mets and NY Rangers and also enjoyed knitting.

Predeceased by her parents James and Eva (Mavericos) Kovalakides and sister Anna K. Miller, she is survived by her brother Nick Kovalakides of Bradenton, FL; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

A memorial service will be held at a later date at Princeton Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the Princeton First Aid Squad, 2 Mt. Lucas Road., Princeton, NJ 08540.

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

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Dr. Leonard M. Moss

1927-2021

Dr. Leonard M. Moss died on August 3 at his home in Princeton, NJ, at the age of 94.  He was born in Brooklyn, and he lived and worked in New York until he moved to Princeton in the early 1990s.

From 1943-45, he attended Columbia University, where he was an outstanding student and an editor of the undergraduate newspaper. He served in the Navy during 1945-46, and following his honorable discharge, he continued his education at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, receiving his MD degree in 1951. He also received a Certificate in Psychoanalytic Medicine from the Columbia Psychoanalytic Center, where he was a collaborating psychiatrist for many years. He was Board Certified in Psychiatry and Neurology and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He was also a member of the Task Force on Psychiatry and Industry for the American Psychiatric Association, and one of the founding members of the Academy of Organizational and Occupational Psychiatry.

Early in his career, Dr. Moss conducted groundbreaking research on the treatment of patients in suicidal crisis, resulting in his publication of a paper, “The Psychotherapy of the Suicidal Patient,” in April 1956, as well as several subsequent publications on that topic. As a result of his work in this area, the New York City Board of Corrections engaged him as a consultant on the relationship between the suicidal behavior of inmates and the overcrowded prison environment.

In addition to treating individual patients, Dr. Moss became a pioneer in the field of occupational psychiatry, which led to his becoming the psychiatric consultant to the medical department of the Mobil Corporation. In that capacity, he started working with other Mobil physicians to understand and solve systemic workplace problems, such as how to prevent the depression experienced by Mobil’s fleet of sea captains as they approached the age of 40.

In 1970, he became Mobil management’s in-house consultant on matters of organizational stress.  Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, he developed Mobil’s plan to help avoid stress and depression among the 1,400 workers stationed in the North Sea while building and working on an 88-story high oil platform, the largest in the world at that time.  He did much of his work on-site in Norway or at the North Sea platform, enduring frequent, hazardous helicopter flights ferrying him to and from the platform. 

In 1987, in partnership with his second wife, Dr. Muriel Moss, he formed The Human Effectiveness Group, which provided stress management programs for corporations, and coaching and career development for their executives. Their clients included companies such as American Express, First Data Corporation, Western Union, and RJR Nabisco, at locations in the United States, London, Paris, and Vienna.

Leonard Moss authored numerous articles, chapters, and volumes throughout his career, including Management Stress (1981), a volume in the Addison-Wesley Series on Occupational Stress, which focused on managing depression and violence in the workplace and the role of the psychiatrist in industry. After retiring in 2005, he wrote a memoir called Managing Stress in Times of Uncertainty, published in 2012. At the time of his death, he was working on a book on psychiatry and aging.

In addition to his professional career, Leonard Moss was an avid art collector and supporter of the arts, particularly of printmaking. He first acquired prints of scenes of New York City, but quickly expanded to acquire work by many of the most important artists working in prints. His close friends included artists like the extraordinary artist and art teacher Will Barnet, and he became involved in promoting the discipline of prints in contemporary art, both through his involvement in the New York Print Club, of which he was a longtime president, and his years as the first co-chair (with his wife Muriel) of the Advisory Council of the Rutgers University Institute for Print and Paper, now the Brodsky Center. He and Muriel Moss presided over the transition of the print center to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where it continues to publish new editions by significant diverse artists.

Throughout the past decade, he was also active and served in a leadership role in the Princeton Community Without Walls, an organization that helps aging people continue to live in their homes.

Twice a widower, Dr. Moss was married to Ruth Moss from 1950 until her death in 1987, and is survived by three children from his first marriage. He was later married to Dr. Muriel Vogel Moss from 1989 until her death in 2020, and is survived by three step-children: Laura Vogel (Barry Farber), David Vogel, and Rob Vogel (Bonnie Malkin); five step-grandchildren: Jason Farber, Steven Farber, Rebecca Vogel, Claire Vogel, and Jack Vogel; and three step-great-grandchildren.

A memorial service was held on Wednesday, August 18. Contributions in his memory may be given to the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.

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Lena Chang Sheeran

Lena Chang Sheeran peacefully passed away in the early hours of August 13th at home surrounded by her loving family. Far more than an award-winning actuary and co-founder of both CURE and NJ PURE, she was a dedicated colleague, mentor, and friend.

Born in Yuen Nan, Xiang Yuen, China, Dr. Chang came to the United States at the age of 16. As a young woman, she broke barriers, earning a bachelor’s degree in physics at age 19 and doctorate in mathematics from the University of Illinois by the age of 23. Her career spanned decades in which she founded Massachusetts Employers Insurance Exchange in Boston, MA (now, A.I.M. Mutual) before moving to New Jersey where she and her late husband and former New Jersey insurance commissioner, James J. Sheeran, co-founded CURE Auto Insurance and NJ PURE medical malpractice insurance. She also founded both Chang & Company and Silver Rock Solutions throughout her storied career.

Dr. Chang proudly received a number of awards over the years, including the prestigious Clifford D. Spangler Award by the American Risk and Insurance Association in recognition of for her highly regarded article and theorem on rating and risk evaluation in 1989. She also received the Golden Door Award from the International Institute of New England, honoring a U.S. citizen of foreign birth who has made outstanding contributions to American society. A strong proponent of education, she shared her knowledge with others, holding professorial positions at several universities and serving as an assistant dean at Temple University School of Business. In 2009, she was invited to join the China Center for Insurance and Risk Management (CCIRM) as a member of its advisory board for a three-year term.

Beyond her memorable work, Dr. Chang enjoyed the arts. She was on the Board of Trustees of the renowned McCarter Theatre in Princeton for many years and supported the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra as the American Friend of the Choir, for which she was invited to a dinner hosted by HRH Prince of Wales at the Buckingham Palace in May of 2017. Dr. Chang also enjoyed playing golf, creating jewelry, meeting people, and traveling, especially her cherished visits to Jamaica. Yet, she valued nothing more than spending time with her family. 

Dr. Chang made a difference in the lives of so many. Those who had the great fortune of knowing her will forever remember her strength, ethics, and loyalty. She will be missed dearly but not forgotten.

Daughter of the late Hai Ping Chang and Zi Ruai Kwan, wife of the late James J. Sheeran, sister of the late C.S. Chang, she is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Audrey Poe Knox and Campbell Knox; son Eric Poe; brother and two sisters-in-law Thomas and Monica  Chang, Alice Chang; five grandchildren Eibhleann G. Knox, James Riordan Knox, Mikayla J. Poe, Madison R. Poe, and Mason R. Poe; cousins Shen and Mary Shey, CH and Carol Liu; and many nieces and nephews.

The Funeral will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, August 23, 2021 from the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Avenue, Princeton.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 216 Nassau Street, Princeton.

Entombment will be Tuesday, August 24, 2021 at 10 a.m. in St. Catharine’s Cemetery, Sea Girt.

Friends may call on Sunday, August 22, 2021 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to homefrontnj.org in memory of Dr. Lena Chang.