Conrad Kiesel, retired Amherst Central Schools teacher at Junior High.
KIESEL – Conrad P. June 5, 2019, age 89. Beloved husband of Margaret M. (nee Reidy) Kiesel; loving father of Mimi Smigielski, Kathleen K. Flemming, Peter C. (Susan), Mary Beth, Molly and Peggy Kiesel; cherished grandfather of John, Kristen, Mindy (Tim), Jimmy, Emily (Jack), Katie, Matthew and Kathryn; caring brother of Virginia (late Vincent) Shary, Sr. Marcell Kiesel, OSF and the late Sr. Celia Kiesel, OSF and Anthony (Patricia) Kiesel; also survived by nieces and nephews. The family will be present on Friday from 4-7 PM at the (Harris Hill Chapel) AMIGONE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 8440 Main Street, Clarence, where Funeral Services will follow at 7 PM. Friends invited. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Conrad’s name to the Harris Hill Volunteer Fire Company. Share condolences at www.AMIGONE.com
Joan M. Light, a financial planner and wife of former editor and vice president of The Buffalo News Murray B. Light, died Tuesday in her home in Buffalo. She was 89.
The former Joan Marie Cottrell was born in Buffalo. She was a 1946 graduate of Amherst Central High School and attended the University of Buffalo and the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she studied marketing.
“Mom was somebody who was a very smart, sharp, witty person,” said her son, Jeff Light, who is publisher and editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“And opinionated,” added her daughter, Laura Light Arbogast, for many years a medieval scholar at Harvard University, cataloging ancient manuscripts in the Houghton Library.
“She was very politically educated. Really, the whole household was. We were people who argued at the dinner table,” Light Arbogast said.
“I think she was known in many circles. At a time when women weren’t supposed to say what they thought, she was not overshadowed by my dad. She had her own opinions and she wasn’t intimidated by other people. She said she knew what she believed in and she was very happy to argue in a public way, though, politely. I mean, she was also a lady,” Light Arbogast added.
While she was willing to be outspoken, her children said their mother projected an air of elegance and being fashionable.
Mrs. Light met her future husband, Murray Light, not long after he came to Buffalo from Brooklyn in the late 1940s, according to Jeff Light.
Out on a blind date, they went bowling, he said. They were married in 1954.
Jeff Light said his mother started out as an accountant for a couple of small firms. In 1984, Mrs. Light – by then a certified financial planner – became a tax analyst for Sovran Self Storage, now Life Storage, a real estate investment trust in Williamsville. Previously, she had been a senior tax specialist with Main Hurdman accountants.
In 1987, Mrs. Light was promoted to vice president of operations and investor relations for the firm. She retired in 1996.
In 1986, she was elected president of the Western New York Chapter of the International Association for Financial Planning.
She was a Buffalo Club member and served on the board of the American Red Cross Western New York Chapter.
“She was a very good golfer. She belonged for years to the Wanakah Country Club in Hamburg,” said Jeff Light. “She also was a really good bridge player.”
Her husband, who rose through the ranks at The News as swing editor, assistant makeup editor, assistant news editor, news editor and managing editor for news, was promoted to editor in 1979, a post he held until he retired in 1999. He died in 2011.
Another daughter, Lee Light Monier, a supervising nurse for blood collection for the American Red Cross, died in 2003.
Survivors, in addition to her son and daughter, include six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
A memorial Mass will be offered at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 16 in St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, 160 Court St.
By Anne Neville Buffalo News |Published|Michael Wesley Collins took just one or two community college computer classes, but became a highly skilled software architect, innovator and entrepreneur, his family said.
He had seriously studied yoga for just about a decade. But after immersing himself in the practice, he soon became a talented practitioner and teacher, traveling the world to share and learn yoga.
But he will be best remembered for the charismatic personality that enabled him to connect easily and deeply with people, said his family.
Mr. Collins, of Buffalo, died unexpectedly in the home of friends near Rochester, with whom he was staying, on Jan. 9, 2019, after a long struggle with mental illness. He was 40.
He was born April 3, 1978, in Buffalo. His family moved around during his childhood, said his younger sister, Christine Collins-Schwinger, but they settled in Amherst, where Mr. Collins graduated in 1996 from Amherst Central High School.
He studied biology at Binghamton University, where he belonged to the Binghamton Crosbys, an all-male a cappella group. In 1998, he performed with the group at Carnegie Hall in the National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. He graduated from Binghamton in 2000.
After graduation, Mr. Collins lived in New York and North Carolina with Kristy Miller, who would become his wife and the mother of his children. In North Carolina, his sister said, “he took just one or two software programming classes in a community college, then he decided that’s what he wanted to do and sort of built up his career.”
After they married, they returned to Buffalo, and Mr. Collins began working at LocalNet around 2003. After a few years, he took a job at Synacor Inc., where he spent more than seven years as a software architect.
“He was brilliant, and such a fast learner when he decided he was going to learn something,” said his sister.
Mr. Collins earned an MBA from the University at Buffalo in 2008.
In 2014, he worked with Sean Parker on the video chat platform Airtime, and in 2015, he worked as an independent contractor for PayPal.
Mr. Collins took a yoga class in college, then became an avid yogi around 2009, said his sister. In a short time, “He became a yoga master,” she said. He studied for years with world-renowned prana vinyasa practitioner Shiva Rea and branched out into other types of yoga. “He was so proficient,” said Collins-Schwinger.
He made many trips to Mexico, and also visited Nepal, India, Indonesia and Thailand to explore, experience and practice yoga, his family said. He also taught yoga classes in Buffalo, Bali and Thailand, among other places he visited. He returned home in October 2018 after his final trip, which was to Israel, his sister said.
Mr. Collins was an avid dancer who often posted videos of himself on social media, said Collins-Schwinger. “He would sing to anybody,” said his sister. “He was a world traveler, and sometimes he would just get out his ukulele and sing to the people who were around him.”
He was open to new ideas and loved to learn new things, said his family. “He was incredibly charismatic and charming,” his sister said.
Mr. Collins was deeply spiritual, founding and leading the “Church of One Divine Love: The Church of Unity Under One God of Love,” which was tied to his yoga practice.
“He will be missed,” his family said.
Besides his sister, Mr. Collins is survived by a daughter, Anna; two sons, Drew and Bailey; his mother, Mary Collins Sanborn; and his stepfather, Robert Sanborn.
A memorial service will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday in Central Park United Methodist Church, 216 Beard Ave. Memorials may be made to Central Park United Methodist Church or the Mental Health Advocates of Western New York.
GARDNER – William H. January 7, 2019, of Williamsville, NY. Son of the late William and Diane Gardner; “surrogate son” of Micheline Hice; loving brother of Kenneth (Katherine) Gardner; beloved uncle of Lindsay (Daniel) Wright and Hannah Gardner; great-uncle of Adrianna and Scarlett Wright; also survived by cousins and many close friends. Family and Friends are invited to attend visitation on Friday, from 6:30-7:30PM, immediately followed by a celebration of life service at Randall Church, 6301 Main St., Williamsville. Bill was a great lover of family, friends, fishing and funny stories. Please share your condolences online at: www.denglerrobertspernafuneral.com.
December 10, 2018. Beloved wife of Gary H.; dear mother of Chris (Wendy), James (Elizabeth), and Jonathan (Teresa) Runckel; dear grandmother of Haley, Victoria, David, Matthew, and Samantha. Friends may call Saturday, December 22, 8:30 am- 9:30 am, at the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 4007 Main St., Eggertsville, where a memorial service will follow at 9:30 AM. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of WNY.
Tiger Tracks 