Amherst

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James C. Lynch ’60 – 10/29/2022

Posted by amherstalumnioffice on March 10, 2023
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James C. Lynch ’60

80, of Gravenhurst, Ontario passed away on Saturday October 29, 2022, peacefully with family at his side. He was born to parents James and Ann, on July 7, 1942, in Buffalo, New York. James graduated from Amherst Central High School and received Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Buffalo State University. He worked for the Trillium Lakelands District School Board as a teacher, Student Services Coordinator and Principal. He married Nancy, the love of his life, in 1965, who survives him. Jim is also survived by his brother Skip and wife Jill, by his son Michael and wife Kirstie, his daughter Krista and husband Mike, and grandchildren Andrew, Brett, Jake, Kyla and Hannah. Jim was predeceased by parents James and Ann, and sister Nancy. Jim was known for his love of badminton, tennis, gardening, music, cooking, singing and spending time with his family. He is a member of the Canadian Badminton Hall of fame and was an International Umpire during several World Championships. His favourite accomplishment was umpiring at the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympic Games and having the opportunity to umpire the Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match in 1996. The Family would like to thank the incredible Dr. Forrester, the staff of Granite Ridge Retirement Residence, the nurses and staff at Bracebridge Memorial Hospital and the truly amazing staff at Andy’s House for their compassion and making Jim comfortable in his final days. The funeral will take place on Saturday November 5th at 1:00pm at the Trinity United Church 290 Muskoka Rd. N, Gravenhurst ON with a reception following the service. In remembrance of Jim’s life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to Andy’s House, Hospice Muskoka who operate primarily on donations. Personal condolences and memories may be shared at www.cavillfuneralhome.com

From brother Waldo “Skip” Lynch ’66:

I wanted to share some memories and accomplishments of my older brother Jim. My brother is in the high school athletic Hall of Fame and he is also in his college athletic Hall of Fame. Both of the these honors were achieved through playing tennis at a very high level.

Excerpt from the Buffalo State Athletics HOF

  • During his college career, Lynch won the singles and doubles competition in the State College
    Tennis Championships for 3 years.
  • Between 1957 and 1965, he won over 100 tennis titles in singles, doubles, and mixed competition.

Jim eventually gave up competitive tennis and concentrated on competitive badminton. This had everything to do with the fact that Nancy , the love of his life, was a competitive badminton player herself, and they could spend more time together.

For a number of years, my brother was ranked and considered one of the best badminton players in the world. He and his partner beat the number one team in the world, on their home court in China, twice. This was when he played on the Canadian national team.

Jim was a champion, tennis player, badminton player, husband, father, grandfather, and brother.

I will miss him very much.

https://buffalostateathletics.com/honors/hall-of-fame/james-c-lynch/89

Original Obituary:

https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/thestar/name/james-lynch-obituary?id=39838174

John “Jack” Davis ’51 – 01/23/2023

Posted by amherstalumnioffice on February 2, 2023
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March 1, 1933 – Jan. 23, 2023

John R. “Jack” Davis knew what it meant to give back to his community – literally and figuratively.

Trained as an engineer while completing his military service, he and a partner parlayed their industrial expertise and entrepreneurial spirit into founding a manufacturing company whose products are still used across the world.

Forty years later, he turned his attention to public service, unsuccessfully running for Congress four times in eight years to represent a district in Buffalo’s eastern suburbs that included Clarence and Newstead. And knowing how he got his own start in business, he gave back to his alma mater that launched his career, with a $5 million donation to University at Buffalo 13 years ago to fund construction of a new building.

He died Jan. 23 after a long illness. He was 89.

“He wanted to leave his legacy,” said his widow, Barbara. “He was kind and helpful to the community.”

Born in Pittsburgh to John R. and Norma Davis, he grew up in Amherst after his father’s employer, Westinghouse, moved his family to Buffalo after World War II. He graduated from Amherst Central High School in 1951.

In a biography posted on his political campaign’s old website, he recalled helping his father change piston rings on a 1935 Ford when he was 12 years old, and bolting a gas motor from a Maytag washing machine on the back of a wagon for his “first go cart” when he was 14.

He wrote that he “did fairly well in math and science,” enough to get into UB’s seven-year-old School of Engineering, where he started in mechanical engineering but switched to industrial, which “turned out to be a smart move” by preparing him for the future. He graduated in 1955, but had already spent four years as a Marine Corps reservist, having signed up while still in high school to meet the “Armed Service Requirement” for men.

He barely avoided the Korean War as his reserve battalion was activated, instead getting deferments to finish high school and then college, while getting officer training in the Marines from 1951 to 1954. “You may have heard stories about the tough training for enlisted Marines – it was tougher for officer training,” he wrote on his political bio. “They took a young boy and made him a man – tough, self-confident and a leader.”

After graduating from UB with a degree in industrial engineering, he still had to meet his military obligation, so he enrolled in Officer Candidate School and joined the Coast Guard, serving as a deck officer until 1958. That’s when he went to work for General Motors Corp.’s Tonawanda foundry, as a maintenance engineer. Three years later, he left and joined Carborundum Co. as a supervising sales engineer overseeing silicon carbide heating elements

He and a fellow engineer, Stan Matys, left Carborundum in 1964 to start their own company, called I Squared R Element Co., which makes silicon carbide and disilicide heating elements and hot surface igniters used in high-temperature electric furnaces and appliances. It’s the only U.S. manufacturer of its products.

(Barbara and Jack Davis Hall on UB’s North Campus in Amherst. | Derek Gee / Buffalo News)

The new firm, which they launched in Davis’ garage with just $20,000, competed against Carborundum and another multi-national company, but was profitable after just six months, while its two rivals were later acquired. Its first customer was Corning Glass Works, enabling it to move to a building in Tonawanda, then to Lancaster, and finally to its current site in Akron, where it employs 90 in 122,000 square feet.

“He loved his work, so it wasn’t work for him,” Barbara Davis said.

From 2004 to 2011, Mr. Davis ran for Congress for New York’s 26th Congressional District as a critic of free-trade policies – three times as a Democrat and once as an independent, including after the resignation of Chris Lee opened up the seat in 2011. He also successfully sued the Federal Election Commission, getting the “millionaires amendment” to the McCain-Feingold Act struck down as unconstitutional because it violated candidates’ First Amendment rights.

In 2010, Mr. Davis and his wife, Barbara, donated $5 million to UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, which named The Barbara and Jack Davis Hall in their honor. He also established an irrevocable trust to ensure that the company wouldn’t be sold and employees’ jobs were safe, and arranged for company profits to be used for scholarships to UB.

Mr. Davis is survived by his third wife of 30 years, Barbara; four sons, Jack, Bob, Al and Ace; two daughters, Jill Josephs and Star Davis; a brother, Don; a sister, Peggy Jacobs; 16 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.

Private services will be held at the convenience of the family.

Original obituary link:

https://buffalonews.com/obituaries/features/john-r-jack-davis-89-industrialist-and-congressional-candidate-who-gave-major-gift-to-ub/article_2a00d80a-a02c-11ed-9dac-ebd1745eef9b.html

Bruce Popper ’69 – 11/23/2022

Posted by amherstalumnioffice on November 30, 2022
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Hilton, New York

October 7, 1951 – November 23, 2022

Obituary

Rochester – Born in October of 1951 in Buffalo NY, Bruce Edward Popper passed away peacefully while surrounded by family on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 after a long and hard fought battle with cancer. He was predeceased by his parents, Clifford and Ethel Popper. He is survived by his loving wife, Barbara Sullivan; their daughter, Dee Dee; his sister-in-law, Judy Gurski; his nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends.

Bruce enjoyed the outdoors and was an avid hiker and backpacker. He carried a harmonica wherever he went and you could often find him jamming in the corner of a blues bar. A union organizer for workers to the end, Bruce spent 45 years fighting the Good Fight. A 1974 graduate of the University of Rochester, he was a member of the Employee Organizing Committee that began 1199 at UR. Bruce started his union career in 1978 as an organizer for 1199 SEIU and retired as a VP in 2019. Over his lifetime of service he served on multiple commissions and boards including Rochester and Monroe Country Racial and Structural Equity Commission, Rochester Health Commission, Rochester Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative Steering Committee and the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Rochester Alliance of Communities Transforming Society (ROC/ACTS), and the Boards of the Health Careers Advancement Project (H-CAP), Healthcare Division Board Service Employees International Union (SEIU), New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Rochester and Genesee Valley Workforce Development Center, Finger Lakes Occupational Health Services, and served as the executive vice president of the Rochester and Vicinity Labor Council (AFL-CIO). He was proud to live in the city that honored Frederick Douglass, his personal hero whom he often referenced in his speeches. Bruce has written and spoken extensively over the years regarding collective bargaining, organizing, advocacy, minority and poverty issues. One of his most cherished possessions is a photograph of his closest union brothers and sisters taken at Frederick Douglass’ grave in Mt. Hope Cemetery. They surprised him with the gift because he had dragged so many of them there for a history lesson over the years. Bruce combined an unparalleled level of duty and devotion with a friendly demeanor marked by empathy and respect for others. He demonstrated that workers are the lifeblood of a community and through them all things are possible.

Thank you to Dr. Mulford and her amazing team at The Wilmot Cancer Institute, and the staff of the Palliative Care Unit at Strong Memorial Hospital for their extraordinary care.

The family will have a “Celebration of Life” gathering for friends and family at a later date. Please check back for updates. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Bruce Popper Memorial Fund at the Rochester Area Community Foundation.

Please feel free to share a memory or leave a condolence.

————–

From WXXI News: https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2022-11-24/longtime-local-labor-leader-bruce-popper-has-died

Longtime local labor leader Bruce Popper has died

A longtime area labor leader has died. Bruce Popper, who was a leader of what is now 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, before he retired a few years ago, died on Wednesday at the age of 71 at Strong Memorial Hospital after a lengthy illness.

Popper’s history with 1199, which represents about 2,600 health care workers in the Rochester area, and approximately 15,000 employees spread across Upstate NY, dates back to the late 1970s when he was hired as an organizer.

After Popper retired as Vice President of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Tracey Harrison was named to that position.

Harrison said that Popper “was always focused on ensuring that workers’ rights were protected.” He said that Popper was an excellent negotiator during contract talks, but said he was always focused on his members.

“How to improve their lives. So whether it was proper health insurance, being able to retire with dignity and respect, pension plans, education opportunities, childcare funds, you name it. Anything that he felt or had seen just from over the years in his research that had an impact on workers, he tried to remove any type of barriers,” said Harrison.

Assemblymember Harry Bronson (D-138), knew Popper well, and talked about him being extremely intelligent, but also very direct when discussing workers’ rights.

Bronson remembered a discussion among local anti-poverty advocates, when Popper distilled the argument being made very concisely.

“So for Bruce, when we were discussing how to address poverty and end poverty for our families, he said, ‘This is simple folks. If you want to end poverty, you have to pay them more so that they can provide for their families.’”

Bronson also said that Popper, “strongly believed that the labor movement was about social justice and fairness.” He said that, “everything (Popper) did was about workers’ rights, but it was bigger than that, it was about social justice.”

Assemblymember Demond Meeks (D-137), who previously worked as an organizer at Local 1199, said that, “While my heart is heavy with the passing of my labor brother, mentor, and friend Bruce Popper, I am truly grateful for the many life lessons I gained from him.” He praised Popper for taking a stand on social justice issues.

MICKEY VANDERLIP (CLASS OF 1957) TIM NOLAN AND GENE STRONG (CLASS OF 1959) | THE TUNE ROCKERS

Posted by amherstalumnioffice on October 5, 2022
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The Tune Rockers

(By Clay Pasternack – Class of 1968) Amherst High School has long been a source for successful and talent people in the entertainment world (television, movie, radio, and recording). Buffalo’s first Rock N Roll band to achieve success was the Eggertsville-based group, the Tune Rockers. Group members Tim Nolan (bass), Gene Strong (guitar), and Fred Patton (guitar) were from the Eggertsville area, and along with Mickey Vanderlip (drums) and Johnny Cappello (saxophone). The group was formed in 1956 and continued to perform until 1960. Mickey, Tim and Gene attended Amherst High School, with Mickey Graduating in 1957, Tim graduating in 1959, and Gene’ family moved, where he transferred to Sweet Home High School in September 1958, and graduated from there in 1959.

In 1958, the group record an instrumental song named “The Green Mosquito” named for the unique sound created from Gene’s guitar sounded like a mosquito (Gene played a green colored electric) guitar, hence the name “The Green Mosquito”. Because of the current success of the novelty song “The Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley, the song title was a play on the name of the existing hit record. The group was managed by Dick Lawrence, who was the program director of WKBW Radio, who had (around that time) recently changed formats to the extremely successful “Top 40” Radio format (July 4, 1958). Lawrence arranged for United Artists to release the single once it was recorded. The song reached the WKBW Top 30 survey the week of August 2, 1958, entering at #28, peaked at #4, staying in the KB top 10 for 6 weeks for a 10-week run. Most important, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on August 25, 1958, peaking at #44 the week of September 22 1958, also for a 10-week run. The songwriting credits for “The Green Mosquito” were credited to WKBW staff members Art Wander (a fixture on the Buffalo music scene for years) and Art Roberts (later a very popular air personality at WLS in Chicago and other markets)

On September 13, 1958, the group appeared on the Dick Clark Saturday Night “Beechnut Show” in New York City. That night the Tune Rockers were the opening and closing act on the show. They shared the show with two current acts heading for stardom: Fabian and (a star many years later) Johnny Nash. The following week they appeared live on the daytime format of “American Bandstand” in Philadelphia. As the record gained momentum across the country, radio station people were introducing the single, and paying tribute to their local origins, as “The Eggertsville Boys”

‘The timing of the success of “The Green Mosquito” was perfect, as the impact of WKBW Radio on both the local area and along the Eastern Seaboard of the US (as well as Canada) became very apparent to the music industry. The changeover to the Top 40 format allowed many people to hear music that may not have already been programmed by other local and regional stations, having far reaching effect on promoting hit songs across the country. As instrumental songs became more popular at this time and continued to do so for many years, The Western New York connect was very apparent. Such records as “Rockin’ Crickets” by the Hot Toddies, The (Rockin’) Rebels AKA The Buffalo Rebels, not to mention the vocal group records “Ballad of a Boy and a Girl” by the Graduates came from the area.

Unfortunately, all but one of the original members of the Tune Rockers is still alive. Mickey is currently living in Boca Raton, Florida, Tim Nolan passed away in late 2019 and just recently, Gene Strong passed away this September (2022). The Tune Rockers were inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 2012, joining Amherst High School alumni John Boylan (1959), Eric Andersen (1961), Andy Kulberg (1962), Jim Ralston (1968),Tom Hambridge (1979), and Chris Trapper (1986).

Our thanks to Rich Sargent of the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame (also an ACHS alumni) and Bob Skurzewski, noted music and record industry historian and author, for their assistance and contributions to this document.

The Green Mosquito – YouTube Videos:

Arthur Richard (Dick) Franz `49 – 03/19/2022

Posted by amherstalumnioffice on August 26, 2022
Posted in: News, Obituaries. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Arthur Richard (Dick) Franz, Age 91 went to be with the Lord peacefully at his home on March 19, 2022. He was Born on December 1, 1930 in Buffalo, NY to Ethel Beanard and A. Richard Franz Sr.

Along with his Parents, He is preceded in death by his sister, Jane (Mac) Mackenzie, In laws, Helen (Hoak) Russell W. Porter, Sister-in-Law, Maryanne Porter, Daughter, Sharon Leslie Marie Franz, Son, William Richard (Susan) Franz, Grandson’s Adam Michael Franz and Jaxon Martin McGee.

He leaves behind his High School Sweetheart, Loving, Adoring and Devoted wife of 70 years, Joanne Leatrice Porter Franz. Three blessed children, Gretchen (Jeffrey) Harmon, Russell (AnnMarie) Franz and Katrina (Steven) Spring. 11 Grandchildren, Amy (John) McGee, William (Emily) Franz Jr., Jessica Franz, Carrie (Jeffrey) Stann, Pamela (Jeromy) Fincher, Jordan Franz, Connor Franz, Randall (Kristen) Spring, Katelynn (Christopher) Smith and Kristina (Mark) George Jr. 34 Great Grand Children and 1 Great-Great Grand Daughter. Sister-in-law Linda (Raymond) Braun, many cousins, nieces and nephews and very dear lifelong friends.

Richard served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War and was a very proud Veteran.

Richard attended Amherst CSD, GCC, SUNY Brockport and Canton University to earn his degree and retired in 1995 from the Batavia City School District as the Schools Psychologist. A position he held with extreme devotion to the students he worked with every day.

Dick and Jo together were members of the Victims Assistance Program in Genesee County as they helped many families with their grief and loss of their loved ones. He also served on the Genesee County Conditional Release Program and served on the Town of Darien Tax Review Board.

Dick and Jo made their home in Darien for the past 65 years. Richard enjoyed life and brought so much joy to so many. His infectious smile, humor, gentleness, compassion, and love was very deep and most sincere. He always found his way into people’s hearts.

The family wishes to express a special thanks for the care and love shown by the staff at Johnny’s Angels for the past few years. Dr. Mary Obear and her staff for the kindness and care to assistance in his journey. Jeromy Fincher, (Grandson in law) for his devotion, dedication, and care for Dad.

Private service will be held for immediate family only.   

Arrangements were made by C. B. Beach & Son Mortuary, Inc., Corfu, New York.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/buffalonews/name/arthur-franz-obituary?id=33808602