This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Cyrus Stoner Fleck of Bethlehem, Pa., the oldest living alumnus of Lafayette College, marked his 100th birthday by announcing Sunday (Feb. 14) that he is making a commitment of $100,000 to his alma mater in support of financial aid for student-athletes.
Actually Fleck’s 100th birthday is Monday, February 15. But he wanted to announce his gift during a ceremony in his honor at the College’s Kirby Field House prior to the Lafayette men’s basketball game vs. Patriot League rival Lehigh. Fleck has attended many hundreds of Lafayette athletic events, including more than 500 basketball games and more than 70 Lafayette vs. Lehigh football games, the nation’s most played college football rivalry.
Fleck, a member of Lafayette’s Class of 1920, has been active presence on campus for more than three-quarters of a century. This includes serving as a member of the board of trustees for 47 years before becoming Trustee Emeritus in May 1997.
Fleck was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Laws degree by Lafayette in 1976. In 1979 he received the Joseph E. Bell ’28 Alumni Distinguished Service Award, presented by Lafayette’s Alumni Association to a graduate who has given distinguished service to the College or the Association. In 1988, he was the inaugural recipient of the Lafayette Medal for Distinguished Service in recognition of his exemplary involvement.
Fleck holds the world record for longevity as a member of Kiwanis International, the worldwide service organization founded in 1915. He recently celebrated his 78th year as a member of the Kiwanis Club of Easton. In 1996, he became only the third Kiwanian in the world ever to reach the 75-year milestone. Kiwanis has more than 300,000 members in more than 8,000 clubs in 82 countries.
Fleck is a retired president of Mack Printing Company, Easton, where he worked for 41 years. Prior to joining Mack in 1924 he was a reporter for the Easton Free Press for four years.
His service to the community has been extensive. He co-founded and served as treasurer for the Lehigh Valley Flood Control Council, which received federal funds for dam projects on the Lehigh River. He has served as president of the Easton Board of Trade, Easton Kiwanis and the Easton YMCA. He has served as a board member for the Easton United Way Fund, the Delaware Valley Boy Scout Council, Community Service of Pennsylvania and the Social Service League. He has been an elder at his church, College Hill Presbyterian. He has also served as a director for the Lafayette Trust Bank.
He has enjoyed membership as a part of the New York Chemists Club, Easton Pomfret Club, Northampton County Country Club, Phi Gamma Delta House Association and the Lehigh Valley Master Printers Association.
He has been involved with fund-raising for Lehigh Valley International Airport (then Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Airport) and Easton Hospital, among other community organizations.
Fleck holds a bachelor of arts degree in government from Lafayette. Founded in 1826, Lafayette is an independent, coeducational, residential, undergraduate institution granting bachelor’s degrees in the liberal arts, sciences and engineering. The College has 2,200 students and 183 full-time faculty, all of whom hold the doctorate or other terminal degree in their field.
Born in Riegelsville, Pa., the son of a Lutheran minister, Fleck married the late Esther M. Walter. Their only child, Cyrus S. Fleck Jr., is himself a Lafayette graduate (1952) and longtime administrator at his alma mater. Cy Fleck Jr. joined Lafayette in 1961 as assistant director of development and was the College’s registrar from 1965 to 1997, when he became special assistant to Lafayette’s president, a post he holds today.