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Lafayette College is mourning the passing of Cyrus Stoner Fleck of Bethlehem, Pa., its oldest alumnus, who died Thursday, Feb. 3, just 12 days before his 101st birthday. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, at College Hill Presbyterian Church, 501 Brodhead St., Easton.
A member of the Class of 1920, Fleck had been active presence at Lafayette 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.
“The entire Lafayette College community is saddened by the death of Cy Fleck,” says Lafayette president Arthur J. Rothkopf ’55. “He lived a remarkably rich life that spanned three centuries, and his service to the college is unparalleled. It is most fitting that he was the first recipient of the Lafayette Medal for Distinguished Service, for he indeed set an exemplary standard for dedication to this college. He will be remembered with great affection and gratitude by future generations of Lafayette students and faculty.”
Fleck marked his 100th birthday, last February 15, by making a commitment of $100,000 to his alma mater in support of financial aid for student-athletes. He attended many hundreds of Lafayette athletic events, including more than 500 basketball games and more than 70 games in the Lafayette vs. Lehigh football series, the nation’s most-played college football rivalry.
Fleck held the world record for longevity as a member of Kiwanis International, the worldwide service organization founded in 1915. He recently celebrated his 79th 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 was retired president of Mack Printing Company, Easton, where he worked for 41 years. Prior to joining Mack in 1924 he had been a reporter for the Easton Free Press for four years.
His service to the community was 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 had served as president of the Easton Board of Trade, Easton Kiwanis and the Easton YMCA. He had also 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 was an elder at his church, College Hill Presbyterian and a director of the Lafayette Trust Bank.
He had been a member 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 had been involved with fundraising for Lehigh Valley International Airport (then Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Airport) and Easton Hospital, among other community organizations.
Fleck held a bachelor of arts degree in government from Lafayette. Born in Riegelsville, Pa., the son of a Lutheran minister, he 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.