Sustaining a Legacy of Achievement Sustaining a Legacy

O b i t u a r i e sas a member of the Board of Directors of theChicago based Educational Institutional InsuranceAdministrators Inc. He was past Vice Presidentand Treasurer of the Pennsylvania Association ofIndependent Schools and a past President of theBoarding Schools Headmasters Association of theMiddle States.In addition to educational activities, he wasinvolved with church-related concerns. He servedas a Trustee Emeritus of the Board of Trusteesof the Wyoming Annual Conference and was amember of the Long Range Planning Council andthe Conference Administrative Council. As anequally active participant in the community, Dr.Stettler was an involved member of the Board ofDirectors of the United Way of Wyoming Valley,serving a two-year term as chairman of the board.In 1984, he was General Campaign Chairman inan effort that surpassed the goal by $28,000 andbroke the $3 million dollar mark for the first time.He also led community fundraising efforts for theOsterhout Library in Wilkes-Barre, the WyomingValley Boy Scouts’ Annual Dinner, and a capitalfunds campaign for a new Children’s Wing atthe Back Mountain Memorial Library in Dallas.He served on the Wilkes University Council,Leadership Wilkes-Barre Steering Committee,the Wilkes-Barre YMCA Board of Directors,as secretary of the F.M. Kirby Center for thePerforming Arts Board of Directors, and wasvice-president of the Northeastern PennsylvaniaPhilharmonic Board of Directors from 1991through 1996.Based on his involvement and dedication tovarious people and organizations, Dr. Stettlerhas received numerous awards and honors. OnOctober 13, 1978, the Wallace F. Stettler LearningResources Center on the school’s campus wasdedicated in his honor by the school’s Board ofTrustees at an event with Frank C. Carlucci III,former Secretary of Defense and National SecurityAdviser, as the principal speaker. In October 1982,Dr. Stettler was selected among 50 prominentcivic leaders, business executives and sports figuresto receive the “Distinguished PennsylvanianAward” by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber ofCommerce. He was the recipient of the WyomingValley Interfaith Council Annual Award, theCommunity Service Award of the Seligman J.Strauss Lodge of B’nai B’rith, the Francis AsburyAward of the Wyoming Annual Conference, theOutstanding Volunteer Fund Raiser and LifetimeAchievement Awards from the Association ofFund Raising Professionals, the DistinguishedService Award from Wyoming Seminary, theDistinguished Citizen Award presented bythe Northeastern Pennsylvania Council BoyScouts of America, the Anti-Defamation LeagueDistinguished Service Award, the Mary BevevinoCommunity Service Award from the LuzerneFoundation and the Community Service Awardfrom the Salvation Army. He was inducted intothe Business Hall of Fame of Junior Achievementof Northeastern Pennsylvania, and in 1998 wasappointed by Gov. Tom Ridge to serve on theGovernor’s Judicial Advisory Commission forLuzerne County to provide recommendations44to the Governor of qualified individuals fornomination to the Court of Common Pleas.He was preceded in death by his wife, SueBrill Stettler, to whom he was married for53 years. He is survived by his three sons,STEPHEN STETTLER ’70, Weston, Vt.,SAMUEL STETTLER ’72 and his wife, Barbara,Hillsborough, N.J., and DAVID STETTLER ’74and his wife, Rachel, Cambridge, Mass.; twograndchildren, Erik, New York, N.Y., and WillStettler, Cambridge, Mass.; as well as a brother,Arthur and his wife, Doris.FRIENDS:FRED MORGAN KIRBY II, New Vernon,N.J., former Chairman and CEO of AlleghanyCorporation and President of the F. M. KirbyFoundation, died on February 8, 2011 in NorthCarolina. He was 91. Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.on November 23, 1919 to Allan P. and MarianS. Kirby, he attended grammar schools nearhome while also enjoying time with family andfriends in Glen Summit, Pa. and Palm Beach, Fla.Those days were fodder for many entertainingescapades shared with future generations. So toowere the decades that followed. Kirby enrolled inthe Hackley School in Tarrytown, N.Y. and tooka post-graduate year at the Lawrenceville Schoolbefore joining the Class of 1942 at LafayetteCollege in Easton, Pa. There, among otheractivities, he played on the College’s most recentundefeated football team, a source of pride forthe remainder of his life. Kirby’s progression wasdisrupted, however, with the bombing of PearlHarbor on December 7, 1941. Like so manyyoung American men at the time, he enlisted inthe military within a week. He graduated fromLafayette shortly thereafter and headed off fortraining with the U.S. Naval Reserve. Amonghis station assignments were the AdvancedAmphibious Naval Base on the English Channelin Teignmouth at Devonshire and a similar port atSalcombe, both in preparation for the Normandyinvasion. Following the Allied Invasion, he wasassigned to an advanced port and reconnaissanceparty in the Brest Peninsula of France. Returningto the U.S. at the conclusion of World War II,Kirby attended the Harvard Graduate Schoolof Business. Later hired by the Vick ChemicalCompany, he underwent orientation at thecompany’s facility in Greensboro, N.C., wheremutual friends familiar with their sharedequestrian backgrounds, introduced him to hisfuture bride, Alice Walker Dillard. They wed onApril 30, 1949, launching a devoted, inspiring andeternal partnership. Following several successfulentrepreneurial ventures, in 1967 Kirby succeededhis father as Chairman and CEO of AlleghanyCorporation, a New York Stock Exchangelisted company with interests over the years inrailroads, trucking, insurance, asset managementand industrial minerals, among others. Over hisnearly 39 years as Chairman ending in 2006,Alleghany stock delivered a cumulative returnto its shareholders of 23,903 percent comparedto the S&P 500 cumulative return over thesame period of 5,215 percent. Kirby’s seniorprofessional partner throughout most of thattime was John J. Burns, Jr. Outside of Alleghany,Kirby served on numerous corporate and notfor-profitboards, including: American Express,Chicago Title & Trust, Cyclops Industries, HotelWaldorf Astoria, Investors Diversified Services,Pittston, Woolworth, the F. M. Kirby Foundation,Fred M. & Jessie A. Kirby Episcopal House,Morristown Memorial Hospital, the NationalFootball Foundation and Lafayette College.His charitable interests vastly exceeded thosementioned above, and he devoted countless hoursand much attention to the advancement of suchorganizations. He was the recipient of honorarydegrees from Drew University, Lafayette College,St. Joseph’s University and Wake Forest University;The International Swimming Hall of Fame’s GoldMedallion; the National Football Foundation’sGold Medal; The Pennsylvania Society’s GoldMedal; and Sports Illustrated’s Silver AnniversaryAll-American Award. He received the WyomingSeminary Distinguished Service Award in 1990.A former vestryman at Church of The Redeemerin Morristown, N.J., he was a member of GraceEpiscopal Church in Madison, N.J. at the timeof his calling home. Fred Kirby was a pilot,motorcyclist, sailor, fisherman, tennis player and afox-hunting member of the Spring Valley Hounds.Multiple excursions took him scuba diving andhang gliding. He frequently spent full days inthe woods of his beloved Jerseyfield Preserve inthe Adirondacks – hiking, laying out trails andcutting limbs, occasionally his own. Even in his90s, unable to hike, he would drive his ATVthrough remote and rugged stretches. He got hismotorcycle license at age 63. On his 85th birthday,his wife gave him a jet-ski. He was a dear friendand a valued advisor to many, a devoted husband,and a cherished father, grandfather and greatgrandfather.In addition to his loving wife, Walker, he issurvived by their daughter, Alice Kirby Hortonand her husband, George of Durham, N.C.;sons, Fred M. Kirby III and his wife, Barbara ofGreensboro, N.C., S. Dillard Kirby and his wife,Adrienne of Mendham, NJ, Jefferson W. Kirbyand his wife, Karen of New Vernon, N.J.; tengrandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.Fred Kirby took seriously the words found onhis family’s coat of arms: “Facta Non Verba,”meaning “deeds, not words.” Though he wasmasterful with the written word, he leaves behinda legacy of momentous deeds. His academic,athletic, military, professional, civic and charitableachievements combine with his steadfast devotionto family and nation to personify all that isso redeeming about his country’s “GreatestGeneration.” He lived by the highest standards ofpersonal conduct and will endure as an examplefor future generations.