Lewis J. Neisner ’61

Lewis died March 1, 2018, after an 11-month battle with leukemia.

Born in Rochester, N.Y., he came to us from Andover Academy. At Princeton he majored in history, ran varsity track, participated in the Campus Fund Drive and the Hillel Foundation, and took his meals at Dial Lodge. He roomed with Frank Wagner, Dick Weinstein, Terry Black, and Dick Jones.

Following Princeton and service in the Army, Lewis earned an MBA at Columbia before joining the family business, Neisner Bros., a national retail chain, for 14 years until the company closed. He then changed careers and became a professor of retailing and marketing at Buffalo State College, the University of Baltimore, and the University of Maryland at College Park.

In 2007 he and his wife, Beth, retired to Rochester, but he then entered a new career, teaching at and serving as vice president of programs at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at RIT until 2017. One of his proudest achievements was running a marathon in under four hours at the age of 40. Over the years Lewis was a loyal and participating classmate.

He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Beth Vanfossen; and his daughter, Jennifer Neisner, and her family, which includes two grandchildren.