Obituaries

Harvey Sampson, presidential councillor and trustee, is dead at 69

Harvey E. Sampson, a Cornell presidential councillor and emeritus member of the Cornell Board of Trustees, died suddenly at his home in Ithaca April 23. He was 69.

"Cornell has benefited in many ways from Harvey's leadership and generosity," said President Hunter Rawlings. "His contributions, which ranged from his athletic prowess as an undergraduate to his guidance of major trustee and development efforts, will always be remembered."

Sampson was president and chief executive officer of the Harvey Group, Inc., a sales and distribution company for electronic systems based in New York. He retired to Ithaca with his wife, Carolyn, in 1993.

Sampson was first elected to the Cornell Board of Trustees in 1976. He was a member of the board's committees on academic affairs, audit, membership, development, health sciences and land grant affairs, as well as the executive committee. He served on advisory councils for the Johnson Graduate School of Management and athletics and was national chair of the Tower Club from 1980-83. He was a life member of the University Council, having served as its chair for three years. He also served on the Cornell Medical College Board of Overseers (as chair from 1990-92) and the New York Hospital-Cornell Joint Board (as chair in 1994). He was a trustee for the Weiss Peck & Greer Mutual Funds Trust. In Ithaca, he was a director of the Cayuga Medical Center and Boyce Thompson Institute, and he was a member of several Cornell advisory committees.

A native of Baldwin, N.Y., Sampson attended Manlius Academy before matriculating at Cornell, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1951. He won varsity football letters on the Ivy championship teams of 1948, 1949 and 1950, and received United Press All-East honorable mention as an end in 1950. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi, Quill & Dagger and the Rhythm Club. Sampson served in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant in the Korean conflict.

He is survived by his wife, Carolyn, of Ithaca; six children, Shelley E. Sampson, Holly L. DeHaan and Peter F. Sampson, all of Colorado, Jeffrey F. Sampson of Florida, Christopher D. Maier of New Jersey, and Cory M. Maier of France; and six grandchildren.

Arrangements are being handled by Bangs Funeral Home. Funeral services will be private. A memorial service will held at a date to be announced.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Harvey E. Sampson Memorial Fund, c/o Cornell University, 55 Brown Road, Ithaca, N.Y. 14850.

Beverly B. Feitner, a longtime administrative assistant at Cornell, died of cancer April 21, at her home in Corvallis, Ore., in the company of her family. She was 73.

Feitner was born in Newport, R.I., and she came to Ithaca in 1968. For 23 years she was employed by Cornell, working as an administrative assistant for the office of student unions at Willard Straight Hall and Noyes Center. She was predeceased by her husband, John W. Feitner, in 1996, and she moved to Corvallis in 1997.

Feitner was active in the Ithaca community as a member of various golf and bowling leagues, the Senior Citizens Center and as volunteer for the American Red Cross. To thousands of students attending Cornell, she was both a friend and mother away from home, affectionately known as "Ma Feitner."

She is survived by a son, Peter J. Feitner of Cummington, Mass.; two daughters, Joyce Feitner Lee of Corvallis and Linda Feitner Waymire of Philomath, Ore.; two sisters; a brother; and three grandchildren. A memorial gathering is being planned for this summer in Ithaca, and an announcement will be made a later time. Memorials can be made to the charity of one's choice, care of McHenry Funeral Home, 206 NW 5th St., Corvallis, Ore. 97330.