Category: Members (Page 18 of 27)

Howard Johnson was born 1942 in Oak Park, IL, and graduated from the Oak Park – River Forest high school. He received an A.B.degree from Brown University in 1964 and was a member of the sailing team and the Sigma Chi fraternity. He graduated  Georgetown University Law School in 1968 with a J.D. degree where he served on the Moot Court, was a research assistant and received the American Jurisprudence Prize in Taxation.

In 1968, Howard began his career as a law clerk with the U.S. District court, Illinois. In 1970, he joined the firm of Martin, Craig, Chester & Sonnenschein, where he became a partner. From 1977 un- til retiring in 2002 as a senior international attorney, he was with the office of general counsel, Texaco, Inc., in White Plains, N.Y. He worked on alternative alternative energy projects in the United States and Germany as well as the acquisition and operational aspects of oil and gas properties in Asia, Russia and Africa.

Howard is a member of the bar in Illinois, New York, Texas and Connecticut. While working at Texaco he served as an adjunct professor at the Pace University School of Law and was a university fellow at Columbia University.

Howard and his wife live in Rowayton and have one child and two grandchildren. He is a member of the Brown Club, the Darien YMCA, the Rowayton Yacht Club, Trout Unlimited, the Crystal Lake & Watershed Association and the American Associa- tion of Individual Investors. He enjoys fly fishing, reading, sailing and spending time in northern Michigan during the summer.

Harris Hester is a graduate of Mississippi State University and the Harvard Business School’s AMP program. He started his business career as a salesman for the Arrow Shirt Company and later moved to the company’s New York offices.

After holding several management positions, he was named president of Arrow in 1982. A few years later he became president and chief operating officer of Cluett Peabody. After leaving Cluett in 1994, he purchased Gitman and Company. In 1997, he sold Gitman and purchased the Forsyth Shirt Company which he sold in 2015. He currently runs a consulting firm, Opti Partners.

He and his wife Betsy lived in Darien for 40 years and currently live in the Getner Farms Association. They have four children and 5 grandchildren.

Currently president of Getner Farms, he is the former president of the Tokeneke Club, a former vice-chairman of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association and former consultant to the U.S. Trade Representative.

Robert (Spike) Reed was born in 1944 in White Plains, NY, grew up in Chappaqua, NY, and graduated from Horace Greely High School in1962. He received a B.A. degree in economics from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1966 and was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. To pay college expenses, Spike washed dishes and bartended. He also sold Fuller brushes door to door for two summers and was the highest earning part-time salesman in the tri-state area.

Spike joined the advertising agency Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample in media planning in 1966 and three years later joined the account management team working on ad campaigns for Cheerios, Skippy peanut butter and Bounty paper towels. He was named management director of the Wendy’s ham- burger account, creating the “Where’s the Beef?” campaign. Later, he created the “Pizza! Pizza!” campaign for Little Caesars. In 2006, he joined Executive Media Network as director of marketing and sales for airport and airline media properties where he became the top revenue producer for digital signage networks until retiring in 2014.

He and his wife Mary Anne live in Darien and have two children and two grandchildren. Spike is a member of the Silvermine Golf Club and Wee Burn Country Club. He enjoys skiing, golf, gardening, travel and photography.

James Goll was born in Plattsburgh, N.Y., in 1960 and was an army brat, growing up in Plattsburgh, California, Guam, Japan, Nebraska and Wisconsin. He graduated from Homestead High School in Mequon, Wis. He received a B.A. in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1983 and an M.B.A. in finance and accounting from the University of Chicago in 1987.

Jim worked for PPG Industries from 1983 to 1985 in its Ultra-Violet & Curable Coating Division while obtaining his graduate degree and then joined PaineWebber Industries as managing director in the Investment Banking Division until 2000. In 2001, he joined Bank of Montreal/BMO Capital Markets as managing director in the Debt Capital Market/Leveraged Finance Group, retiring in 2019. J

im and his wife Debra live in Darien and have three children. He belongs to the NRA and Wee Burn Country Club. In his free time, he enjoys tennis, bowling, gardening and relearning golf.

Sponsored by Jim Demark

Bruce Lynn

Bruce Lynn was born in New York City in 1946 and grew up in the Rowayton, Westport and Darien areas. He graduated from St. Luke’s School in New Canaan and received a B.S. degree in industrial engineering from Lehigh University in 1968.

After graduation, Bruce spent five years as a captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and then joined Chase Manhattan Bank in bank operations until 1975. He then moved to Bankers Trust in strategic planning and Ogden Corp. in treasury operations. In 1990, Bruce joined Greenwich Treasury Advisors doing treasury consulting and continued the same work with The Financial Executives Consulting Group until 2007.

Bruce and his wife Anne live in Darien and have three children and three grandchildren. He belongs to the Tokeneke Club and uses his free time to enjoy photography, architecture, travel, mechanical things and venture capital.

Sponsored by Harris Hester

Roy Thompson

Roy Thompson was born in Corning, N.Y., in 1946 and grew up in Marietta, Ohio. He spent the summers on Nantucket Island. He attended The Taft School and graduated from the Sterling School in Vermont in 1964. Roy graduated from the University of Denver in 1968 with a B.A. in mathematics.

He served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Korea.

He spent 15 years, mostly with Wang Laboratories, selling computers and office automation equipment followed by 13 years as a general contractor for high-end homes in the Darien/Rowayton area. For the last 11 years (and counting), he has been selling real estate in this area in partnership with his spouse. Roy lives in Rowayton with his wife Christine and has two children and four grandchildren. He is a member of the Rowayton Yacht Club and the Darien YMCA. He enjoys spending his free time sailing and powerboating, skiing and woodworking. Sponsored by Bud Bain

Michael Wheeler was born in Oak Park, Ill., in 1949 and grew up in Greenwich (CT.). He graduated from Brunswick School in 1967. He earned a bachelor’s and M.A. degree both from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

He began his broadcasting career at WGCH Radio in 1965. From 1977 to 1982, he was station manager for WGST in Atlanta, Georgia. Next, he was with MTV Networks as regional vice president, Affiliate and Ad Sales. Other positions followed, including senior vice president, National Accounts at Showtime; president of the Financial News Network; executive vice president at NBC New Media; and president of CNBC/Dow Jones Desktop Video. From 2001 to the present, Mike has been founder and managing director of Westerly Partners, where he invests and advises early-stage technology companies.

Mike and his wife Ann live in Darien and have three children and five grandchildren. He is a member of the Darien RTM, chair of Board of Advisors of the Darien TV79, member of the Weekapaug Golf Club, head coach of the Westerly Wildcats Special Olympics Golf Team, and an ESL teacher at Literacy Volunteers. His hobbies include golf, reading, travel, and babysitting.

Sponsored by Bob McGroarty and Dan Benton

Peter Jaques was born in London in 1951 and grew up in Wembley/Harrow. He graduated from Kingsbury High School and received a degree in town planning and economics from the University of East Anglia, where he was active in rugby, football and athletics. Peter’s work history is with Hilton International in London as vice president of Global Business Travel at the British Consulate in New York and CityLife Hotel Group in New York as chief financial officer and vice president, Asset Management. Peter and his wife Susan live in Rowayton and have four children and two (soon to be three) grandchildren. He belongs to De Laune Cycling Club in London. He enjoys cycling, football, rugby, winter sports, cooking, wine, reading and travel. Sponsored by Patrick Steele

Douglas Goodman was born in Bethlehem, in 1944, where he grew up and graduated from Liberty High School. In 1967, he received a B.S. degree in marketing from Pennsylvania State University, where he was active in Delta Tau Delta and the university choir.

After graduation, Doug joined Armstrong Cork Company and worked in the Packaging Materials Division. He moved to Richardson-Vicks in Wilton and worked for eight years in the TLB Plastics Division. He then started his own sales and marketing company in Fairfield, selling plastic components primarily in the cosmetic industry. After 39 years, he dissolved the company last July.

Doug and his wife Katie live in Fairfield and have three daughters and seven grandchildren living in Darien. He belongs to the Institute of Packaging Professionals, Cosmetic Industry Buyers and Suppliers, Penn State Southern Connecticut Alumni Chapter and the Gaelic American Club. For leisure, Doug likes pickleball, paddle tennis and choral singing. He is a volunteer at the Connecticut Food Bank, the Bridgeport Rescue Mission and the Carousel Thrift Shop. He is a member of the Southport Congregational Church. His favorite pastime is cheering for the grandkids at Darien sporting events. Sponsored by Frank Zaino

Patrick Gentile was born in Flushing, Queens, N.Y., and grew up in Middle Village, Queens. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School and Queens College, City University of N.Y., in 1982 with B.A. in accounting.

From 1982 to 1986, he worked at BDO as a senior auditor. From 1986 to 2013, he worked at American Banknote Corporation as executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer. From 2014 to 2017, he operated as Patrick Gentile CPA (consulting).

Patrick and his wife Teresa live in Darien and have two children. He belongs to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of CPAs. He is a board member of the Andrew Shaw Memorial Trust. He volunteers as an income tax program coordinator and is an AARP tax aide coordinator for seniors. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, cycling and travel. He is a diehard Mets fan and watches the games on TV. Sponsored by Harry Bergen

John Feldman was born in Morges, Canton de Vaud, Switzerland, in 1955 and grew up in the French- and German-speaking areas of Switzerland. He completed his primary education in 1971. John studied at l’Ecole Technique du Sentier and became a journeyman tool and die maker. He worked in Switzerland at Looser Presses.

He came to the United States and studied at Bridgeport and Fairfield universities. John’s area of expertise is mechanical engineering. He worked as a contract engineer in research and development, sales and project management for local branches of companies such as Microtech, Color Film Corporation, Perkin-Elmer, Pitney Bowes, Clairol, AMF, Bendix Corporation and IBM.

John lives in Darien and has a daughter and granddaughter living in Florida and a son in Switzerland. Sponsored by Hendrik Vriesen

Dennis Leibowitz was born in 1941 in Indianapolis and grew up there.  He graduated from North Central High School in Indianapolis and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Finance with a BS in Science in Economics in 1963. At Penn, he joined Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity. On graduation, Dennis joined Merrill Lynch until 1967. From 1967-1977 he worked at various boutique firms and E.F. Hutton.  In 1077 Dennis joined Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette as research analyst specializing in Media and Telecom stocks. In 2000 Credit Suisse acquired DLJ and he was there until 2001 as head of media analysis group. He retired as 2001 as managing partner. In 2002 Dennis started and managed a hedge fund specializing in investments in the Telecom, Media; and Technology Industries where he is working at the present time.

Dennis lives in Rowayton and has three children and almost six grandchildren. He belongs to the New Mountain Capital Advisory Board and Caron Treatment Centers Board.  His leisure time hobbies include tennis, Gyms, classical jazz and classic rock music and movies.

Sponsored by Bill Close