by Linsey | Jul 22, 2019
While in high school, Murray Seeger lettered in baseball, football and basketball. He also was lead clarinet in band and a member of National Honor Society. Mr. Seeger continued his education at the University of Iowa, graduating in 1951. He received the University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Award and was named a member of the Iowa Journalism Hall of Fame before the age of 50. Murray Seeger has been described as a “Small-town boy who became an International Journalist”. His journalism experience included the Buffalo News, Cleveland Plain Dealer and the New York Times. He was editorial director for KYW Radio and TV, Washington correspondent for Newsweek and the Los Angeles Times, and LAT correspondent for Moscow, Bonn and Brussels. In his spare time, Mr. Seeger was able to write many free-lance articles and books including, “Discovering Russia: 200 Years of American Journalism”. Throughout his career he received many awards including the Nieman Fellowship in Journalism, and the Loeb Award. Mr. Seeger was best known as a writer, editor, teacher and consultant on public affairs. Murray died in August of 2011 at the age of 82.
by Linsey | Jul 22, 2019
David was a versatile athlete, who was captain of the 1944 football team that won the Section VI championship by dominating their opponents. They outscored them 133-14 in a 7 seven game season, and posted 5 shutouts. Coach Rodiek once said that “Thomas was the finest center that he ever coached”, which is an impressive comment coming from a coach who had tremendous teams while coaching the purple and white. David also played guard on one of Hamburg’s most successful basketball teams, which posted a record of 16-2 in 1944, and won the Champions of the Northern Erie County League, and later went on to win the Class A Championship of Section VI. Thomas also played outfield and utility man for a strong Hamburg baseball team that included Hamburg Wall of Famers, Don Cline and George Michie. David lists winning every football game in 1943 & 1944 campaigns, aside from one game (by one point), as his greatest high school sport’s memory.
by Linsey | Jul 22, 2019
Jack was founder and legendary coach of Hamburg’s outstanding cross country teams from 1950 and 1955-1964. Coach Foster’s teams won seven E.C.I.C. League and seven Section VI Championships while posting six undefeated E.C.I.C. seasons during his eleven year coaching career. He was also an integral part of Hamburg’s highly successful track & field teams as an assistant to head coach, William Rodiek. Hamburg’s record string of undefeated dual meet victories still stands at 32. Collegiately, he became a top runner on Buffalo State’s most successful cross country teams, and captained the 1949 team. Jack was elected to Buffalo State Wall of Fame in 2005. He was History Professor & Chair, cross country and track coach at Southern Connecticut University, coaching many champions and All-Americans, until his retirement in 2000.
by Linsey | Jul 22, 2019
Dr. Amos J. Minkel, Jr. was a family physician and one of the last in the area to make house calls. Born and raised in Hamburg, he graduated from Hamburg High School as valedictorian and went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa from Colgate University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and received his medical degree from the UB Medical School. After graduation, he served as an intern at Buffalo General Hospital until he entered the U.S. Army Medical Corp. in 1944 where he served until 1946. He worked as a family physician in Hamburg alongside his father; Dr. Amos J. Minkel, Sr., from 1947 until his father’s death in 1952. He remained working in Hamburg until joining St. Luke’s Hospital in Utica in 1977 as an emergency room physician. He and his wife, Louise, moved to Thomasville, GA in 1987 where he worked part-time as a physician in an urgent care facility. After the death of his wife in 1993, he returned to Hamburg and worked part-time in the OLV Primary Care Center in Orchard Park until he retired in 2000. Dr. Amos J. Minkel, Jr. died at the age of 92 on June 4, 2011.
by Linsey | Jul 22, 2019
Dr. Lord was one of Hamburg’s most respected physicians. Born in 1895 in Leon, N.Y., Alvah Lord moved to Hamburg at age four. He attended our local schools and was an active athlete. Dr. Lord graduated in 1920 from the UB School of Medicine. Practicing medicine in Hamburg for over 50 years as a general practitioner, Dr. Lord brought over 3200 babies into the world. He was a member of the Hamburg Legion Post since 1923 and was a past commander. He was also a selective service examiner for 30 years and a school health physician for over 40 years. During all these years, the devoted doctor also volunteered in the Red Cross tent at the Erie County Fair. Dr. Lord is also remembered as the owner of the 1840 Boies-Lord House, which was moved from its original site on Main Street to the Historical Museum site in 1979. This house was not just his home for his wife and children, but also served as his medical office. One of his famous quotes for doctors was “To cure sometimes, to relieve often, for comfort always.” Dr. Lord died in December of 1985.
