By Betsy R. Schneier, Past President, Washington State Jewish Historical Society, Seattle
On behalf of executive board of the Washington State Jewish Historical Society, thanks so much for the wonderful article about our recent program, Heroes Making History (“Stories of the front,” Dec. 9). The speakers truly represent the best of America, and we were honored to share their stories.
But I did notice an important omission in your overview: The recipient of our annual Meta Buttnick award: Eugene Normand, Ph.D. We purposely decided that Sunday’s program was an appropriate time to recognize Gene, for he is a highly esteemed veteran, not just in service to the U.S. but to the society as well!
As a self-effacing person, I doubt Gene would ever want to call much attention to himself. But I had the honor of serving side by side with him for more than three years, so I feel eminently qualified to do so. Under his tenure, our society achieved recognition throughout King County for excellence in programming (some of which he arranged himself before we hired executive director Lisa Kranseler). He may have been president, but no task was ever too small for him to perform himself — his sense of humor tempered with strategic wisdom honed over a prestigious career at Boeing propelled us to ever-larger stages.
Please join me in wishing him a hearty yasher koach for an award he so richly deserved!