Deceased July 4, 2015

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In Memory

Norman Fieleke '54 Photo.PNG
Dr. Norman Siegfried Fieleke, an economist, scholar, educator, and loving father, passed away on July 4, 2015. He was born in Kankakee, Illinois, on August 22, 1932, the son of Lessly and Catharine Fieleke. He spent most of his life in Momence, IL; Winchester, MA; Cambridge, MA; and Chapel Hill, NC.

Norman graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College in 1954. He served as Lieutenant in the United States Air Force from 1955 to 1957. He obtained a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1969.

Norman began his career as an economist in 1959 at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C. In 1964, he served as an Industry Economist for the U.S. Trade Representative during the Kennedy Round of Trade Negotiations. He joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 1967, and he became Vice President and Economist in charge of international research in 1973. During leaves of absence from the Federal Reserve Bank, he served as Director of Research at the U.S. International Trade Commission in 1980, and as Consultant to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1993. While with the IMF, he participated in missions to advise the central banks of Lithuania, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. In 1996, he advised the Government of China in Beijing on the reform of the foreign-exchange market.

Norman taught as a visiting professor and lecturer in international economics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Boston University, Brandeis University, and Duke University. He published numerous articles in scholarly journals and in the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston publications, as well as a book, The International Economy Under Stress (1988).

Norman had a deep appreciation for literature and nature. His mother was a published poet, and he inherited this gift for writing poetry. His other hobbies included tennis, hiking, gardening and choral singing. He was a deacon in the First Congregational Church of Winchester, he taught Sunday school, and he volunteered with the Red Cross in Chapel Hill.

Norman leaves his three sons, Andrew, Eric, and Michael; six grandchildren; three sisters; and two brothers.

A memorial service was held on Sunday, August 9, at the First Congregational Church of Winchester.

Mike Fieleke