From The Olio

Henry George Fieger, Jr
1111 Midland Drive, Bronxville, New York
Prepared at Bronxville High School
Biology,
Chi Psi, Pledge Master,
Football, Manager "A" 4. Track.
ACAA. Chest Drive, Glee Club. Manageriqal Association, President
Zumbyes, Treasurer
Deceased August 9, 2018

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In Memory

Hank and I first met as high school seniors at the New York home of an alumnus. There we were introduced to Robin Powell ’60 who inspired us both to try out for the Zumbyes when we got to Amherst. With his rare tenor voice, Hank was admitted right away, I followed later on in the school year. That summer we joined many of the group as singing waiters at Glacier Park Lodge – long three-meal days, acting in musicals for the guests at night, and lots of sneaking around the girls’ dorm afterward. At Chi Psi we were roommates but never took any classes together. Hank was a good student and could crank out a difficult term paper with seemingly no preparation in one night. Always smiling and positive, with boundless energy and boyish good looks, he was the fraternity soloist when we all trouped over to Smith or Mt Holyoke to serenade newly "pinned" girls. Our roommate Dave Nichols '62 remembers how Hank charmed his future wife Dot with his rendition of "More I Could Not Wish You" one cold winter night.

Chris Grose '61, a fellow Zumbye,  remembers Hank and Dominic Manfredi '62 performing a comedy routine involving "the greatly-attenuated, long-delayed opening of . . . a screen door", while Doug Lewis '60, a Zumbye tenor,  recalls driving over the Notch for voice lessons with Hank at Mt Holyoke. Both Chris and Doug were fellow waiters at Glacier Park, with Doug later marrying a pretty Austrian girl he met at the Lodge.

After graduation, I saw  Hank and fellow Chi Psi roommate Dave Perera '62 occasionally while they were both at Columbia Medical School in New York. Dave reminded me of one weekend where we all went skiing at Bromley mountain, staying at his uncle's nearby cabin. When the owner showed up unexpectedly, Dave burst out with, "Uncle John, how good to see you".  Surveying the girls and the booze, John laconically replied, "I’ll bet".

I got my Viet Nam service over in 1965 when the war was just beginning. However, Hank was called into the Army three years later as a doctor and served in Vietnam under combat conditions where he was awarded the Bronze Star, the Air Medal, National Defense Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal and Vietnam Service Medal.

Hank did his internship and residency at the University of Colorado Medical School. He went on to a distinguished medical career, rising to chief of neurosurgery at St Joseph and Children's hospital and later chief of neurosurgery at Colorado Permanente. He and his wife Jill were enthusiastic skiers and I remember many wonderful visits to their weekend houses in Breckenridge and Silverthorne. It was during a visit while we were both in our late 50's that he revealed that the discovery of arthritis in his hands had resulted in the abrupt termination of his legal ability to perform surgery. He took this disappointment with  characteristic bravery and later began several stints teaching and serving as the Chairman of the Surgery Panel of Colorado Medical Examiners.

After Jill died in a fall at their Denver house in 2015, Hank moved to a retirement home and seemed to withdraw, turning down visits from friends. He died on August 9th 2018.

Pete Bellows '62