Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY)

Alfred Leo Smoller, of San Jose, Calif.

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Alfred Leo Smoller, of San Jose, Calif., died on Aug. 19, 2017.

Leo was the son of the late Nathan and Lenora (Liss) Smoller.

After high school, Leo joined the Army and served his country during the Korean War.

Leo was formerly from Kingston, N.Y., where he was employed as a computer programmer at IBM. He later transferre­d to San Jose, Calif., in 1978, where he retired after 36 years of service.

Leo was predecease­d by his wife, Bess (Karp) Smoller, in 2007.

Leo is survived by his children, Jody Hoop, Neal and Ann Smoller, Meg and Mark Fisch; his grandchild­ren, Neal Jr. and Erin Smoller, Karen and Luis Guillen, Hope and Glenn Hoop, and Benjamin and Aaron Fisch. He also leaves behind five great-grandchild­ren, Eliza Guillen, Ava, Rowan, Liv and Arya Smoller.

Herbert Jerome Sorgen, 79, of Saugerties, died Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, at Ten Broeck Commons.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 29, 1938, he was the son of the late Milton and Francis (Glass) Sorgen. Following his graduation from Brooklyn Technical High School, he completed a B.A. in English at Syracuse University in 1960. Following graduation, he taught high school English in Central Square, N.Y., concurrent­ly earning an M.A. in English Education at SUNY Oswego. In 1965, Herb accepted a position as an English professor at SUNY Delhi College. A few years later, Delhi College offered him a sabbatical, during which time he earned a Master’s in Library Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He then returned to the college as library director for the remainder of his career. He retired from Delhi College in 1993. In 1998, Delhi College offered Herb an opportunit­y to act as a “foreign expert” as part of their exchange program with the Northwest Institute of Light Industry in Xianyang, China. There he spent three months teaching English and serving in the Institute’s library.

In the summer of 1962, Herb participat­ed in an English Literature course through the Experiment in Internatio­nal Living/SUNY Oswego which took him to the British Isles and France. While sailing to England, he met Nancy Riffanacht, a fellow exchange student. They married a year later in June 1963. Spending time with his growing family was one of his great pleasures. A passionate outdoorsma­n, Herb loved hiking, small game hunting, target shooting, trout fishing, cross-country skiing, snowshoein­g, canoeing, kayaking, camping, and jogging. He was a force of nature. While teaching high school in Central Square, he enjoyed his role as rifle coach. He was later advisor to the Delhi College’s Outdoor Club. For 35 summers, he led hikes for the Appalachia­n Mountain Club at Echo Lake Camp in Acadia National Park, Maine. He also led hikes for the YMCA Camp in Frost Valley in Claryville, N.Y. Herb and wife, Nancy, were worldwide travelers from the time they met, visiting countries on every continent except Antarctica, sometimes multiple times. Herb was also an active member in the Delhi and Rhinebeck Rotary Clubs. In addition, he was an active member of the Appalachia­n Mountain Club and Blue Kats in Saugerties. Over the years, he was a member of several synagogues. They were Temple Concord in Syracuse, Temple Beth-El in Oneonta, Temple Emanuel in Kingston and The Woodstock Jewish Congregati­on in Woodstock.

Herb is survived by his wife of 54 years, Nancy. He is also survived by a son, David, and his wife Sachiko (Shoko), of New York, N.Y.; a daughter, Laurie, of Poughkeeps­ie; and a grandson, Michael Sorgen; as well as an aunt and uncle and several cousins.

A memorial service will be held on Sept. 10 at 11:30 a.m. at the Woodstock Jewish Congregati­on. Interment will be held privately. SimpsonGau­s Funeral Home, 411 Albany Ave., Kingston, is honored to assist the family with the arrangemen­ts.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Appalachia­n Mountain Club, 5 Joy St., Boston, Mass. 02108, or to Rotary Internatio­nal, One Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Ave., Evanston, Ill. 60201.

Online condolence­s maybe left for the family of Herb by visiting www.SimpsonGau­s. com.

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