John Becica ’69 is former president of the North Jersey Alumni, Parents and Friends Chapter. He was among the initial executive committee members who restarted the chapter and also has served the College as an alumni admissions representative. Lafayette has honored him with the Outstanding Chapters Support Award, the Chapter Support Person of the Year award, and the William E. Greenip Jr. ’44 Award. He is president elect of Lafayette Alumni of the Lehigh Valley, having moved to Easton two years ago.

• An obituary for Ned Jesser ’39 is on the Lafayette web site.

Ned Jesser’s dedication to his alma mater was legendary in the North Jersey Lafayette community. He enjoyed interacting with young people, and it was in this context that I first met him.

Each April, the North Jersey Alumni Chapter would bring local high school juniors to the College by bus for the admissions department’s Junior Visiting Day program. An avid alumni admissions representative (AAR), Ned would volunteer to chaperone a bus, spending a Saturday showing off the College he loved. As a fellow chaperone on the trip, I found Ned’s enthusiasm to be unbridled, and I was instantly captivated by his down-to-earth charm. Here I was, a generation younger than him, interacting with this man who was a powerful force in the New Jersey business world, and yet he made me feel like a contemporary!

A number of years later, when I took over running the Junior Visiting Day bus trip program, Ned became one of my most reliable chaperones. He couldn’t wait to get on campus and show the kids around.

His service as an AAR was also characteristically exemplary. He is one of the few volunteers I have known who actually forged personal relationships with the guidance staffs in the high schools he covered. He even convinced a few guidance counselors to come with us on the bus trip! Many appreciative alums from North Jersey will remember being interviewed by Ned Jesser!

In more recent years I used to get regular phone calls from Ned during the fall football season. They would generally go, “Hey, John, it’s Ned! I have an extra ticket to the game on Saturday. Can you go?” (Ned was suffering eyesight problems and knew he shouldn’t be driving long distances.) I eventually earned the reputation around campus of being Ned’s driver. Over the years I took him from Bergen County, N.J., to Easton to view a number of Lafayette contests on the gridiron, including a memorable home win over Lehigh.

It was during these 90-minute trips each way that I really got to know the man on a personal basis. We discussed all kinds of topics ranging from his banking career and his service in WW II, to his vacation homes in Vermont and on Long Island, to his love of skiing and sailing. Local Bergen County politics and national issues were discussed, but our common love of Lafayette would always dominate the conversation.

By now I was president of the North Jersey Alumni Chapter and Ned would give me suggestions for alumni events as well as his insights and vision for what was happening on campus. He would also detail his efforts to raise funds for the College, and would tell me about the great Class of 1939 and its members.

After the football games, Ned would take me to visit his beloved Delta Kappa Epsilon house on March Field. In his ’80s the man was still a dynamo. He would go striding across campus and I, with my long legs, would almost have to run to keep up. Once at “Deke”, Ned would invite the undergraduate brothers outside and lead them in a ritual yell and dance called the “Deke Lion March” – a real sight to behold!

Just two weeks before his death I drove Ned to the North Jersey picnic for incoming freshmen and their parents. It was the last Lafayette function Ned would attend. As usual he was the same gracious person I had come to know, welcoming the Class of 2011 to the Lafayette family and expressing his satisfaction that such a fine group of young men and women would be contributing to the Lafayette tradition.

For many years I have introduced Ned as “The Dean of North Jersey Lafayette Alumni.” His numerous accomplishments for the College as a trustee, supporter, and donor are well known, and his contributions have been acknowledged by the highest awards the College bestows. What is not so well known, however, is the marvelous work he did at the local level to support the College and its mission.

Ned will be impossible to replace in the North Jersey alumni community. It was an honor knowing him, and he will be greatly missed.