In Memoriam
Maurice Arthur Krisel
Known to those who loved him dearly as “Mo,” Maurice, a native New Yorker, was born in Flushing, New York on January 31, 1952, the first born child of Selma Adel (nee Sandstedt) and Maurice Abraham Krisel. While Maurice’s early childhood was spent in Queens, he moved with his family to the beautiful rural community of Walton, New York, where he grew up, and attended Walton Central High School from which he graduated in 1970. Although urbane and sophisticated in his outlook later in life, Maurice remained at heart a “country boy,” who never forgot the wonderful, formative years of his youth in Walton, which nurtured his lifelong love of sports and music, especially the violin, and his sense of community.
After graduating from High School, Maurice pursued his education in New York City attending Pace University and later New York University’s Stern School of Business, from which he graduated and received his Bachelors of Science in Finance, Accounting, and Economics while working full time. In the years that followed, he continued his education, first at Fordham Law School and then at New York University’s Stern Graduate School of Business where he obtained his MBA, and also completed his Post Graduate Studies earning advanced degree specialties in the fields of CapitalMarkets, Derivatives,and Risk Management.
Maurice’s interest in finance, banking, capital markets, and the stock market began when his father bought him his first stocks at the age of 18. This interest led him to major in business in college and a career in various aspects of finance that spanned almost 45 years, during which time he developed a level of expertise that brought him recognition and respect from his peers in the fields of derivatives and risk management.
Among the varied positions Maurice held in the finance industry over the years were: Vice President at JP Morgan Chase, ING Banks, and Senior Vice President at Citibank US, Treasurer of Emery Air, Consulting Manager at PwC, Senior Executive Consultant at EY, and Director of International Credit and Finance at MeadWestvaco. In the early years of the 21st Century, he founded Broad Street Banking Associates, and was its Chief Executive Officer, a position he held until his death.
Maurice was highly respected for his honesty and integrity as well as his vast knowledge and expertise in the world of finance.
Maurice loved life, and was passionate about living it to the fullest. He loved to travel, whether for business or pleasure. He delighted in describing his experiences abroad. He loved London where he worked for six months, and visited all the nearby sights; Singapore was fascinating to him; the Tuscan Wine Country tour he took in Italy, he half joked, made him an “expert” in Italian wine; and, of all these places, he enjoyed Brazil most, and even learned to speak Portuguese. He spoke often of wanting to vacation there again, and of wanting his brother, Stephen, to accompany him. Maurice was certain Stephen would enjoy himself immensely.
Maurice also loved theater, baseball, and football, whether live or on television. One of his favorite pictures was of his daughters Lyndsay, Brittany, and himself at a NY Yankee’s game.
Above all, Maurice was a devoted and caring father to his children, Matthew, Lyndsay, and Brittany. And, “the apple of his eye” was his little grandson, Ayden, who called him, “Mo-Mo.” Throughout his life, through thick and thin, his closest friend was his younger brother, Stephen, who, especially in the last declining years of Maurice’s life, was always there to support and help him unconditionally. Always there, too, for Maurice were his nephew, Stephen, and Stephen’s wife, Susan.
Maurice had a full life, a life of hard work crowned with success in his chosen field, a life filled with joy as well as sorrow, illness, and pain. If he were here today, he would be the first to express his gratitude to the doctors and hospitals that kept him alive and gave him hope during his 12 year struggle with cancer.
Maurice never gave up the fight; his struggle to live life with dignity took a promethean measure of courage and fortitude few of us have. Let us remember him for his courage, dignity integrity, generosity, and love.
Maurice died on December 30, 2017 in Harrisburg, North Carolina and is survived and mourned by his three children, Matt, Lynds, and Britt as he affectionately called them, and grandson, Ayden, his brothers, John and Stephen, his sister, Rowena, his nephew, Stephen and Stephen’s wife, Susan, five other nephews, eight nieces, numerous cousins and friends.
Rest in Peace.
A Prayer of Love
Love is patient; love is kind.
Love is not envious, or boastful, or arrogant, or rude.
It does not insist on its own way.
It is not irritable, or resentful;
It does not rejoice in wrong doing,
But rejoices in truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
Hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends.
And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three.
And the greatest of these is love.
First Corinthians.
29 o
Poet's Page No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
John Donne, (17th Meditation, 1624)
At the Water’s Edge
At the water’s edge,
Sand and salty tears mix together,
And slip into a sea of memories.
Life ebbs away, stillness comes,
And calm returns to the turbulent waters of life.
Embrace the setting sun.
It is as beautiful as the red dawn.
Float on a cloud-bed of cool water,
Out to sea from whence we all came and shall
return.
All will be well; a new journey begins.
For Maurice with Love, Rowena
Winter Nights at the Rink
Central Park on Winter Nights
Chilled to the Bone,
We Didn’t Even Notice The Cold.
We Skated and Laughed,
As We Tried to Master
Those Figure Eights
Full of Hot Chocolate,
And the Dreams of Youth,
Round and Round We Circled,
As Blades Scraped the Ice,
And Snow Fell Gently.
Life Was So Spontaneous,
So Joyful, So Full
We lived the Promise
Of Youth’s Dreams,
My Brother and I,
As We Ran Breathlessly
Over the Meandering Paths,
Through the Tunnel,
To Central Park South
We Had So Much Fun.
For Maurice with Love, Rowena
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