Class: 1965
Major: Economics
Deceased: January 30, 1983
Alumni survivors: Ms. Judith N. Conklin ’64 W65 (Former Spouse)
Leonard Mahanger came to Carleton in the fall of 1961 from Georgetown, Guyana. As a foreign student, he was assigned an “American family” from Northfield, the Rev. and Mrs. Field, who remained lifelong friends. Len majored in economics and was on the track and soccer teams.
He moved to Rochester, NY, where his older brother Vibert was living, and in August, 1965, was married to Judith Jay (’64). Just in time, too, because immigration came knocking on their door about a month after he applied for his green card! Len worked for a year as an assistant buyer at Sibley’s Department Store in Rochester, and then moved to Syracuse, NY, to get an MBA at Syracuse University. Judi was working as a computer programmer for Mutual of New York.
After finishing his MBA, Len and Judi moved to Greenwich Village in New York City. Len went to work as a financial analyst for Mobil Oil in New York, NY, in 1968, and Judi transferred to MONY’s headquarters there. Len spent a couple of years working for the Urban Coalition, but then went back to Mobil. Len and Judi had two children, Mark (1970) and Deborah (1971), and Judi worked as a programmer part time at home for a while.
In 1974, Len and Judi bought a “handyman special” coop apartment in Greenwich Village and commenced renovating it, doing most of the work themselves. It took a lot longer than expected!
After seeing the half-American Vietnamese orphans on TV, they decided to adopt two children. In 1975, they brought home a brother and sister whose mother had died, also fathered by American soldiers, but from Japan. Nobuyuki (renamed Jeremy) was 3, Kimiko was 14.
Len died in a car accident in 1983. Judi worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of NY until her retirement in 2009. Mark works as a cabinet maker in Rochester, NY, and has two children, Juliet and Jonah; Deborah, in California, has a daughter, Lily. Kimi has worked for the Post Office for many years. Jeremy turned out to have a severe learning disability and works only sporadically, but lives on his own and has good friends.
Judi Conklin ’64
Comments
Len was inspiring - He took his work and his faith seriously, and made me want to be a better person. I saw the world a bit differently because of our friendship.