Conrad Eberstein ’65 Bio Part 2

In our last e-letter in February, we provided the first portion of Conrad’s bio.  Here’s the rest of the story:-

 

After graduating in 1965, Conrad began 3 years at Penn law and lived in the law school dorm on Sansom Street. A day or so after law school began, Conrad heard someone with a British accent in the dormitory hall.  Conrad introduced himself to Robin Wilson, a foreign student (“I’m not foreign, I’m English”) who the University placed in the law school dorm, despite or perhaps because of Robin’s studying for an advanced degree in mathematics. Almost immediately, Robin and Conrad struck up what turned out to be a life-time friendship, based, in part, on a mutual love of word play . . . alright, puns. 

 

Conrad, who fairly regularly had dinner at Mr. Marshall’s table at 3909 Spruce, brought Robin up, and at some point in 1966, Robin was inducted into the halls of SPE. Many of you know that Robin’s dad was UK’s prime minister, Harold Wilson, making Penn Delta the only chapter who had a real, live brother whose dad was the British prime minister.

 

After law school in 1968, a time of Vietnam war protests, etc., Conrad enlisted in the Navy, which, “conveniently,” removed him from the draft list.  Meanwhile, back in his home NJ Congressional District, Conrad was a candidate for alternate convention delegate on the Eugene McCarthy (“Clean for Gene”) ticket.  

 

That Congressional district was also the home of NJ Governor Dick Hughes, who headed an uncommitted slate.  The McCarthy slate lost, and by only 200 votes. In the Navy, Conrad was a Yeoman, which is Navy-ese for paper-pusher.  His first duty station was with an air squadron on Guam. That squadron had assigned duties in South Korea, Danang (Vietnam), Bangkok and at Townsville RAAF base in Queensland, Australia. Being responsible for the detachment paperwork which accompanied sailors on monthly work-station duty, Conrad saw “duty” in each of those 4 places. His last duty station was with the Naval Administrative Unit at the Washington Navy Yard where he handled paperwork for the Naval and Marine personnel at Camp David, the White House Staff Mess, and the Presidential Yacht Sequoia.  (The President at that time was Richard Nixon;  nice job for a Democrat.)

 

While living in Alexandria, VA, with 5 other sailors, Conrad met Jacqueline Seasock, a nurse who lived next-door with 2 other George Washington University Hospital nurses.  Jackie and Conrad married (in Reading, PA) in 1973, Conrad having literally married the girl next door.

 

Heading to New York City where Conrad began a “Wall Street career,” the recession of 1975 presented Conrad with the opportunity to close down his bankrupt firm, duPont Walston.  He was the firm’s last corporate secretary. In 1975, Conrad joined the campaign of presidential candidate Jimmy Carter and, after the nominating convention held in NYC, became NY State scheduler for the Carter-Mondale ticket.

 

While serving as acting director of real estate for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, corporate annual fund manager for The New York Public Library, and the University’s first capital fund raiser for The Penn Club, Conrad frequently took the train  to Philadelphia to tend to Penn Delta, as most of us know.  There he participated with Bed Wooley 1916, Brodie Broadbent ’29, Red Herbst ’29, Dave Ffrench ’51, Jim Hughes ’52, Don Sontag ’53, Gerry Robinson ’54 and several members of the storied members of the class of 1955 and even wound up, for a time, as Pennsylvania Delta Foundation president. 

 

Indeed, it was Conrad who found our present house at 4028 Walnut Street and asked Brother Robert G. Dunlop ’31, president of Sun Oll and Penn’s board of trustees chairman to introduce the enabling resolution which allowed for to purchase and remodel 4028 for our undergrads.  (It helped that the property’s owner, a medical doctor, was Bob Dunlop’s personal physician.)

 

On a national level, Conrad sparked Fraternity interest in having the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation underwrite a program to have groups of undergraduates participate in an 8 or 9 day “tour” of various Ancient Greek sites in order to show them where many of the concepts which underscore SigEp’s values, such as V,D, and BL and Sound Mind/Sound Body were part of the basic education of the male youth of Athens. (So far, two Penn Delta undergrads have partaken in the Quest, Jon Pomeroy ’05, and Stelios Plakas ’09.) 

 

Conrad served as an alumnus mentor and joined an academic mentor on 3 Quests, named now in honor long-time SigEp volunteer Bill Tragos, a Greek-American alumnus who has supported the journey for over 20 years. In New York, Conrad served as as alumni board president of two new chapters established in the 90’s, at St. John’s University in Queens and at Columbia.  The St. John’s chapter lasted for only 10 years, and their alumni are actively petitioning HQ for reinstatement, and the Columbia chapter will observe it’s 25th Anniversary next year, 2024. At the 1999 Conclave in Chicago, Conrad received the Fraternity’s Order of the Golden Heart in recognition of his volunteer activity.  It is the sixth OGH awarded to a member of Penn Delta.  (Undergrad Josh Krotec ’00, sat next to Conrad when the OGH was conferred;  Josh expects to attend the McCron gathering.) 

 

Jackie and Conrad retired in 2014 and moved from New York City to Richmond, a city they came to know after several Civil War-related visits.  Apparently it didn’t hurt that SigEp’s Richmond headquarters was only 20 minutes away from their home, either.

 

Conrad often expresses gratitude to have known so many chapter alumni and undergrads, and looks forward to The Penn Club gathering as much as we do.

 

Happy 80th Birthday, Conrad;  you made it.

 

Brett Danko, ’90,                                                    Dan Olson, ’99

Pennsylvania Delta Foundation President       Pennsylvania Delta Vice President/Communications