1980 to January 1, 2006
By: Joseph A. Bischof
Acknowledgements
Before I recognize those that have helped me so much in providing information for this story, I must apologize to those members of CMERA who have provided so much of their time and talent over the years, and are not recognized herein in any way.
This Association has done so much for retirees of the City of Cincinnati, but it has failed in keeping good records. If it was not for the information obtained from the following, this story would never have been told. I therefore extend my sincere thanks to:
- Ray Klenk, who at 94 years young searched his memory as to how the Association was started.
- Thelma Merritt, who shared her own records of those early years.
- Jim Nuxoll, who provided his own records for some of the later years.
- Rick Pfliegel, the current secretary, who provided what limited secretarial records that were available and background information on CincyRetiree.
- Don Beets, the current President, who provided what limited Association records that were available.
- The Policy Committee ( Paul Smith, Jim Johns, Sheila Mudd Baker, Rick Pfliegel ) for their encouragement and editing skills.
Prologue
You might wonder how one becomes involved in writing a story like this. Well to tell you the truth it was very easy. CMERA’s newest officers and directors are very energetic, and have brought to the Association a much needed change in direction because of the way the city has changed, especially with its ever tighter budgets. In addition to their efforts to move ahead, they have shown great interest in looking at CMERA’s history.
To do this they needed a historian. That eliminated most of the Governing Board because they are too young, and so you look to someone with the grayest hair, and was crazy enough to hold up his hand. Therefore my advice to those who might read this is, never hold up your hand if you don’t want to be called on. Regardless of those events, I have enjoyed looking back on all those wonderful years.
This history of CMERA may not be told in the software application style that the new Board members were looking for, because that is beyond my current skills, but at least it is being written the old fashion way. In addition there are those that may disagree with some of the things that are written herein, and that can be due to the fact that I have used my literary license, and in some cases even expressed my own opinions. Nevertheless,
Here we go and I hope you enjoy “The CMERA Story“.