Last Updated 04/2013

MARYLAND

After graduating in 1967, I went to work as a chemist for the Sinclair Oil Company at their research lab in Harvey, Illinois. I worked in catalytic reforming and was named as co-inventor on two U. S. Patents. I married June Mannheimer QC67 La Petite Maison in 1969, whom I met during freshman year. Then I had a variety of transportation jobs with ARCO, into which Sinclair was merged, as well as a medium sized trucking company and the Interstate Commerce Commission, a former federal agency. There have been many subsequent positions with other organizations including a county and a city government. My longest job is where I still work, The Corporation for National and Community Service. This is the federal agency that manages the AmeriCorps and other domestic volunteer service programs. I am still working for CNCS after nearly 15 years.

Having celebrated our 44th anniversary we have two children, Ivan and Rachel and six grandchildren from Ivan and his wife Sharon. All of us live within a 25 minute driving radius in Montgomery County, Maryland.

In addition to enjoying our grandchildren, June continues teaching French and I keep working in the accountability profession where I attempt to keep the many ever-present business risks under control.

Last Updated 03/2024

FLORIDA

After graduating in 1973, I went to work for the accounting firm now known as Deloitte, (then, Haskins and Sells) hated every minute of it, transferred to South Florida, with the firm where I met my wife of 46 years; Barbara, a Miami Beach native, which was a rare find in those days. Meanwhile, still hating the work, I started my own CPA firm, followed by starting our family. The kids were a lot of fun, but the accounting, not so much. In the late 80's I started to work as a financial planner and found my calling. The accounting firm was sold in early 1990 and Tobias Financial Advisors was born, which today is a successful fee-only wealth management consulting firm.

My profession, which did not exist when I graduated college, would become an integral part of my life. I have been very fortunate to have been involved first on a local, but then mostly on a national basis over the years. Worked extensively with and chaired what is now known as the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission of the CFP Board. That work was in addition to building my firm and working with various organizations trying to make a difference and making the Financial Service industry responsible to the consumer.

Although I never expected to stop working; since I really loved it and considered it fun, in 2017 I sold my business to my employees in order to care for my wife, who was suffering from multiple medical issues. We had moved from the suburbs to Hollywood Beach, where our neighbors constituted a real United Nations with most of the residents being from overseas; living there was a great experience. Although we loved traveling, we were not able to do much because of my wife’s illness. Her suffering ended as she passed away in January.

We had two children, the first was Danny, who now lives with his wife and my three grandchildren in North Carolina and has followed in my footsteps as a great financial planner. We lost our daughter Rachel in 2005 who succumbed to a rare disease called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

I have a lot of travel to catch up on. Just got back from a cruise, taking my grandchildren and their parents on a Disney cruise in a few weeks and have booked another for December and a around the world cruise for early 2025. Happy Sailing!

Last Updated 07/2017

NEW JERSEY

I'm married to Valerie Levenberg nee Scharf, since 1973 (44 years). We've been living in East Brunswick, NJ, since 1979. I work at Leidos, a defense contractor, previously SAIC, and before that, Telcordia Technologies, Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), and Bell Labs. Valerie spent years at The Edison Project, later renamed Edison Schools, and is now retired.

Valerie and I get to Manhattan pretty often. We have an apartment on the Upper West Side at the Hudson River and enjoy dining out, strolling, taking in the sites, and being near Lincoln Center.

My son Keith is an attorney in Washington, DC and lives with our daughter-in-law Tamar and our two grandsons, Sam (7 years) and Josh (16 months) and their dog Oscar (10 years), and we get to visit them pretty often in Washington, DC. It was easier when they were living on the Upper West Side a 10-minute walk from our apartment!

I used to play tennis regularly with a group of co-workers for some 25 years but gave that up a few years ago.

Back in Queens College, I used to play lead guitar with a 5-piece rock band, often playing regularly in bars and clubs, but I quit it after graduation in 1968 when I started a real job. After not playing at all for about 15 years, 3 years ago I picked up guitar again and have been having fun taking jazz lessons online.