The Rochester Review, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA
THE FLORESCUES: MAYBE IT'S GENETIC
A couple of years ago, when Leonard Florescue '67 had a daughter who was choosing a college, it wasn't easy to "soft pedal my feelings for Rochester," admits this New York City lawyer.
Heather Florescue '00, pictured in the River Campus Florescue-von Manstein Plaza
"I didn't want to keep hitting her over the head with how great the place is," he recalls with a chuckle. "Yet I really wanted her to know what an excellent institution it has been for me and for so many other people in our family." Rochester might just be in the Florescue family genetic code, it seems, since she "figured out how great Rochester is all on her own," Florescue adds.
Heather Florescue '00, the daughter in question, plans on a career in medicine. Now enrolled in the Rochester Early Medical Scholars Program, she will also be a member of the University medical school Class of 2004.
Among other Florescue family connections is Leonard's older brother, Barry Florescue '66, chair and president of BFMA Management Corporation in Del Ray Beach, Florida. Barry, who was recently named to the University's Board of Trustees, is also a member of the Simon School's Executive Advisory Committee. (The open-air commons linking the school's Schlegel and Carol G. Simon halls is named the Florescue-von Manstein Plaza in honor of Barry's and his wife's parents.)
Florescue cousin Saundra "Sunny" Passar Braitman '56, '64 (Mas), an artist, "loved it at Rochester," Leonard recalls. Sunny's daughter also graduated from Rochester: Dorie Braitman Jennings '83 is now a substance-abuse counselor. Martin Robinson '60, a Florescue cousin through marriage, lives in Rochester. And cousin Bernard Rubenstein also attended the University, Florescue says, ticking off more connections.
"My brother and I went to Rochester because we had heard good things about it," Leonard Florescue recalls. (Both Florescue brothers are active alumni volunteers, according to Robin Lynn '70, director of the University's New York regional office. "We could use at least a hundred more such dynamic duos," she says.)
"When Heather left for college, she was the first from her New York City high school to attend Rochester," Leonard says. "Turns out she is happier with her choice than many of her high school friends were with theirs. Now several students from her school are either already at Rochester or are planning to attend when they graduate."
Copyright 1998, University of Rochester
