D. Mark Kennet
11745 Lovejoy Street
Silver Spring, Maryland 20902-1632
29 August 1999
Dr. Lois M. Graff
171 Quail Run
Conway, SC 29526
Dear Lois,
My aunts, Abbie Mudie Geertz and Buffy Mudie Bachman, recently shared with me your painstaking research into the descendants of Jakob Bohmer. First, let me say thank you for undertaking such a mammoth task!
I just thought I'd add a little information to your data tree.
Under Anna Elizabeth and John, then Sadie Hatzfeld Walder:
Elsie Louise ("Elsie Lou") Mudie (22 June 1927 - ) converted to Judaism and married Moshe Kennet (1 May 1926 - 4 June 1994) in 1953. Elsie, an educator holding a master's in education (University of Pittsburgh) and another in library science (Drexel University), spent her career in teaching and libraries. She retired as a reference librarian from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in 1988. She is a gentle, good-natured person who, while somewhat reserved at first, quickly warms up to people (at least those she finds agreeable) and has always made sacrifices for others in her family. She has always loved nothing more than to be able to read a book or newspaper curled up on a sofa or to take a dog or two for a walk in the walk in the woods. Moshe served as a top sergeant in the elite pre-State of Israel fighting unit called Palmach. Like Elsie, he also devoted his career to teaching, first in public and religious schools in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and from 1966 onward, at Kutztown University, where he retired as a history professor in 1992. He had a bachelor's and a master's in history from the University of Pittsburgh and was ABD in history from Dropsie University, where he studied under Bernard Weinryb, the internationally renowned specialist in European Jewish history. A warmhearted, outgoing man, he loved playing farmer on his little spread outside Kutztown and holding forth to any audience he could find on the burning issues of the day, especially Middle Eastern politics. He, too, was an ardent dog- and book-lover. Moshe died of complications from heart surgery in 1994. Elsie is now an Alzheimer's patient living with her oldest son, David Mark Kennet, in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Elsie and Moshe had three sons. They are
David Mark Kennet (10 February 1957 - ). Mark (yours truly) is an economist, currently working as Associate Professor of Telecommunications at George Washington University in Washington, DC, and as a consultant to the World Bank. He has a bachelor's in economics and math from Carnegie Mellon University and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and has worked at the University of California - Santa Cruz, Tulane University, Johns Hopkins University, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Federal Communications Commission. Mark married Dr. Karen Miriam Orloff (20 December 1952 - ) a clinical psychologist, on 26 May 1991. Mark and Karen have two sons in the Spanish immersion program in Montgomery County, MD:
Benjamin Zachary Avram Kennet (15 May 1992 - ), a second-grader
Aaron Moshe Kennet (15 October 1994 - ), a kindergartener
Edward Ira Kennet (30 July 1958 - ).
Ed is an accountant working for Sara Lee Inc. He has his bachelor's degree in accounting from Muhlenberg College. He previously worked for Kiwi Brands, Inc., and as a real estate salesman. Ed married Marcia McKiernan (1959 - ), a doctor's receptionist, in 1979. They have three children
Joshua Kennet (currently about 15 years old)
Katie Kennet (currently about 12 years old)
Michael Kennet (currently about 10 years old)
(Unfortunately, I don't have a wonderful relationship with this brother, so I don't have more information.)
Joel Max Kennet (23 September 1960 - ). Joel is a research post-doctoral fellow at Penn State University in cognitive psychology. He earned his bachelor's and a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to his academic career. Joel worked at a manager for Domino's Pizza, Inc. and B. Dalton, Inc. While Joel is an accomplished researcher, his real passions are skiing and ping-pong. Joel is unmarried (a situation he plans to change shortly) and has no children. He is in the process of seeking a research job in the Washington, DC, area.
I hope this note doesn't seem too self-serving, but I know that people (including myself) often enjoy knowing at least some details about enjoy knowing at least some details about relatives they may never have met. In any case, I am very proud of my parents' lives in accomplishments - they made anything I have been able to do possible. Please do feel free to utilize this information in any future of your wonderful book!
Very best regards,
Mark Kennet
