Posted by Terry Powers on January 27, 2023:

LEWIS L. ZICKEL 1949 Cullum No. 17289-1949 | May 13, 2007 | Died in Dobbs Ferry, NY Interred in West Point Post Cemetery, West Point, NY As you walk the grounds of West Point, wherever you look, you will spot a build­ing with Lew's imprint on it. Lewis Lowenstein Zickel was born on 25 Mar 1927 in Newark, NJ, to Abraham and Bessie Lowenstein Zickel. As a nine-year-old, on a one-day family trip to West Point, Lew stood on the Plain in awe. This trip changed his life forever. On the way home, Lew announced that he wanted to go to "that place." That boyhood desire survived throughout his years in Montclair, NJ, where he graduat­ed from Montclair High School in 1944. Lew was active in the Boy Scouts, Civil Air Patrol and gymnastics. He entered the Newark College of Engineering and, after one year there, received an appointment to West Point from Senator Hawkes of New Jersey. Lew en­tered in July 1945, with the Class of '49. His cadet activities included the gymnastics team Plebe year. He sang in the Jewish Choir and joined the Spanish Club. In his First Class year, Lew worked on the yearbook and carried the guidon for K-1 Company. Upon graduation, Lew was commissioned in the Infantry and attended the Ground General School at Ft. Riley, KS, and the Basic Infantry Course at Ft. Benning, GA. While at Ft. Benning, he met Barbara Kessler of Atlanta, whom he later married. Lew received orders to Japan, but the outbreak of the Korean War changed all that. Lew soon reported to Charlie Company, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He found himself on the Naktong River defensive position in Korea. After six months of fierce combat with his rifle company, he became the regimental air liaison officer, flying 78 missions in an L-19 light plane over the battle area. Lew ended his combat tour as a company commander, hav­ing earned six battle stars. He was awarded the Bronze Star for valor, two Air Medals and the Combat Infantryman Badge. On returning from Korea, Lew and Barbara were married. He initially was sta­tioned at Ft. Dix, NJ, commanding a basic training company, but later transferred to First Army Headquarters. In 1952, a son, Mark Henry, was born at Staten Island, NY. The next year, Lew resigned his commis­sion and joined the U.S. Army Reserves. He later rose to the rank of colonel. Lew and his family moved to Atlanta, where he became a civil and structural engineer. The year 1957 brought the Zickels a daughter, Karen Sue, but in 1967 the marriage ended in divorce. In 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Lew was called to active duty for three months to help with riot control in the Southern Command. Thereafter, Lew moved to New York City to become a vice president of United National Corporation. He developed a reputation as a forensic engineer and was a founder of the American Society of Forensic Engineers. During this time, he met Yael Novak, who was born in Israel and had moved to the United States with her daughters, Iris and Tami, to earn her doctorate in Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. On 23 Dec 1973, they were married and set­tled in Dobbs Ferry, embarking on a journey that would span the next 34 years. In 1965, Lew received a call asking him to attend a meeting to discuss raising funds to build a Jewish Chapel at West Point. Lew be­came a founding member of the West Point Jewish Chapel Fund, supervising the design and construction of the Cadet Jewish Chapel. After the Chapel was built, he became President of the West Point Jewish Council, coordinating the cadet activities there. When the Class of '49 selected as its 50th reunion gift to the Academy a lodge on Delafield Road for cadet recreational activities, Lew became its engineering project manager. Lew, together with Lou Gross '54 and Herb Lichtenberg '55, or the "Three Amigos" as they came to be called, continued to be involved in numerous construction projects at West Point. On all of these major projects, Lew was the engineer­ing and construction consultant. Most of his contributions were "pro bono," at no expense to West Point. Lew supervised the repair of the Catholic Chapel, worked on the Cadet Chapel and the Old Post Chapel, and oversaw the building of the new baseball stadium and the renova­tion of the Commandant's quarters. The most ambitious undertaking of the "Three Amigos" was the funding and construction of housing for the major sports coaches at West Point. Again, Lew identified the site and the contrac­tor to supervise the construction of nine, four-bedroom, 3,000 square foot homes. Lew also contributed his engineering skills to Dobbs Ferry, NY, where he was elected as a village trustee and served in this capacity and later as deputy mayor for ten years. During his lifetime, Lew received many honors. He was nominated by his class to be a Distinguished Graduate of West Point in 2007. In January 2006, he received the Order of Aaron and Hur, the highest award that the Army Chief of Chaplains can give to a civilian. In May, 2007, at Lew's 80th birthday cel­ebration in the Jewish Chapel, the West Point Superintendent awarded him a cadet saber, exemplifying his lifetime dedication to West Point. Most gratifying to Lew, however, were the expressions of love and admiration by his children, Mark and Karen, by Yael and their daughters Iris and Tami, and by Arian, his niece, whom he and Yael raised from age 15. Lew received, posthumously, the Distin­guished Service Award from the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics in September 2007, during the Army Sports Hall of Fame induc­tion ceremony. At the time of his death, Lew had com­pleted his manuscript, "Swifter than Eagles, Stronger than Lions; The Jews of West Point's Long Gray Line." After a long illness, he died at home peacefully in his sleep, with Yael, his wife of 34 years, at his side. He left four chil­dren and 12 grandchildren. By his courage on the battlefield and his abiding love for his family and his alma mater, Lew exemplified the highest ideals of West Point. "May it be said, well done. Be thou at peace."

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