In a dazzling display of fraternity and brimming with excitement,
We have gathered today to bid farewell to a friend.
It is a brief event vainly attempting to sum it all up.
Standing majestically behind the tributes we pay you today
Lies a life-time of hard work, dedication, and loyalty to Lederle.
You marched for thirty-nine years like a soldier,
Living the three endangered virtues of our time: honor,duty, and love of man.
Long after the echoes of this evening have died,
There will remain forever enshrined in our hearts: your simple dignity,
unalloyed humanity, and unaffected way.
What you leave for Lederle will endure long,
But the one shinning monument which will not be buried in the quicksand of time is you.
Today we celebrate your going away,
Tomorrow we will miss you.
