Growing old is inevitable, but these two seniors, who were nominated by their peers, have proven that age doesn't have to slow you down. With years of accomplishment behind them, Major Nathan Kline and Dr. Robert Strauss continue to give back to the Lehigh Valley and earn recognitions for their achievements.
Major Nathan Kline, 93
Country Meadows, Allentown
At 93 years old, Major Nathan Kline could be deemed impressive based solely on the fact that he gets himself to Planet Fitness five days a week by 6 a.m. But that's not where his list of recent accomplishments, recognitions and responsibilities ends. The esteemed veteran serves on a double-digit number of boards in the Valley, continuing to give back to his community and his country.
In 1942, Major Kline enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces at 18 years old. Hoping to be a fighter pilot, his eyesight needed to be 20/20. Knowing he wouldn't pass the test at 20/40, he snuck in and memorized the eye chart. “That's how I got started,” he laughs. After his mischievous beginning, Major Kline was active in the reserve for 42 years, up until 1984, flying 65 bombing missions in WWII. “I was shot down twice in one week,” he says.
His admirable service has not gone unnoticed. Just two years ago, he was awarded the Legion of Honour for his endeavors that contributed to the liberation of the people of France. “It's [France's] Medal of Honor,” he says.
Major Kline's activism continues today through his work with the Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council (LVMAC), which he helped found nearly 15 years ago. Of the non-profit's achievements, he lists one in particular. “We were able to get four main hospitals together, here in the Lehigh Valley, to accept veterans,” he says, explaining, “they work directly with the VA.” As the closest Veterans Affairs hospital is 70 miles away, it can be increasingly difficult for veterans in their 80s and 90s to get there.
Additionally, for the last three years, he has worked under the mayor of Allentown, serving as his right hand for military affairs and assisting with anything that involves local veterans. But still, that's not enough to keep him busy. Just recently, he was made secretary of the Board of Associates at LVHN. He is on the board of the NAACP and the Allentown Economic Development Corporation, and is vice president of the Martin Luther King Corporation. “I spread myself,” he jokes. What's more, for the past three or four years, he's been swearing in and signing the contracts of all the recruits for the Air Force Reserves in the Lehigh Valley. “I think they estimated I've sworn in over a hundred,” he says. For this work, he was recently recognized by the Air Force with the Certificate of Appreciation for exceptional support to recruiting services.
Of his profound connection to the military, he simply says, “It's part of me.”
Though he's only been at Country Meadows of Allentown for two years, he's received around 40 awards during his time there. “I don't know where to put any more,” he laughs, noting the Unsung Hero Award he received last year from the Pennsylvania Congress. “Of course, I know the senators very well. Charlie Dent is a good friend of mine.”
“The honors that I have received as a retired vet is very rewarding,” he says. When it comes to the future generations, he hopes for a larger interest in the military: “Younger people coming in and getting their time in, and learning discipline and respecting our country.”
Prior to residing at Country Meadows, Major Kline had spent seven years lecturing at the community as a guest speaker. “I'm very well known here,” he jokes. And still, he spends time lecturing at local high schools, clubs and organizations, sharing his story and imparting a little bit of wisdom.
Dr. Robert Strauss, 80
Fellowship Community, Whitehall
Despite having retired two decades ago, Dr. Robert Strauss has not slowed down. It's not as though he hadn't accomplished enough during his first 60 years of life (truly, he had), but Dr. Strauss has simply refused to stop creating and learning—even if that learning entailed a 100-question exam issued by Penn State Lehigh Valley.
He moved from Philadelphia to the Lehigh Valley in the early 1970s, after doing a routine operation on a little girl who had traveled to him from Allentown. When he questioned the patient's father why they had come all that way to have such a simple surgery, he was told that no one in the area was doing what he was doing, and he was urged to come check it out.
Dr. Strauss was almost immediately welcomed by the ear, nose, throat, head and neck surgery divisions at Sacred Heart and Allentown Hospital, and started his own practice in the area. “As more ENT people came, then I became chief of the ENT department of those two hospitals,” he says. But he wasn't sure it was fair. “I said I thought that it might be better if we rotate that so that everybody has a chance to do that,” he explains. “Because
I didn't feel that I had any right to do it more than they did, other than that I came earlier.” Moving forward, the chief of the department rotated every three to four years.
Then, when the chief of the entire surgical department at Sacred Heart got sick, a letter was sent out to all of the surgeons about the open position. “I did not answer that letter,” he says. “I wasn't thinking I wanted to do that.” But two weeks later, he was approached by the administrator, saying they were disappointed with the applicants and that the team named him as the person they wanted.
Dr. Strauss would maintain his chief statuses at both hospitals until his retirement.
Having gone to medical school to be a family doctor, he didn't always know that a career in surgery would be his fate. It wasn't until his time as a captain in the Air Force, where he headed patient care for wounded soldiers, that he discovered his passion for it. “That experience was probably the benchmark of my whole life,” he says. Following his time at medical school, he was drafted for the Vietnam War, as there was a need for doctors, and was stationed in the Philippines.
During the second year of the war, the Air Force's full-time head and neck surgeon lost the assistant who had been helping him, and he asked Dr. Strauss to step in. Dr. Strauss explained that he only had a little experience in general surgery, but was quickly assured that he would learn all that he needed to know. Soon after returning to the states, Dr. Strauss completed the necessary steps to become a surgeon, including another residency.
Once retired, Dr. Strauss and his wife traveled extensively for the next ten years. “We got to every continent, and we camped in almost all the states of the United States.”
When his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in her early 70s, he spent his time caring for her. After she passed away, he worked with a nurse at Fellowship Community to start a group to help care for people with dementia, titled the Memory Support Care Group. “Every month we meet, and we try and help counsel these people and help them with whatever problems they have,” he says of the group, which continues to grow. “I feel with the experience I have that I'm giving something back.”
At the same time, he got involved with the grounds committee, which, he says, “takes care of the beautification of the whole place.” Dr. Strauss was quickly asked to take the place of a resident who had formerly helped with gardening, as he had previously proven his expertise: When Dr. Strauss had noticed that some of the townhomes on his row had gardens in front of them that were just sitting there filled with mud, he began fixing them up. After he had finished one, “the dominos started to fall,” he says. By the end of the month, his whole row was filled with gardens, and he started on the other courts.
He always had a deep-rooted appreciation for gardening—his father loved to garden, and he worked in flower shops and greenhouses as a young adult. Once he got started with Fellowship's grounds committee, he realized that whenever there was a problem, a master gardener was called in to help. Dr. Strauss decided that he should apply to be one himself. But first, he would need to enroll in a competitive course at Penn State Lehigh Valley, which entails passing a 100-question test and the completion of 50 hours of volunteer work with a non-profit organization. “I'll be doing 50 hours a week [at Fellowship Community],” he jokes.
He's happy to do it. “It's always been sort of my pleasure,” he says. “I like the field, being out there and not being interrupted. Creating things and watching things grow.” And now that he's on the master gardener committee, he's excited to get involved with some bigger projects in the community.
