By ARCAN Board member, Roger Lowe

“We cut the death rate in the camps from 2,000 a month to less than 200 a month,” Maurice said, noting that their success earned international Red Cross recognition.

When Maurice Levite became an American Red Cross-certified lifeguard in Mississippi more than 65 years ago, it was hard to imagine that his college summer job would be the start of a long career that included positions throughout the Red Cross organization and work across the country and around the world.

Maurice’s Red Cross journey included safety services training, service to the armed forces work in Vietnam and stateside, blood services donor recruitment, chapter positions in the nation’s capital, fundraising and support for international disasters, and national fundraising leadership following the 9-11 attacks.

And following his retirement, Maurice has been involved in Red Cross retiree and alumni groups, serving as president in 2012-13 of the American Red Cross Retirees Association, the predecessor of the American Red Cross Alumni Network. He already plans to continue that support, saying that he has left a bequest in his will to the group. 

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“Three colleagues did CPR on me that morning…I’m very lucky to be alive. It was so close.”  – Terry Feheley

“A lot of people are afraid to do CPR – afraid of hurting the person they are helping. My thought was ‘I’m going to sustain life until someone arrives that can bring him back.”  – Chrisi Rogers 

Terry’s Story

We caught up with former Red Cross NHQ communicator, Terry Feheley, now living in Binghamton, New York, to hear about his Red Cross hero who performed CPR until help arrived one morning at Red Cross national headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Terry recalled, “Three colleagues did CPR on me that morning in February 2011. Gosh, it’s been almost 15 years.“Two of the women left the Red Cross years ago, but Chrisi Rogers still works in Human Resources. She and I have kept in touch since I moved home to upstate New York. 

“I don’t remember much about that week. My cardiac arrest happened early Monday morning in the first-floor lobby of the 18th Street building. I was walking over to the cafeteria in the E Street building to get some coffee and passed out. The security guard at the front desk at 18th Street heard me whack my head on one of the heavy brass doors and sounded the alarm."

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