Barbara Traiger and George Gershon’s romance began as many had before and many after. In 1951 the two Baruch (then City College Downtown) students met in 17 Lex’s Student Lounge. As evening session students, they had limited time for clubs or fraternities but “managed to get to an occasional dance and basketball game,” says George. Their romance and their lives were simply on a different schedule than their day session peers, who attended full time.
Even if their collegiate lives couldn’t be fast-tracked, George and Barbara’s life together could. By the time they graduated in 1956, George and Barbara had been married for more than two years. “I took my last final exam before graduation the same night my daughter was born,” laughs George of those hectic days.
Barbara was a business major, with interests in real estate and insurance; George’s major was accounting. For over two decades, the Gershons were in the restaurant business in Manhattan, owning a delicatessen and four fast-food sandwich shops. They put that experience to good use when they decided in 1977 to “give back” by becoming teachers at New York’s Food & Maritime Trades High School (later Park West High School). “Teaching kids in a vocational setting how to make a living by becoming chefs and/or restaurant owners was the most fulfilling thing we have ever done,” says Barbara. “We are still in touch with many of them,” she adds.
Married for 58 years, the Gershons sum their lives up as “interesting, fun, and full of love. Above all, we are each other’s best friend.”
Still active today, they live near their children in South Florida. “We have Baruch to thank for everything that we have done and are capable of doing,” they say.
—Diane Harrigan
Want more love? Read the story of another Baruch couple, Valerie and Martin (Shark) Gitter, who met at the College in 1948.