PW OGS Partner John Korbel Passes Away Unexpectedly

Update Sept 27, 2024: John Korbel's wife Pamela Korbel passed away on Wednesday, September 25, 2024 with their two sons at her side.

I'm sad to share the shocking news that former PW OGS partner John Korbel passed away suddenly earlier this week on April 20, 2023. He was 76 and recently recovered from open heart surgery. He's survived by his wife Pam and sons Peter and Joe. As some of you know, he is the younger brother of former Secretary of State and UN ambassador Madeline Albright. John is a graduate of Williams College and completed his post-graduate studies at the Univerity of Colorado at Boulder. He joined Price Waterhouse in 1981 as a manager in the Office of Government Services and eventually was admitted as a partner. After PW and Coopers & Lybrand merged to form PWC, he becamse the Global Risk Management and Compliance Operations Leader. In 2008, he advised start-ups, did executive recruiting, and provided consulting servces to a variety of organizations.   

Obituary

From his family:

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my beloved husband, our devoted father, and your loyal friend. Thank you all for your love, support, and for being a part of John's life. We are deeply grateful for your friendship.

John was a kind, generous, and loving man who touched the lives of so many people. He had a mischievous smile, and a warm personality that made everyone feel welcome and valued. His love for us was evident in everything he did. He was always there to offer guidance, support, and a listening ear, and had a way of making even the toughest situations seem manageable.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my beloved husband, our devoted father, and your loyal friend. Thank you all for your love, support, and for being a part of John's life. We are deeply grateful for your friendship.John was a kind, generous, and loving man who touched the lives of so many people. He had a mischievous smile, and a warm personality that made everyone feel welcome and valued. His love for us was evident in everything he did. He was always there to offer guidance, support, and a listening ear, and had a way of making even the toughest situations seem manageable.

 

The celebration of John's life will be held on Saturday, May 20, 2023 from 10:30 am-2:30 pm at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, D.C.

 

PW OGS/Gateway Group 50th Anniversary - Save the Date

Join us over the June 9-11, 2023 weekend in Arlington, VA to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of OGS and the 25th annniversary of the PW/C&L merger.

Mix and mingle with old friends and former colleagues. We had more than 100 people attend the previous reunions in 2018 and 2013. 

Registration opens in early May.

Schedule:

• Friday, June 9 - Happy Hour at the Westin Arlington Gateway
  5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
  
  
  Commentary Social House restaurant
  
  Westin Arlington Gateway
  801 N. Glebe Road
  Arlington, VA 22203
  
  
  
• Saturday, June 10 - Dinner at the Westin Arlington Gateway ($tbd/person + cash bar)
  6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
  
  Commentary Social House restaurant
  
  
  Westin Arlington Gateway
  801 N. Glebe Road
  Arlington, VA 22203
• Sunday, June 11 - Brunch at CarPool
  12 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
  
  CarPool
  900 N Glebe Rd, Arlington, VA 22203 

International Partner Pete MacVeagh Passes Away at Age 90

Charles "Pete" MacVeagh was a PW partner and founded the international consulting group in OGS in 1976. He passed away on September 19, 2022 at the age of 90 and was buried in his hometown of Webster Groves, Missouri.

"He was a great man with a great heart and lots of creative ideas." - Kami Rahbani

Link to Obituary

Pippa Rees passes away peacefully in August 2022

I'm very sad to share that our friend and fellow PW/PwC colleague Pippa Rees passed away peacefully on August 4, 2022 in her home country of Wales which is part of the United Kingdom. Donations can be made in her memory directly to the British Heart Foundation. She was in her early 70's when she passed away. She is survived by a sister and several nephews including Jonathan who passed on the news. He said "she was glad to live in a beautiful part of Wales where she could go for long walks along the coast each day."

Born in the early 1950's as Phillipa Jacqueline Louise Rees, she moved to Hong Kong in 1952 until 1967. She moved back to Wales where she attended Howell's School in Cardiff, graduating in 1969. Later, she attended Swansea University in Wales and earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and American Studies in 1979. She moved back to Hong Kong and worked for the Hong Kong Government until 1983. She joined Coopers & Lybrand in 1985 and by 1987, switched to Price  Waterhouse in Hong Kong when she started to work with colleagues in PW-OGS in Washington, DC. Later, she earned her Master of Arts in Far East Studies in 1990 at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.

Professionally, she worked on projects in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in both conflict and post-conflict environments, specializing in developing and implementing civilian and military policies.

Pippa moved to Washington, D.C. in 1997 and officially joined OGS where she focused on marketing the firm services to international development agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the World Bank.  She was there when Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand merged in 1998. After leaving the firm in 2002 when IBM acquired PwC Consulting, she continued as a management consultant. until she moved back to Wales and retired.

Pippa will be missed by her family, friends, and colleagues.

 

Sudden Passing of Glenn Galfond

It is with great shock to share that Glenn Galfond passed away recently after suffering a heart attack. He was 64. 

Funeral services were held on Monday, May 31 at the Temple Beth Ami in Rockville, MD. He is remembered for his constant smile and being a family man with three children, an expert consultant in his field, and a mentor.

He earned a B.S. in Mathematics from the Univesity of Maryland in College Park and then a Ph.D. in Statistics from Stanford University in 1982.

Glenn joined Price Waterhouse's Office of Government Services in 1984 as a manager and was admitted as a partner in the late 1980's. He became leader of the Quantitative Methods/Management Analytics group. He was at PW/PwC until 2002 when IBM acquired PwC Consulting. He worked at IBM for more than 9 years, achieving the dinstinction of Distinguished Engineer and later retired in 2012. He worked as an independent consultant.

He eventually retired from Potomac, MD to central Florida near Orlando.

He is survived by his former wife Laurie Heffler Galfond, brother Stephen Galfond, and three children: Phil, Jeff, and Emily; and grandson Spencer.