William A. STERN

William A. Stern passed away on Monday, July 7, 2014 was known as Bill professionally and Billy to his many friends and family. He was 69. Stern was a native of South Orange, New Jersey and had lived in New York City, Syracuse, NY, Baltimore, MD, Washington, DC, San Francisco, CA, Greenwich, CT, and for a second time in Washington, DC where he has been since 1988. Washington, DC is the city he loved the most. In 1974 Stern came to Baltimore Maryland to help his sister Sascha Wolhandler start her catering and restaurant business, SASCHA's, which has been a staple in Baltimore ever since. In 1978 he joined Image Dynamics, a regional advertising agency and public relations firm in Baltimore and soon after became Vice President, the youngest in the firm's history. He was responsible for accounts including, WBAL, The Meyerhof Symphony Hall, MCI Telecommunications, and The City of Baltimore, among others. In July 1982, Mr. Stern was the executive producer of the live news feeds to WBAL AM radio from the Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, which was the only radio broadcaster in the United States that covered the Royal Wedding with live News coverage during Drive Time. Mr. Stern joined MCI Communications Corporation in 1983 and for more than a decade served in a variety of responsibilities with the company, including leading the media relations of the launch that first brought email to the marketplace, and then upon the breakup of AT&T he served as Press Secretary to three MCI division presidents. In 1995, with his business partner, Michael A. Blum, he founded a media relations consulting firm, Media Resource Group, with offices in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, California. Media Resource Group's client base grew over the next four years to include MCI Communications Corp, GTE Spacenet, GTS Communications, Loral Air & Space, The Harvard Drug Group, and Lockheed Martin. When Lockheed Martin spun off its CIS (Communications Industry Services) division to form Neustar, Inc. in 1999. Stern to join the company, where for the next 11 years, Mr. Stern served as Media Relations & Public Relations Director, Global Director of Internal Communications, and Director of Corporate Events and Conferences. In January 2011, Mr. Stern founded another independent consulting firm, with clients that included Foxhall Partners, a real estate development firm in Washington, DC, ABET (the global Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) in Baltimore, Maryland, and Neustar, Inc. in Sterling, Virginia. He also served on the Investment Team of Friedman Capital. He is survived by his adored friends, family, and large extended family; Susan M. Wolhandler and Steven Suser of Baltimore, Maryland, Dr. Howard M. Wolhandler and Dr. Karen Lawitts of Syracuse, NY, Larry Wolhandler and Trish Hall of New York City, The Honorable Edwin H. Stern and Beverly G. Stern of Monroe Township, New Jersey, his beloved Godson, Brian D. Friedman of Washington, DC, and his nieces and nephews, Scott M. Stern of New York, NY, Mark A. Stern of West Caldwell, New Jersey, Paul D. Stern of Washington, DC, Julia R. Wolhandler of Washington, DC, Joshua D. Wolhandler of Syracuse, NY, Ryan Suser of New York, NY and Hally Wolhandler of New York, NY, numerous and loved honorary nieces and nephews, and many close friends all of whom was a great source of pleasure and pride. In lieu of flowers, please remember Billy with memorial contributions to the Jewish National Fund Tree Planting Center. Online condolences may be sent to the family through www.peacefulalternatives.com.