‘A Terrific Class’: 2022 Inductees Named for the SIC Beach Patrol Alumni Hall of Fame

Tom Lederer is flanked by sons Miles, Thomas Jr., Gerard, and Sean.

For two rowing cousins and a surf dash/paddleboard stalwart, the Hall is calling.

Rowers Gerry Lederer and Tom Montgomery join paddleboard and surf-dash star Lauren McHale as recently named 2022 inductees for the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol Alumni Hall of Fame.

The trio will be honored Oct. 8 at Carmen’s Seafood at 43rd and the bay, following an alumni-only golf outing at Avalon Golf Club.

Anyone who would like to attend the induction ceremony can pay $10 at the door for the organization and then pay for their own meals off the menu, according to John McCann, the president of the Alumni Hall of Fame.

“This is a terrific class,” McCann says. “All of our inductees were fabulous lifeguards first, and they made public safety the top of the lineup. Tommy and Gerry were terrific rowers. Lauren was an outstanding runner who is not only in the Ocean City High School Hall of Fame but was also an excellent college athlete.

“We are delighted to welcome all three into our Hall of Fame.”

Induction day will begin with the Gene Riley Annual SICBP Golf Outing, with an 8am shotgun start.

Money raised goes to charities of SICBP families who have had health issues or loss of life (Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society).

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will begin about 3pm.

Gerry Lederer

Lederer logged a life of achievements before, after and during his Sea Isle lifeguard tenure.

At St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, he was an eight-time varsity letter winner and captain of the track and field team.

Lederer then became an eight-time varsity letter winner at Haverford College. He specialized in the shot put, discus and javelin and captained the track and field team.

During the summers, he spent about six years full time on the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol. He was the rookie of the year in 1976 and won the City Championship for doubles rowing with his brother Miles in 1979.

Along the way, he learned valuable lessons that carried into the professional realm.

“It’s a wonderful way to bring back memories of an extraordinary time in my life,” Lederer says. “I was very lucky to have such generous parents that we were able to be on the beach in Sea Isle City, and it grew from there.”

Lederer has his own philosophy about why lifeguards achieve prominence – as surgeons, lawyers and company presidents – after they depart.

“The fact that you were on the patrol meant that you were spending the whole summer at the beach,” he asserts. “You were coming from a family that has a commitment to being together.

“They were all solid family values, and on the patrol there was a sense of wonderful, healthy competition. You have a sense of discipline, a sense of structure and a sense of fraternity in the teamwork. All of those things translate well into the professional world.”

As a lawyer, Lederer became a communications specialist. He represents, among other clients, towns that try to balance the desire to install technologically sophisticated cell towers and the reluctance of individuals to have the towers placed near their homes.

Based in Bethesda, Md, Lederer and his wife Sara will be married 41 years in August. They have three grown children: Sara, Gabriel and Josie.

Members of the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol, 1976. Tom Montgomery is second from left in the first row, and Gerry Lederer is seated to the far right.

Tom Montgomery

Montgomery, Lederer’s cousin and a retired salesmen from the construction industry, sees his life come full circle.

The Abington, Pa., native recalls 24 children at any time being in the home shared by the Lederer and Montgomery families on 38th Street. Several of them went on to the local Hall of Fame. He counts 17 members of the Sea Isle patrol coming from that house, which he believes is a record.

Montgomery added another chapter to the journey in 2020, purchasing a Sea Isle City residence on 58th Street. The Hall of Fame induction adds another distinction.

“I am humbled and honored by this selection,” he says. “I was with a group of lifeguards that accomplished many things and most of them are still my good friends today. You never know who you might work next to. One person could be a second-grade teacher. Another might become a surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania.

Montgomery was a full-time Sea Isle City BP member from 1973-79.

He recalls highlights like coming within a boat length of second place in the Dutch Hoffmans, gaining multiple seconds in the Tri-Cities and riding with Tommy Lederer in doubles in the 25-mile Around the Island Row in 1976.

He also stroked at Drexel University, freshman, lightweight and heavyweight eights.

Tom and his wife Kathy will be married 38 years in September. They have two sons, Sean and Ryan, and one grandson, William. Montgomery is looking forward to the golf tournament “and I’m bringing my foot wedge,” he laughs, describing the tongue-in-cheek golf practice of kicking a ball out of the woods to avoid a one-stroke penalty.

Lauren McHale

Lauren McHale and her oldest daughter, Devon.

“It is an honor to be a part of such a rich tradition in Sea Isle City,” McHale says. “They have a longstanding history of phenomenal competitors, athletes and leadership.

“You not only enjoy the lifeguard competition with your teammates, but you understand that you are tasked with a high level of responsibility,” she adds. “You need to be a diplomat. You represent Sea Isle City to the tourists.”

And a lifeguard never forgets the responsibility.

“I’ve always been a rule-following, hypervigilant, and competitive individual, and that trifecta served me well as a guard,” McHale says.

“There was nothing more gratifying and validating than receiving a simple yet sincere ‘Thank you’ from a parent whose child you pulled from a rip and brought to safety. To this day when I am on the beach, I never turn my back to the water. You can never turn that part of you off.”

McHale served on the patrol from 1999-2002.

Among her achievements:

• She had multiple victories in the Tri-Cities events.

• She represented Sea Isle City all four years in the women’s paddleboard circuit and notched top-3 finishes in the Longport, Ventnor and Wildwood competitions.

• She helped facilitate the Junior Lifeguard program for two summers.

McHale was already in the midst of a superb athletic career during this time.

The Ocean City native had been named the Press of Atlantic City’s top high school female soccer player in 1997. McHale was a New Jersey state champion and New Jersey Meet of Champions winner in track and field.

At Lafayette College, she was a team captain, the school’s scholar athlete of the year and set the school record that still stands for the 1,000-meter run in 2002.

In 2019, she was inducted into the Ocean City High School Hall of Fame.

Lauren and her husband Russell Giglio have four children ranging in age from 13 to 2: Devon, Joseph, Evelyn and Molly.

They live in Havertown, Pa. She is a technology writer and he works as an administrator for the XFL.