(Ephrata, PA - February 5, 2002)   Dale Keefer (52), Company Director, and Vice President of Client Services for the MTS Travel Management Group died of a heart attack while hiking in Chester, New Jersey on February 3, 2002. Dale was well known in the industry, especially with the airlines from his many years of negotiating on behalf of mission and not-for-profit travelers. Surviving are Ann, his wife of 23 years; his parents, Rev. J. Edgar, and Mary M. Keefer; a sister Joan Pipher; and brothers, Carl E. and Kenneth L. Kermit Yoder, President and CEO of MTS said, "Dale had so many friends by being a friend. We at MTS have experienced a great loss both personally and for the business." Keefer was instrumental in the growth of MTS to its current size of $75 million and 8 offices. With a diverse background that includes two years in Vietnam as a field treasurer for the World Relief Commission and a stint as a youth worker with a community-based outreach program in the Bronx, Dale joined MTS in 1976 as an international travel consultant in the New York office. Following a short leave during 1977-78 to finish his Bachelor's degree, he returned to MTS and was promoted to Operations Manager in 1979. Dale followed the New York office to their relocation in Bloomfield, New Jersey in 1981, where he became Branch Manager. In the 1990s, MTS reconfigured its executive leadership around core function areas, and Dale assumed the post for Client Services. He held a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, with a Management concentration, from Baruch College in New York City.