Welcome to The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 152.

All underlined text is a link-to-a-link or a link-to-an-email-address. Clicking anywhere on underlined text, and then clicking on the text that pops up, will get you to your on-line destination or will address an email.

According to Substack, in the first 24 hours after publication, Newsletter # 150 was viewed 3,059 times, was “liked” 16 times, and received three comments. In all, 4,726 email addresses received Newsletter # 150. And Newsletter # 151 was viewed 3,118 times, was “liked” eight times, and received three comments. In all, 4, 726 email addresses received Newsletter # 151.

The Usual Words of Wisdom

Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 151 Newsletters (and much other Wheatley data and arcana) at

The Wheatley School Alumni Association Website

Also, thanks to Keith is our search engine, prominently displayed on our home page: type in a word or phrase and, wow!, you’ll find every place it exists in all previous Newsletters and other on-site material.

I edit all submissions, even material in quotes, for clarity and concision, without any indication thereof. I cannot and do not vouch for the accuracy of what people tell me, as TWSAA does not have a fact-checking department.

We welcome any and all text and photos relevant to The Wheatley School, 11 Bacon Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568, and the people who administered, taught, worked, and/or studied there. Art Engoron, Class of 1967

Alma Mater

Writes Richard Kopelman (1961) - “My remembrance of the last line of our alma mater is almost identical to Gene Razzetti’s (1961): “To our Alma Mater, Wheatley High, Hail to thee.”

Bob Stern, 1965, in Concert Tonight Through Sunday, 5/17-19/2024

Writes Bob - “I'm on the right. This weekend I’m playing at the Birdland Jazz Theatre with Mexican guitar maestro Gil Gutierrez, Fri, Sat, Sun May 17-19.

Class of 1984 40th Year Reunion

Writes Gina Potenza (1984) - Hey Fellow Wildcats……Lets Catch Up!
When: Saturday August 17, 2024, 7:00 pm
Where: Albertson VFW Hall
155 Searingtown Road
Albertson, NY
There will be appetizers, a hot buffet, dessert, and bottled beer and wine, top shelf spirits, sparkling water, regular & diet soda.

Please RSVP by 7/28/24 so a final count can be obtained by the beginning of August. All taxes and gratuities are included in the final price!

San Francisco Bay Area Wheatley Reunion Update

Richard Weiss (‘62), will be joining Karen Schaller Hampton (’64), Alice Wilkins (‘64), Bill Meyn (’74), Laura Herbst (’74), Mark Lauria (‘61), Larry Weiss (‘73), Lizzy Lynn (‘64), Peter Siegel (’66), Roy Nierenberg (’63), Barry Gordon (’65), Rich Weissman (‘72), and yours truly (’65), at The Third Annual (?) Unofficial San Francisco Bay Area Wheatley Reunion Potluck—TTA(?)USFBAWRP-- Sunday May 26, 2024, 12:30 - 4:00, in my Berkeley back yard. Interested Wildcats, please email me at larros99@gmail.com. All welcome! Best, Larry”

‘Hood History

Writes Ken Martin (1960) - “Some of the readers of this Newsletter may not be familiar with the official East Williston Website. I was not aware of it until yesterday, when I was attempting to find information on Reverend Shaffer, of the Community Church of East Williston, whose presence and family contributed much to the Class of 1960’s upbringing. In any case, their home page is:

The history webpage has a link to an article entitled "East Williston in the 1920’s” that contains this gem:

“Every household had a dog and, as there were no leash laws, they roamed freely. Tipp, Curly, Rebel, Laddie and To-Jo were as well known at one home as another, where an extra bone or tidbit could be shared. A welcome addition to the community was the arrival of ‘Doc’ Martin, a veterinarian, who moved into the old Pine residence on Main Street (now called ‘East Williston Avenue’). The barn was his clinic, where he cared for sick pets or boarded well ones. As there was no Health Dept., he was called upon to placard homes with contagious disease and enforce observance of a quarantine so no one went either in or out.”

Wow. A barn on East Williston Avenue, which I believe back in our day was called ‘Hillside Avenue.’ Could that be the infamous Bick’s Barn of the 50’s Happier Days? Bick, was your homestead ever known as ‘the Pine residence’? Did a veterinarian ever live/work there? A vet whose name, coincidentally, was Martin?

There is also a fascinating article entitled ‘The Forties…as I Remember Them’ that recounts Pearl Harbor and the response of the village to it. A sentimental paragraph mentions ‘Berry’s Candy Store,’ which was there when we prowled the streets right over the tracks into Williston Park on Hillside Avenue. Fun stuff. M”

Graduates

1960 - Paul Keister - “I am very proud to be a Wheatley graduate! My wife and I moved to Fort Mill, South Carolina after I retired from banking. Warmest regards, Paul Keister 803-228-3008”

1960 - Lucy Mullman - Writes Lisa Kozupsky Pritchard (1976) - “Dear Lucy, I am sorry to hear of the death of your beloved husband, George ‘Dixie’ Howell (1960). Your mother was one of my mother, Jeanette Kozupsky's, best friends. My mother adored Norma. My mother was always overwhelmed with Norma's sense of style and love of beautiful things. My mother smiled and laughed at your mom’s antics, while your dad grew his plants looking on. When your mother got ill, she had a goal. She wanted to dance at my wedding, which she got to do before she died. Somewhere, I have a wonderful photograph of her smiling her exuberant smile on that day. I hope that this brings some warmth to your heart at a difficult time. Lisa Kozupsky Pritchard”

Writes Roger - “Hi Art, I remember Malcolm well as a beacon of sanity. He was studious, and he even tamed organic chemistry. His father was our family dentist, who in high school introduced me to painless dentistry, a leap from routine visits to our Uncle Carl in New York City, who was old school regarding children and pain.

After graduating from Wheatley, Mal showed up to be my roommate at the University of Buffalo, walking in on my first day to rescue me from an attack of heart sickness about leaving home.

In his Newsletter # 150 post Mal neglected to mention the time I encouraged the guys other than the football player, who was at practice, to toss a firecracker into the toilet to produce what I believed would be a beautiful funnel of water. Instead, it exploded and sent small pieces all over the apartment, leaving us in shock, relief that we survived undamaged, sharing a strange communal fit of uncontrollable laughter, needing to replace the toilet with another one (which wobbled), and somehow to explain to the football player that two of us got into a wrestling match that resulted in the toilet being cracked.

And, of course, Malcolm’s reply was an unexpected kindness because I was hoping someone might respond to my comment.”

Barbara, of Highland Beach, Florida, passed away peacefully on Thursday, April 25^th in Danbury, Connecticut at the age of 77.

She is survived by her siblings, Carol (Peter) , Jerome (Laura) and Sharon, and brother-in-law, James. She leaves behind nephews Jason (Annabel), Alexander (Anna), Gideon (Tilly), Daniel (Stacy), Benjamin (Caitlyn), Jonathan (Molly), Joshua (Thressa) and Isaac; great nieces and nephews Jessica, Zak, Rafi, Arlan, Remi, Katie, George, Noah, Caleb, and Sophie. She is predeceased by her husband, David, and her parents, George and Susan.

Barbara graduated from the University of Rochester and worked her way up to being the Director of the small PC division of IBM, a rare accomplishment for a woman at that time. That is where she met her husband, David, and they married on April 21^st, 1974. After retiring from IBM, she opened a travel agency that focused on individualized travel planning.

Barbara loved travelling all over the world, and she developed many close relationships from those many trips. Cruises were her absolute favorites. Classical music was another passion. In more recent years, Barbara became very involved in Temple Beth El of Boca Raton, studying to become a Bat Mitzvah in her 70’s, and being active in Chavurah and other groups. She was an avid golfer and organized many tournaments in her previous home in Quechee, VT.”

1967 - Jill Simon Forte - “Seems that each new post has one or more deaths of people from our generation. I don’t look forward to having my name in one of these newsletters as having passed. 😳”

1969 - Roger Gimbel, President of Gimbel & Associates, has published another book, Roger P. Gimbel's Guide to Thriving in the New Age of Customer Communication “a curated collection of articles and resources that discuss the evolution the printing industry has experienced since Gimbel & Associates released The Guide to Better Business four years ago.” You can download it for free at: https://www.rogergimbel.com/elibrary

Writes Shelley (“Sheli”) Nan Hershcopf (1968) - “I was sorry and shocked to hear of Peter Siegelman’s passing. We grew up next door to one another on Clover Lane, and we played together constantly as children. I send best regards to Linda Siegelman (1975), who was my brother David Hershcopf’s (1974) best friend when we were children, and to Robert (“Robbie”) Siegelman (1975).”

Writes George Meyer (1969) - “Hi Art, I was sad to hear of Peter Siegelman’s passing. We tried to speak every year and had a nice conversation back in February. He was in rehab and very upbeat about his prognosis. I have so many great memories of our times together at Wheatley and after. We started surfing as a group in 1965. Back then, we would get our parents to drive us out to Gilgo Beach and drop us off for the day. When we got our drivers’ licenses, we would spend most of our time in Long Beach, where Peter ended up living. Peter made our lives easier when he got his VW bus, which was perfect for getting in and out of your wetsuit in the dead of winter. Later, we went to each other’s weddings, but as things went on, we went our separate ways, never forgetting all the fun we had. I have enclosed a picture of me, Peter, and Scott Bond in Peters’ house watching TV. Not sure when. Peter will be missed.”

L-R - Bottom Row - Adrienne “Rennie” Schuster Katz, Barbara Ross Wexler
L-R - Top Row - Susie Spielberger Porter, Janet Rubin Britton, Robin Freier Edwards, Debbie Pitman Spiro, Patty Berwald Brenner, Jean Walsh

Writes Susie - “We closed down Mims in Roslyn on Tuesday night, May 14th, with our long-awaited mini-reunion to celebrate life, memories, laughter, and our 70th birthdays. It was so much fun that we’re already planning the next one!”

Fan Mail

1965 (Robert Stern) - “Thanks, Art. You’re dedication to our extraordinary Wheatley School (and us Wheatleyites) is amazing and appreciated! Bob”

1972/1973 (Charlie Nash) - “Your efforts at keeping all of us Wheatley graduates up to date are very much appreciated!”

1972 (Several Graduates) - “Thanks, Art, for all that you do for Wheatley.”

Closing

That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 152. Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.

The Wheatley Alumni Association Newsletter #152