The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 241

Bick Keister (1960); Bill Meyn (1974); Dan Weiss (1975); Alex Tisch (1989) and Art Engoron (1967); Archive Identifications Galore

ARTHUR ENGORON Nov 22

 

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Welcome to the Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 241

Graduates

1960 - Paul (“Bick”) Keister - Deceased

Paul/Bick himself wrote (reprint from Wheatley Alumni Association Newsletter # 93):

“My father was the Sports Editor of the New York Post, which back then had one of the largest circulations of any newspaper in the Nation. His press pass got us into any sporting event that he wanted to attend, as the venue hoped for good coverage. He also owned his own advertising agency.

His passing at a relatively early age changed my whole life. I would have attended William & Mary (dad’s school), but I had to attend William & Mary, Norfolk Division, which later became Old Dominion University when W&M divested itself of the college. That was so I could live with my dad’s older brother, who was wonderful and a bachelor (until he married at 63 years of age!). His help and guidance were wonderful, but I still had to work my way through college, as my mom did not make enough money to pay for it and raise my sister and brother. It took me seven years to graduate, including my time in the army (as I did not take a full load of classes one semester due to having to work a full time job!)”

Carol Keister McCormick (1962) Writes - Art, My brother, Paul (“Bick”) Keister, Class of 1960, passed away on Thursday, November 13, in Fort Mill, South Carolina, with his wife, Betsy, by his side. He is survived by Betsy, three sons (Paul, Matthew, and Tyler) and four grandchildren. He was always the life of the party, and he had many good Wheatley friends, with whom he kept in touch. He was a wonderful brother, and I will miss him terribly.”

Paul Hennessy (1960) Writes - “Art, I am very sorry to hear of Paul Keister’s passing. Bick was a unique individual, a social animal, always planning some gathering or get-together. He was the son of a ‘Little All-American’ football player who attended William and Mary College and became a NY Post sports columnist/editor with access to ALL the sports heroes of the time (Mantle, Dimaggio, Ted Williams, etc.), some of whom he interviewed at the Keister’s East Williston home. Imagine the nuclear teen-age excitement generated by that!!!😂😁

Bick was the life of many parties —frequently held in the historic red barn in his backyard, which was also the headquarters of our class’s notorious, irrepressible ‘Spartan Club.’ What a perfect gathering place for our lucky Class of ‘60! 🍺✌️ I’m guessing his iconic barn was the only one in the Wheatley school district (?) 🤔☘️ It certainly was the site of more social gatherings than any place else in our era.

Bicky’s nickname was ‘Handy Man,’ after the song describing the social facilitating that ‘only the handy man can.’ 😂🤪

I have so many fond memories of Bick, from visiting the Keister family’s farm with him and brother Corky Keister (1967), to tooling around—Rock ‘n Roll at full blast—in what I remember as his white Chevy Impala.

Bicky was a major personality in our class, someone who greatly contributed to enhancing the fun we had at Wheatley.

He was an unforgettable character, a lively, warm and generous friend to all who were blessed to know him.”

Best, Paul Hennessy

1967 - Jill Simon Forte Remembers - “I love seeing the names of people I remember, some of whom are siblings of people who graduated in my year. I was friends with the younger brother of Paul “Bick” Keister (1960)……I knew Courtney ‘Corkey’ Keister (1967) because he was friends with my first boyfriend, Anthony ‘Tony’ Lamitola (1967) (way before I married Bob Forte, Class of 1965 😉😁). Tony and I used to hang out in the attic of the Keister’s garage 🤣🤣. Yep, memories again 😁 ☮️.”

Sally Felton - Reprint of Photo with Corrected Caption

Sally Felton and her daughter Selva - October 19, 1992

1974 - Bill Meyn, Responding to George Meyer’s (1969) “Wonders in Wood” in Issue # 140 - “I don’t have photos, but I recall that my two woodshop experiments were failed attempts at a simple bowl and a simple four-legged table. I could never get them level. They wobbled their way to the trash can. Some years later, I had better luck in my University of Illinois civil engineering class. I made a table top lectern out of lightweight concrete, and I used it in my local Toastmasters club.”

1975 - Daniel H. Weiss - New Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Read all about it:

Hometown Paper Lauds New Head of Philadelphia Art Museum

Dan Weiss Takes Over as Head of Philadelphia Art Museum

1989 + 1967 - Alex Tisch and Art Engoron - November 20, 2025

L-R - Alex + Art - Manhatta (not a typo) Restaurant, 28 Pine Street, NYC

From the Archives - Several ‘50s-’60s Classes in 2016 - Help Still Needed

L-R - Floor - Marcia Friedman Mayer (1963), Leslie Schiller Fisher (1963), Marianne Lamitola Downey (1963), Nancy Kurshan (1961), Jeanne Messing (1961), Deborah Crane (formerly “Krane”) (1963), Kathy Chaikin (1963), Leonard (“Lenny”) Symons (1961)

Chairs - Linda Erdmann Brody (1963), Susan Gross (1963), Maida Holzman (1963), Arthur Brody (1962), ???, Nan Bauer-Maglin (1959), Carol Jalonack Blum (1961), Janet Cohen Eder (1961), Ellen Litwin Fingerman (1964)

Standing - Donna Kenton (1963), Robert Freiman (1962), Mike Jablon (1961), Bettina (guest of David Friedman), Jerry Mintz (1961), David Friedman (1962), Tim Jerome (1961), Joe Iannotti (1962), John Kapinos (1962), ???, ???, Margaret Russek (1962), Michael Carillo (1961), Lauren Jacobs (1963), Debby Kerstein Brosowsky (1961), Liz Stone (1963), Merry Orling (1961), Gary Krakauer (1963) or Richard “Dickie” Safft (1961), John Rigrod (1961)

From the Archives - Class of 1966 in 2016- Some Help Still Needed

L-R - Sitting - Gretchen Gersh, Adrienne Lagin, Deborah Davis, Marta Pesa, Leslie Goldstein Ossim, Karen Wattel Arenson, Jane Rosengarten, Dan Willard, Peter Siegel

Standing - ???, Robert Stange, Marc Swickle, Ricky Jalonack, Jeff Knetzer, Harold Whack, Linda Rignel, Jay Keillor, Alison Kent Bermant, ???, Andrea Ibanez, Robert Sarnoff, Susan Berger Jones, Kathy Walsh, Glen Greenbaum, Preston Winters, ???

From the Archives - Class of 1970 in 2016- Help Still Needed

L-R - Floor Joanne Horowitz, Dana Seman, Susan Weiss, Stacey Moritz, Andrea Chock Carlin

Chairs - Doug Terris, Kenny Ruby, ???, Jane Madison, Mindy Spier Cohen, Vicki Unger, Amy Jacoby Budish, Ellen David Friedman

Standing - Bob Bush, ???, ???, ???, ???, Ken Levien, Karen Hurvitz, ???, Robert Abramowitz, Laverne Manning, Jane Roeder, ???, ???, ???, Nancy Reuben, George Nierenberg

From the Archives - Class of 1977 in 2016- Everyone Identified

L-R - Sitting - Meryl Fine Berliner, Carol McDowell Shaheen, Lance Manning, Lorraine Baltzer, Linda Watnick

Standing - Adam Zaid, James Weiss, Msgr. Stephen Camp, Glenn Gerstner, Steve Gnatowski, Robert Goldstein, Carmel Fleck, Karen Alt Roos

Fan Mail

1960 (Paul Hennessy) - “You’re definitely a pro at this newsletter biz!”

1964 (Richard Ilsley) - ❤️

1966 (Glen Greenbaum) - “You are doing a great job. I love these Newsletters.”

1967 (Barbara Smith Stanisic) - ❤️

1969 (Paul Panzeca Foresto) - ❤️

1970 (Mindy Spier Cohen) - “As always, thank you for continuing to put out the Alumni Newsletter. It’s always fun and informative.

1972 (Jeffrey Kargman) - ❤️

1972 (Lori Waltzer Bernstein) - ❤️

1973/1972 (Charlie Nash) - “Thank you, Art, for all that you do to keep us Wheatleyites connected!”

1974 (Ellen Barnett Diana) - ❤️. Thx 😊 to Art & everyone for being so inclusive in your thoughts and words! I hope that I can get to Palm Springs in March in response to that lovely invitation from Rich Weissman (1972) & J.D. Horn.

1992 (Christine D’Elia Staricka) - ❤️

The Official Notices

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.

The Usual Words of Wisdom

Thanks to our fabulous Webmaster, Keith Aufhauser (Class of 1963), you can regale yourself with the first 238 or so Wheatley School Alumni Association 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 New Yorker style 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

Closing

That’s it for The Wheatley School Alumni Association Newsletter # 241. Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary.

Art

Arthur Fredericks Engoron, Class of 1967

ARTENGORON@GMAIL.COM

WWW.WHEATLEYALUMNI.ORG

646-872-4833