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CORRECTION:
Please note correction on obit reported in the “WHS Note” last week. Barbara Silverman Silvers (not Silvers Silverman) (6/61) passed away as reported by Natalie (not Nancy) Warringer-Baron (6/61).
Herb Segal (59) and Arthur Chausmer (59) report losses:
Sadly, I report the death of my sister Bette Segal Livingston (6/61), who passed away unexpectedly on December 17th at her home in New Albany, IN. After graduation from Upsala, she returned to the Weequahic teaching faculty. She and Peter, a practicing urologist, ultimately settled in Bedford, IN. Bette is also survived by two children, Mark of Silver Spring, MD and Gila of Beit Shemesh, Israel and ten grandchildren. Herb
On December 17, Bruce Meyers, Class of 1959, died quietly in his apartment in New York City. Bruce and I became real friends in second grade. We went to Maple and Weequahic together. His mother made more lunches for me than my mother since we ate together frequently at his home behind Weequahic.
We both went to Rutgers Newark for our last 3 years. He did his first year at Fairleigh Dickinson and I did my first at Rutgers New Brunswick before both transferring to Newark. He went to grad school for the psychology program at Brooklyn College and I went to Downstate Medical in Brooklyn, allowing us to share an apartment for three years until he married Valorie and moved to Queens. Bruce remained in Manhattan after his divorce, rising to a very senior level in the advertising game where his work was essentially his life. He never remarried.
We remained close all of these years, more than seventy. For all of the years I have known him, Bruce was a very private person and so, apart from our small clique, many of our classmates at Maple and Weequahic did not really get to know him. While it is not possible to know when it actually started, he was afflicted with progressive multiple sclerosis. For the last ten years or so, he was essentially confined to his apartment with relentless progression of his MS. He was absolutely determined to be as independent as he could. Fortunately, Bruce could afford to stay in his apartment on the upper east side with almost full-time home care until the end. Life was very difficult for him for at least his last ten years.
There are so many stories over so many years, but it is not necessary recount them here. I will miss him greatly. His funeral and burial was in Richmond, VA, near his son. Arthur
Responses to Jac Toporek (6/63) on his reference to the Yungst sisters in a prior comment relating to Hawthorne Avenue School:
Judy Cohen Soane (59)
I taught Spanish at Hillside High School and was advisor for the class of 1964. Hela Yungst, who was a student in my class, was a beautiful girl (Miss New Jersey) and a beautiful person. I spoke to her sister Ita a number of times and was devastated when Hela passed away so young. I used to watch her on TV when she called out the lottery winners.
Another of my students at Hillside was Alan Wichinsky, better known as Alan Paul from the singing group “Manhattan Transfer.” He was so good looking.
I remember going to Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston where my friend, Marylin Israel Kravitz (6/63) had an adult bar/bat mitzva ceremony. She passed away about 8 years ago. A man came over to my table and said are you Senora Sloane? He took me to a table of students all from Hillside High School all of whom had been my students. There was a Ricky who became a doctor, Sandy became a nurse and a man who said "I wish I had paid better attention in your class. Now I am a bail bondsman and I sure can use Spanish in my job." It is always fun, and it still is, to run into former students and friends from Weequahic and Hillside to learn how they are doing. Judy
Leslie Ann Bialek Gelber (65)
I taught Hela how to swim at the Y on Chancellor Avenue. I used to go there two nights a week and that is where I met Hela. She, and her sister Ita, were really nice. Those days were such fun. I was so sorry to hear that Hela had passed. Leslie
Dennis Estis (65)
Hela never went to Hawthorne. She was strictly a Hillside girl. She and my then girlfriend, Sandy Spivack (between 1966 and 1968, during my first years of college), both went to high school in Hillside. Hela graduated with the Hillside Class of 1967, as did Sandy. I went to the Class of 1967 Prom and spent time with Hela down the Shore that prom weekend. She was a knockout and an incredible person!
I never knew Hela’s sister. My girlfriend Sandy lost her husband around 2003 and she also died early in life at the age of 69 in 2018. Sad. Dennis
Hal Bruck (54) responds to Roselyn Altman’s commentary on nicknames:
Not long ago, Roselyn Altman (6/61) discussed nicknames, which prompted me to explore my own nickname. I was named Harold at birth, but during freshman year at Weequahic one of my classmates decided that Harold was stuffy and thought Hal fit me better. The nickname stuck and I have been Hal ever since, except to my mother. As happened with Roz, a friend was at my house one day and when he called me Hal, mother said “You mean Harold.”
Where did my nickname come from? First, Hal suggests army leader which is consistent with my Zodiac sign Aries, and is considered more masculine. One of the earliest Hals appears in “Henry V” where Shakespeare refers to him as “Prince Hal. Other notables include Hal Holbrook the actor; Hal Jordan, the DC Comics superhero also known as The Green Lantern; Hal 9000, a supercomputer in the movie “2001, A Space Odyssey;” Hal Prince, theatrical producer; Hal Steinbrenner, New York Yankees owner and executive. The list goes on.
The name “Roselyn,” which has many spellings, derives from the ancient Germanic Rosalindis, meaning rose, and lindi, meaning soft, mild, tender; or from the Latin, meaning pretty rose or lovely rose. “Roselyn” also appears in Edward Spencer's poetry volume Shepheardes Calendar in 1579. Roselyn is also a heroine in Shakespeare's “As You Like It”. Thus, Roz is more than just a nickname. What’s in your nickname? Hal
More ball dribbling on WHS basketball:
Steve Epstein (6/63)
Thank you, Steve Bogner (66). I was not aware that Charlie Myers was also recruited by a” Division 1 school.” I’ll never forget the no-no moment by Coach Fein (“don’t shoot”). I think it was at St. Benedict’s. Charlie came down court with a few seconds on the clock on a breakaway and pulled up at the free throw line and let fly with a jump shot that went in to win the game. All the while, Coach was yelling “No-no, don’t shoot. Nothing but net and Weequahic walked away with a tough road win. Thank you, Charlie, for another great memory.
Steve, if my memory still serves me, Sandy Blier played at Pacific University, Tom Boose played at NYU, Jerry Greenspan played at Maryland and Al Attles played in the Pro’s with San Francisco Warriors and later coached the team and was a long-time advisor. The late Art Woliansky, Salome Scott, Larry Jenkins and numerous others were great stars. I apologize to those I didn’t list. All who were coached by Mr. Fein were made better as players and young men because of his leadership.
To my classmate Michael Gross, I think Ernie Bethea went 7 for 7 in the Westfield tournament game. The Westfield center was Bob King and they also had a very good forward at 6’ 7”. Chris Perval and Al Friedman were our tallest players at 6’ 2” and 6’ 4”. I don’t recall anyone leaving that team. I do recall Richie Thayer moving to Bloomfield and putting a whipping on us in I think 1961 at the Essex County Tournament
Jerry Field (6/59), take solace no one could guard Itchy Smith. That Camden team won 60 straight games. The two Weequahic teams that lost to Camden, in their own right, were two of Coach Fein’s best. Steve
Steve Bogner (66)
In reply to Mike Gross (6/63, Even though I am three years younger than Mike, I vividly remember many things Weequahic. The starting five in the 1962 State Championship game were Ernie Bethea, Al Friedman, Charlie Myers, Chris Pervall and Larry Stewart. I also believe they were the only players to play. No subs. Ernie went 7 for 7 shooting from the floor. He was a great guy and three-sport athlete who I believe passed away many years ago.
The 6'10" center for Westfield was a guy named Bob King, a good player who played collegiately at Virginia Tech.
There was a guy named Steve Bleier who played the year before. I don't recall if he was a mid-year graduate and played for the first half of the '61-'62 season or graduated in 1961. He did go to Long Island University. Steve
Bob Cipriano (1/63)
To Mike Gross, the player who shot 7 - 7 in the 1962 State Championship game Ernie Bethea (6/63). The 6'10" center for Westfield was Bob King (and yes, Chris Perval totally outplayed him!) Also, Charlie Meyers did a great defensive job on Westfield's other star, Bob Meyers.
I also think that Art Woliansky was the best pure shooter Weequahic has ever had.
I remember an "instant classic" played between South Side and Weequahic in the Essex County Tournament at Seton Hall’s Walsh Gymnasium. Setting the tone; the score was tied and South Side’s star Lonnie Wright called an illegal time out for South Side and a foul was called. With "millions" (?) of people screaming, Allen Friedman (6/62) made the winning free throw with no time remaining. Quite a clutch shot!
Yes, great memories. Now, if we all could only go back to our high school days and if I knew then what I know now? Bob
