Without a second thought, my favorite teacher was William T Bellus, American History, 11th grade, 300 wing. It wasn't that I even liked history back then, but it was his style - a daily command performance - that I found so interesting. Mr Bellus favored the South's position in the Civil War, and considered James K Polk the USA's greatest President. By sheer coincidence, I now live about 5 miles from the small wooden 2-room house in Pineville, NC - where Polk was born.
Mrs Shea followed by Dr Bellus. Mrs Shea inspired me more than any other teacher I have had. There was an award that I truly wanted upon Graduation that I did not get, and her comment to me 'Angela, God has better things in store for you' could not have been more on the mark. The 5 years of Latin I took under her tutalge prepared me, not only for my College degree and my Masters Degree, but also my career which was a result of my Degrees in Foreign Languages and Psychology. I will never forget her
Do you all remember Mr. Savwoir, the business teacher ??
I remember him as a very nice soft spoken man.
I was saddened to see his obituary in the paper last week. In the Newsday photo he looked exactly the same.
I was in his typing class and he drove me crazy saying 'eyes up front' or something like that... I just could not stop looking at the keys and to this date nothing has changed.
Mr. Lundahl has to be my favorite.
A gruff little fighter pilot turned poetry and task master... you wanted to hate him but you had to love him.
He was quite a memorable character.
I actually looked him up several years ago and wrote to him. He was living in Florida at the time and he wrote back!!!
Correction on my Walter Lundahl info.
He was living in Georgia, not Florida, when I wrote to him in 2003.
Then, at the age of 82, he was still doing some teaching for 'Elderhostel' programs run by two Universities on Jekyll Isaland (perfect!)
Despite macular degeneration, Parkinson's and several heart attacks he said he was 'determined to go on to old age'.
In true form to the end.
May we all be as fortunate.
Mr. Savwoir - he taught me to type and that has made all the difference... it's how I have made my very happy living since I graduated from college. I have to tell you all - I have a happy story to tell. I made it a point to visit Mr. Savwoir at, I think it was, our 30th reunion. Made my way to his classroom, introduced myself, and thanked him for teaching me something that made a huge difference in my life. I can't TELL you how delighted he was - and, now, how delighted I am that I took the time to let him KNOW - before he was gone. Excellent, classy man. I had no idea about his military background - he was a true gentleman, wasn't he?
Does anybody remember Mrs. Hoisington. I had her in tenth grade for geometry. She left after the school year began and I flunked the first two quarters with Mr. McManaman. when she returned, my average went up and I passed the regents with an 82. she is the reason i am teaching math today, in spite of what Mr. Brush said.
Have to admit, Natalie Hoisington, eccentric as she was, really prepared us for the Regents exam. This always stayed with me: 'If you try to prove two triangles are congruent by using Angle-Side-Side....you ARE what it spells!'
More Hoisingtoniana - she somehow got me interested in math, too - she encouraged me to enter a project in the math fair about SPHERICAL TRIANGLES. Yes, spherical triangles - and somehow even to this day, a little vestige of knowledge about spherical triangles has been lodged in my brain and refuses to leave. She met with me after school and refused to allow me to NOT absorb and begin to love this screwy topic. And I won a bronze medal!!! There were probably only 3 of us in contention, but hey!! BRONZE!! She did not shave her legs, wore black voluminous skirts with black ballet flats, and yes, that garlic breath could stun a buffalo. Even then I admired her for her courage to be herself. She was passionate about her subject and passed that on to us undeserving little twerps!!!
Does anybody remember Mrs. Hoisington. I had her in tenth grade for geometry. She left after the school year began and I flunked the first two quarters with Mr. McManaman. when she returned, my average went up and I passed the regents with an 82. she is the reason i am teaching math today, in spite of what Mr. Brush said. How are you Dearl? Don't we go back to elementary?
I loved Mrs. Hoisington. She caught me smoking in the parking lot and made me write an essay about the health effects of tobacco, but no suspension or detention. I lived next door to her in 1972. She was one of the original 'free spirits' of the sixties/seventies. She mowed her backyard in a T-shirt and nothing else at all (bottomless) with her baby Sam strapped to her back. When I was out in my yard with my daughter, she shamelessly chatted with me over the fence, giggling that she hoped I wasn't uncomfortable with her outfit. I don't know how old she was when she had Samuel, but she was no youngster. She invited me for tea a few times and I enjoyed having this interesting, though quite strange, woman as my neighbor.
More trivia on Mrs Hoisington...My sister Karen, WWHS '71 is currently the Dean of the Business School at Seton Hall University. Mrs. Hoisington's son was on her staff a few years back. He was as odd as she was.
Easily Paul Glatzer. We had quite different political views at the time, but he insisted on nudging me to the left of where I was. He managed to do it in a very thought-provoking way. Little did he know that by my Soph. year in college, his influence would finally take hold. I will always remember a very 'spirited' debate on capital punishment that he pushed Bernadette Hicken and I into. He did his darndest to try and get me to go to his alma mater, the Univ. of Chicago, but I was probably mabe, oh, 150 pts. short on my SAT's at the time. :-)
Well, I feel I must weigh in on the subject of teachers who left a lasting impression. Agnes Shea was an original. She was pushy, outspoken, a bit abusive, and a relentless supporter of her students. She and I clashed often. I was both in her homeroom for four years and in her Latin class. Homeroom buddies have told me they vividly remember the two of us sparring and frankly I have to admit I probably enjoyed it. (No doubt I complained bitterly at the time!) 'As ye sow, so shall ye reap.' That was one of dozens of phrases she repeated over and over again in an attempt to raise our consciousness. She did everything she could to get me to be more of a student and less of a recalcitrant. She even found me somehow on a day I cut school and advised me to get back to school, pronto! I learned so much from her...even some Latin! Her legacy lives on. My son took four years of Latin in High School and he too, owes a part of his learning to the imitable Agnes Shea. Anyone else have memories of her??
I didn't take Latin and my only experience with Mrs. Shea was when she would burst into the girls' bathroom and shoo whoever was in there OUT with an accusing tone I remember to this day.
I didn't know Mrs. Shea, but my sister Susan (1964) sure did....Sue took
about every level of Latin (French, too) and was a language major at
Michigan State. I do recall Susan telling me thatl Mrs. Shea's students called
her 'Aggie' (but never to her face). So did the nickname endure past 1964?
RE: Mrs. Shea
To this day the meaning and power of 'As ye sow, so shall ye reap' is with me because of Mrs. Shea. I used it at work, I use it with my son and I love to use it with my girlfriend when we discuss people who do others 'dirty'. Folks who do do right by others eventually reap their rewards. If Mrs Shea taught in Texas, she would have said, 'what goes around, comes around'. Does anyone remember when she tried to quit smoking and told us she would get on a bus, sit in the back and breathe deeply. I think of her often, she truly cared about us.
Indeed she was called Aggie, even by her friends. She used to be part of a bridge group that my parents were involved with.
Mrs. SWhe3a was a good friend of the family and some how...she was alerted to my frequent cutting of classes and disappearing after homeroom. There was a resounding, 'Bill Axness' when ever I attempted an escape that took me past her classroom.
Indeed she was called Aggie, even by her friends. She used to be part of a bridge group that my parents were involved with.
Mrs. SWhe3a was a good friend of the family and some how...she was alerted to my frequent cutting of classes and disappearing after homeroom. There was a resounding, 'Bill Axness' when ever I attempted an escape that took me past her classroom.
Agnes Beatrice Butterfield Shea was an original--what a memorable character. Tough, no question about it, but with a heart of gold underneath it all. Her epitaph could be 2 words: 'she cared.'
I had her for Latin for 3 years and my sister had her for many before that. My Mom kept in touch with her for years after they both moved to Florida.
Mrs. D'dario who taught American History. She had such a great sense of humor. She was definitely my role model when I became a teacher. Anyone remember Miss Ornsby and Mr Lewis? Math teachers who became husband and wife. I met up with them many years ago in Toys R Us. Before she became Mrs. Lewis, they spent lots of time in the math closet (looking for protractors?)
Definitely 'Mrs. D' was my favorite....only History class I ever liked. And I do remember the love birds...never had Lewis but he was our Baseball coach and I had him as a Trig tutor...and I remember not only the math 'closet' but also in a car during school dances when they were supposed to be chapparoning us. Also anyone remember Miss Finnegan? Had her for homeroom and she was brand new when we were seniors so actually she is only 3-4 years older than we are...really nice and her family owned Finnegans Bar off Main Street so saw her when in college and used to hang out there before moving to California.
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