Difference between revisions of "Hall of Fame"

Revision as of 01:46, 28 November 2018

Bethpage inducts six individuals and two sports teams, that have had a positive impact on the district, on October 12, 2013. The event was sponsored by the Bethpage Educational Foundation which raised more then $100,000.00 over the past six years in support of programs and scholarships for Bethpage students. Those honored were:

Anne DiPrima - An athletic coordinator at JFK Middle School for 27 years and who coached sports at the middle school and high school levels. Tom Frost - A 1968 graduate of the district who ran the Bethpage PAL and served on the Bethpage School Board for 21 years. Edward Mangano - 1980 graduate of the district and the current Nassau County Executive whose family resides in and very involved in the district. George McElroy - Principal of the Bethpage High School for 19 years and active in the Bethpage community. Mary Morante - A staff member in the district for 46 years and whose family is active in the district. Patrick Rhatigan - 1987 graduate who recently obtained the rank of colonel and is currently commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas. The 1981-82 Girls Swim Team - The team was the most successful team of any sport in the district history. The 1993 Varsity Football Team - First team to win the coveted Rutgers Cup, starting a 32 game winning streak.

Above information from the "Bethpage Tribune" October 13, 2013

Distinguished inductees for 2014 - Honored on October 18, 2014 at the Bethpage High School Gym. Information from the BETHPAGE TRIBUNE - September 26, 2014

Ellen Lang - Class of 1967, went on to sing for the Metropolitan Opera. Jack McCaffrey - Former teacher and Assistant Principal at Bethpage High School. Wayne Rhatigan - Class of 1981, a retired NYC Police Officer who foiled the Times Square Bomber. Steve Schanwald, Class of 1973, and currently a Vice President for the Chicago Bulls. Marc Sieben - Class of 1970, President of the Bethpage Educational Foundation and officer at MetLife. Louis W. Uccellini - Class of 1967, and currently the Director of the National Weather Service.

Bethpage Hall of Fame - Induction Ceremony - October 17, 2015 Sponsored by the Bethpage Educational Foundation. The Honorees are:

Gary Bretton - Class of 1972 - "Gary has championed all things in Bethpage." Patrick Calabria - Class of 1969 - "Pat has returned to BHS on numerous occasions to talk about his career and to honor past greats of BHS athletic history." David Kessler - Class of 1957 - "David is very active in alumni affairs at Bethpage High School, Cornell and Princeton." Walter Kross - Class of 1960 - Four Star General in the United States Air Force. "Walter retired in 1998 and became a partner at KPMG. He later became CEO of Flight Explorer, a software company, and currently serves as Chairman of a small California Defense firm." Linda Mangano - Class of 1981 - First Lady of Nassau County. Linda continues to promote the small town culture of the community she has spent her whole life in. "At home, Linda is surrounded by Golden Eagles - her husband Ed, and her two sons Sal and Alex." Robert Moraghan - Class of 1956 - "Robert has mentored countless school administrators in the metropolitan area and they are the better for the wisdom he shared with them." Marge Zuk - Longtime Teacher Aide - "Marge worked for the Bethpage School District for 42 years. She was a beloved figure at the JFK Middle School who touched many lives."

2016 inductees to the Bethpage Hall of Fame: Anita Disanza - Retired Spanish Teacher at BHS; Bobby Macholz - A longtime volunteer for athletics; Signor Vincenzo Maio - Retired Italian Teacher BHS; Judith Claire Mitchell - BHS Class of 1970, novelist and Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin; Lenny Mulqueen - BHS Class of 1961, President of the Central Park Historical Society since 1994; Joie Tyrrell - BHS Class of 1985, journalist for "Newsday"; 1996 Lacrosse Boys Team - Winners of the State Championship - this will be the 20th anniversary of that accomplishment.

2017 inductees to the Bethpage Hall of Fame: Timothy Cloonan - Class of 1958 - Drafted into the US Army and went to Vietnam serving as a surgeon in the Army Medical Corps. He worked at a POW evacuation center in Central Vietnam and received a Combat Medical Badge and Bronze Star. Retired as Colonel from the Air Force in 2005. Brian Hickey - Class of 1972 - New York City Fireman where he rose through the ranks earning the respect of his colleagues. He was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Rosalie Walsh Niemczyk - Class of 1956 - Rosalie's family is steeped in Bethpage history. Rosalie first graduating class from BHS and held the honor as class salutatorian, attended NYS College for Teachers at Albany and became a teacher and Guidance Counselor at BHS, and active in school and community. She documented Central Park/Bethpage history in her "I Remember When" articles for the "Bethpage Tribune". Frank Procida - Class of 1993 - Graduated from Bucknell University and went on to received his masters degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and he went on to study abroad. Frank spent 17 years working in the US intelligence community. He published a number of articles on weapons proliferation and Iran's nuclear program. He also served as both editor and briefer for the Presidents Daily Brief. Charles Melone - Class of 1960 - Attended Georgetown University for both undergraduate and medical degrees. Charles became one of the most knowledgeable hand surgeons in the United States. Charles is Director of the Division of Hand Surgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Mount Sinai Ichan School of Medicine and Director Mount Sinai Hand Fellowship Program. Barbara Keiler - Class of 1970 - Barbara graduated from Smith College and then attended graduate school at Brown University. During her college days she became a playwright. In 1983 she wrote and published her first novel under the pseudonym of Judith Arnold. Since then she has written over 90 romance novels and several crime fiction novels. Antoinette MacLeod - Bethpage High School Principal 1987-2003. Toni was an energetic principal and proud of the academic progress made by Bethpage during her tenure. For all her accomplishments she received the Town of Oyster Bay Woman of Distinction award. Al Blau and the 1968-69 Wrestling Team. Al was a Science teacher at Bethpage High School from 1962 to 1998. He was a legendary coach at Bethpage HS in both JV Football and Varsity Wrestling. Al and the 1968-69 Wrestling team were the first undefeated wrestling team in school history.

2018 Inductees to the Bethpage Hall of Fame

Steve Furrey, Class of 1973 - Steve Furrey graduated from BHS in 1973 . He played football, baseball and basketball. He is regarded as one of the best passing quarterbacks in Golden Eagle history and passed for 34 touchdowns over two years while playing for legendary Coach Howie Vogts. He received a full scholarship to play football at the University of New Mexico.

Steve entered the field of education after attending C.W. Post for his Bachelors and Masters degrees. He taught and coached at Carle Place and was inducted into the Carle Place Hall of Fame as a Coach. He returned to Bethpage twenty two years ago to become Principal of Central Blvd. Elementary School. He has worked to create an inclusive school environment that serves the needs of some of the districts neediest students. He has balanced that with a rigorous academic climate for all students as noted by last year's BHS Valedictorian Smiti Shah a graduate of Central Blvd. who stated that her wonderful love of learning started in her elementary school. Steve has received the CBS PTA Honorary Life Award for his commitment to the children of Bethpage.

Steve has taken leadership roles in the Nassau County Elementary Schools Principal Association where he has shared many of the Bethpage success stories.

Steve married another Golden Eagle - Karen Cassidy. Class of 1975. They have two children and two grandchildren.

Brian McGrath, Class of 1992 - Brian McGrath graduated BHS in 1992. He played lacrosse, football and was active in Student Government. He went on to Georgetown University on a lacrosse scholarship and graduated in 1996. Brian attended graduate school at Harvard and ultimately earned his medical degree from Nova Southestern University. He completed his residency training in Emergency Medicine at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City and served as Academic Chief Resident during his final year at training.

Brian served in the US Army for twelve years attaining the rank of Major and left active duty service in 2015. During his time in the military Brian deployed to Afghanistan with 1st Armored Division and 7th Special Forces Group. He last served as the Chief of Emergency Medicine at Fort Rilley, His military awrds and decorations include the Bronze Medal, the Flight Surgeon Badge and the Combat Medic Badge.

Brian currently lives in Wilmington, NC with his wife and two sons. He is a physician in the Emergency Department in New Hanover Regional Medical Center and is an Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Medicine.

Robert Saril, Retired Educator, Bethpage High School. Robert Sarli started teaching English at BHS in 1967 and retired in 2003. He was a popular and active English teacher who became Chairperson of the Department in 1997. His love of Greek culture was infectious and he received a grant in 1986 from National Endowment of the Humanities to study Greek Culture and Drama. During his career in Bethpage, he introduced numerous new courses for students - Greek Drama. Shakespeare, Rock as Lit as well as college and credit courses through Adelphi and C. W. Post.

He was very active in the life of the school community as an advisor to a large number of extracurricular clubs. His first club was the Folk Club started in 1967 with students who wanted to use their musical talents to sing folk songs that were in vogue at the time. He was Stage Crew Advisor for almost twenty years working with the very successful Masquers Guild. He served as the Audio Visual Advisor and was a pioneer in the use of computers in education. During the 1990's he served as co-advisor to Perspectives, the school Art and Literary magazine. In 2002 Mr. Sarli was chosen by Channel 55 as one of their Educators of the Week honorees. The class of 1974 dedicated their yearbook to him. He was also the Senior Class Advisor for many years and in charge of the Senior Prom and the annual Commencement Ceremony.

Mr. Sarli was a guiding force in the creation of the Bethpage Congress of Teachers in the early 1970's, His wife, Kathy, also an educator, was a fixture at all the events Mr. Sarli ran over the many years. Their son Andrew also spent a great deal of time among Golden Eagles.

Bernard Schutz - Class of 1964 - Bernard Schutz graduated BHS in 1964. He was voted most likely to succeed. He went on to Clarkson University, then to Caltech for his Ph.D. There he was supervised by Ki Thorne, one of last year's Nobelists. He then worked for a year with Stephen Hawking in Cambridge, England, returned to the US for two tears at Tale and then took a lectureship at Cardiff University of Wales.

Bernard Schutz is a leading member of the international team that made the breakthrough first detection of gravitational waves in 2015, verifying Einstein's prediction and opening up a new kind of astronomy. Three of the founders of this project received the Nobel Prize in Physics last year. He and his family moved from Wales to Germany in 1995, where he helped found the Albert Einstein Institute, which has grown into one of the main centers in the world for gravitational wave research. After retiring from his director position there in 2014, he returned to Wales with a part-time professorship in Astrophysics and data science, becoming the first director of Cardiff's Data Innovation Research Institute.

His three daughters were all born in Cardiff in the 1980s, and they are his greatest pride of all.

TO BE CONTINUED WITH: Michael Trotter, Sandra Watson, 2013 Girls Gymnastics Team & Coach Kim Rhatigan