MAY 19, 2023

TO RESPOND WITH A COMMENT OF YOUR OWN, PLEASE WRITE TO OR CLICK ON WHSALUM63@AOL.COM. 

Hi Heralders of Weequahic Times,

E-mail ID updates for alums:  

Feldblum Sarwin, Lois (6/56)-- lsarwin3@gmail.com (new)

Frank, Howard (6,/63) howard43@live.com (change)

Frank Jacks, Marilyn (64) & Howard (60) -- mvjacks102@gmail.com (change)

Josephson Best, Cynthia (56) -- cjbest1938@gmail.com (change)

Marty Kaufman (1/51), Elaine Hersh Krusch (5)) and Judith Nusbaum (56) reach out to classmates:

If there are any of my January 1951 classmates living in north Florida, please get in touch with me at 2sexymandms@gmail.com. I currently live in Jacksonville. In Newark/WHS days, I lived on Huntington Terrace. Will be celebrating my 91st birthday in June. Marty 

It’s always fun to read the remembrances of others. Most of my friends from Weequahic are gone. If there is anyone in the 1950 graduating class let me hear from you. My contact is elarkr@aol.com.  Elaine

Thanks to those of you who contacted me via e-mail to my home in Israel. If any other 1956 grads are reading this, I'd enjoy hearing from you (judithnusbaum@gmail.com). Judith

Jacqueline Kaufer Klein (66) pens some interesting thoughts on Weequahic District physicians with the hope of opening up some remarkable and touching conversations:

I was just thinking out here in California about the truly remarkable generation of wonderful doctors I remember from my childhood, from the 50s and 60s, in Newark. It is hard to imagine what their families went through to raise them and have them go through medical school. I had an aunt and uncle who came from Russia and had a small candy store and somehow managed to raise two sons who went to University of Chicago and became an internist and a podiatrist. Both of them also served in World War 2.

I remember some of these doctors so fondly; I can see their last names and their faces. And most of all, I remember the care they gave to my family. I recall how very kind and brilliant they were. We always received the best of care from these doctors and they genuinely cared. The ones I remember made house calls, they were available to speak with us and they knew our families.

There was Dr Victor Parsonnet, a pillar in the community and an amazing force at Beth Israel Hospital. Dr. Sugarman delivered almost every baby in the 50s born in Newark! Dr Rados saved my mother's eye with two complicated operations in the 30s. There was Dr. Martin Jacobs, who was a nephrologist and internist, was as brilliant and soft-spoken as anyone could ever be and was involved in some of the very earliest kidney transplants.

A brilliant cardiologist, Dr. Frederick Wachtel saved my father's life more than once. Dr Henry Kaplan, whose office was on Weequahic Avenue, was always available to help my mother and me. Dr. Normand Solomon was so kind. Sometimes, I had to go to his office alone when my mother was working and he was so gentle and respectful. Dr. Rosenthal, who was a pediatrician, gave me more than one injection of penicillin when I was a little girl!

The pride of the family and the nicest man you could ever imagine, Dr. Milton Singer, was a pulmonologist on Lyons Avenue. He was my father's cousin and always available for an emergency and for anyone in the family. And I remember one night at 9:00 PM, Dr Israel Bernstein removed a deep, infected splinter from my foot at his kitchen table. Dr Birney, a wonderful female pediatrician with an office on Lyons Avenue, came to our house on Christmas Day when I was about three years old with terrible hives.

These doctors were the children of immigrants. Some were musicians and intellectuals and vital and philanthropic members of the synagogues and great temples in Newark. I know that others will have many names to add to this list!

I know they saved the lives of members of my family smore than once and probably for others reading this. The physicians I referenced were shining stars in the Weequahic section whose memories all deserve to be for a blessing. Jacqueline

Gary Prager (1/61) clarifies his thoughts on the “Weequahic lifestyle” and Mary Sherot Mandel (6/64) expresses hers:

Gary Prager (1/61)

In response to Bobby Clark's (64) post, I, coincidentally, also lived on Tillinghast Street prior to moving to Leo Place before entering Weequahic. You may remember my sister, Barbara Prager (now Davis) who graduated with you from WHS and Hawthorne. As is the case with your father, my dad was a hard-working small business owner who put in long hours to raise a family. Many of my friends at the high school lived in the Maple Avenue and Chancellor Schools’ areas. While admittedly anecdotal, my observation was many of these kids had a somewhat different experience than me. For much of my Weequahic years, I would help my father every weekend with the family business. This involved getting up every Saturday and Sunday morning at 5:00 AM. I substituted for one of his workers for those two weekend days.

Several of my classmates still talk about my dad and his unique persona. For instance, my friend and fellow classmate, Howard Rauchberg recalls how he'd come home from school and my dad and his mother were sitting at her kitchen table talking about the "old days." They both went to Southside High School, which in their era was a close parallel to our Weequahic experiences. In fact, a few years ago, Howard came to a barbeque at my sister and brother in law's house. I introduced Howard to my friend and told her he was my half-brother. Howard's wife was momentarily taken aback until we explained the close relationship between his mother and my dad.

Must admit that I learned more about my classmates (Judy Price, Judy Seligsohn, and Howard, to name a few) than I ever imagined. In fact, to this day, I still receive emails from WHS people asking about my dad, Temple Oheb Shalom, etc.

Obviously, I've gone astray in response to your original statement. Often, reminiscing causes one to react in that stream of conscious format. Working every weekend gave me a bit more gravitas in my views. While other classmates could go to the Park Movies on the weekend, I was always too damned bushed. Fortunately, Marvin Brown and Gary Harris were always there to pick up the slack. Oh, I also worked at Foodtown after school with the late Dr. Jimmy Horton and Jared Falek. I liked the idea of having spare change.

My recent post/musings were intended to describe a behavior not uncommon to many of the WHS people with whom I've worked and dealt. And, might say, diverse from the somewhat different experience others closer to Chancellor Avenue had. The salient variable for you and I is that we both were brought up on the edge of the Weequahic section. Our experiences are quite different than many of the kids who lived around Vassar and Pomona Avenues (not all, but many).

I look forward to other comments from people who have had experiences that differ from the WHS stereotype we so often hear about. Gary

Just because you lived in the Maple area between Lyons and Chancellor did not mean your family had money! My family, for example. We only rented. My parents had city jobs. They had one car since mom didn’t drive. I had to go to college in NJ! My mother went to work when I started WHS. Remember, we had to walk back and forth at lunch time. I was not a “latch key kid.” She was always home for me for lunch, after school or when I was sick. Mary 

It’s weird because I never realized how many of my friends from all WHS feeding schools were children of Holocaust survivors or not born in the US. I’ve reconnected with a lot of them from Peshine, Clinton Place and, of course, Chancellor and Maple where I went K-8.  Mary

Dena Gittleman Greenstein (64) shares exchange of correspondence on pronunciation of “Weequahic:”

In light of the discussion of the pronunciation of Weequahic in the most recent newsletter, I thought you might be interested in an exchange I recently had with a Washington Post reporter. Karen Heller wrote a long review of the three-day event in Newark honoring Philip Roth on what would have been his 90th birthday. The photo, below, is of an excerpt from her review and what prompted me to write to her about the actual pronunciation. 

And, laid out, below, is our email chain. Suffice it to say, she stuck to her guns. Deena

From: "Deena Greenstein"  

Dear Ms. Heller

I thoroughly enjoyed your description of Philip Roth Unbound. I grew up in the Weequahic section of Newark and attended the high school of the same name. Reading about my hometown and one of its heroes, with a mention of Hobby’s Deli warmed my heart. However, I felt compelled to write this note: Weequahic is pronounced WEEK-qwayK and nobody from Newark refers to it as “Nork”.

Thanks for the memories.

From: "Heller, Karen" 

Thanks for reading. There is quite a bit of debate on this. But it was pronounced this way on tour, by my editor whose father grew up there, and many, many participants.