SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

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

Alumni invited to return to WHS for special occasion:

COME BACK TO WEEQUAHIC !! AND PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TOO!

HALL OF DISTINCTION RECEPTION AT WEEQUAHIC ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, OCTOBER 6TH FROM 2-5 PM.

 JUST SIGN UP VIA THE LINK BELOW AND HAVE YOUR FRIENDS SIGN UP TOO:  2024 WHSAA HALL OF DISTINCTION WEBSITE.

CLICK ONTO "PLACE TRIBUTE" TO POST YOUR TRIBUTE AND "PROGRAM ADMISSION" TO REGISTER. $30 ADMITS YOU TO BOTH THE OCTOBER 6th RECEPTION AND THE SEPTEMBER 26TH VIRTUAL HALL OF DISTINCTION INDUCTION CEREMONY HONORING NOTABLE WEEQUAHIC ALUMNI AND LISTS YOUR NAME IN THE VIRTUAL TRIBUTE JOURNAL.

IF YOU WANT TO DONATE MORE, CHOOSE AN AD OR SPONSORSHIP OPTION. ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE (TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW). THE MONEY RAISED GOES TOWARD COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OUR GRADUATES

IN ANY EVENT, PLEASE COME BACK TO WEEQUAHIC ON OCTOBER 6TH!

RECEPTION IN RON STONE GYM. ENTER ON GOLDSMITH AVENUE WHERE PARKING IS AVAILABLE.

IF ANY QUESTIONS, CONTACT MYRA at weequahicalumni@gmail.com.

Hi Time Keepers of the Weequahic Clock, 

Notes on WHS alumni passing:

Lauren Mandel

I wanted to share the passing of my mom, Janet Mattia Robinson, Class of 1960. She was a proud alum of Weequahic HS and cherished her memories from her time there.  Lauren  

Ira Megdal (Union 6/64)

It is with great sadness that I advise of the recent passing of my aunt, Lillian Checkman (nee Megdal), WHS Class of  6/43. My Aunt Lillie was a lovely person, inside and out. Her parents (my paternal grandparents) owned Megdal's Bake Shop, 965 Bergen Street. When my grandparents retired, Aunt Lillie and her husband, my Uncle Harold, became proprietors of the bakery.

Lillie is survived by her son Kenneth and daughter Geraldine, a grandson, and a great grandson. Lillie was also the aunt of my late cousins Rita Pilger (6/53) and Barry Pilger (6/56). Her husband, Harold was a WWII Marine Corps tail gunner and hero in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

According to her WHS yearbook, Lillie was slow to anger and quick to smile, and a friend worthwhile. Those sentiments are correct and she will be sorely missed. Ira

Program celebrating life of Weequahic notable:

FYI, the Medical History Society of New Jersey (MHSNJ) is hosting a Zoom talk by Michael Nevins, MD about "Newark's Parsonnet-Danzis Medical Dynasty" on Tuesday, September 17 at 7:00pm. As many of you know, Dr. Victor Parsonnet (WHS 1941 and member of WHSAA Hall of Distinction) celebrated his 100th birthday on August 29. Here's the link to register for the program: Program Registration Link.

Larry Sosnow (1/53) remembers Norman Hinkes (52):

Reading in the alumni newsletter about the passing of Norman Hinkes brought to mid some memories. In September 2021, I received a call from Norman. We hadn’t spoken in seventy years, since the end of the 1951 football season when I was his center on the then seemingly improbable 1951 Weequahic City Championship football team. But we became very close during that one football year. We practiced endlessly how he wanted the ball exactly snapped to him to give him the extra split seconds to execute the play.

Norman led our team on the field, instilling in us the belief that we could win. He urged us to be strong and fight, and we did all the way to the city championship. As many readers of this newsletter know, we were the first Weequahic football team in the school’s history to win the city title. While we had many outstanding players on our championship team, what may be less known is that Norman was the leader of that team who inspired us to persist, believe in ourselves, and win the city title.

Norman was a senior, and I, a junior, did my best as his center to protect him from the opposing defensive linemen eager to get at him. Despite weighing only 160 pounds, I, along with my exceptional guards, Myron Harkavy and Arnie Taub, who were also light in weight, were proud of holding the center of the line to protect Norman against always larger attacking opponents. We primarily played in T-formations, but Norman frequently moved into a single-wing formation. I can still today recall Norman calling signals to snap the ball; low for handoffs, high for his passes. One of the more anxiety-producing moves for a center was snapping the ball back for placekicks. Norman was the holder for our reliable place-kicker, Sandy Dresner. Norman always placed the ball precisely in time, making Sandy and I look good. 

When Norman phoned back in 2021, he explained that although we hadn’t spoken since high school, he remembered me and searched for my number. He said he was cleaning out his files when he came across some newspaper clippings from the Star-Ledger about our winning the championship and being selected for the All-City Team. He wanted me to have these clippings as my grandkids might want to know about their grandpa as an All-City center if they hadn’t already. We reminisced about the 1951 team and what we did with our lives over the years. I received his clippings and mailed him a thank you, and sadly, we never spoke again. I will always cherish my last call with Norman and remember the lessons he taught me on the football field that helped me succeed. Larry

WHS Math Teacher Phil Egeth (pictured, below) remembered by Howard Garval (65) and Steve Fischbein (68):

I will always remember Mr. Egeth who I had for Algebra II. There are two funny memories of him. First, instead of snapping two fingers together, he used all five fingers together and snapped them. I still do this once in a while as a way to remember him,

Second, I did very well in Algebra although math was not my strongest subject. On Algebra tests where students scored 100%, Mr. Egeth would draw in pencil what he called "The Golden Acorn Award." Funny how silly things like that are what I remember about him. But I always enjoyed his class even though math was not one of my favorite subjects. Howard

Phillip Egeth was my Geometry teacher. From his zeal for math, I learned to love math, especially Geometry. He made class fun, informative, and thought provoking. I think I showed him a theorem that I discovered, and he said he spent the next 3 weeks trying to prove it wrong without being successful. 

His final exam covered everything we learned from the first day of school to the last week prior to exams. Mr. Egeth said if anyone finished their exam prior to the end of class, they could come up to his desk to pick up an extra credit problem. The problem was worth 25 points. We expected difficult problems, but instead got “For 25 points, what did the acorn say when it grew up?” Answer was “Gee I'm a tree; geometry.” Needless to say, most of us passed with flying colors! Steve

More of those “Old Time W-Memories:”  

Ira Wiss (68)

Good memories brought back seeing several weeks ago the posting of a photo by my classmates Michael Botnick of himself and Paul Abramson at their own mini-reunion. Michael and Paul look great! I played clarinet in the band and orchestra at WHS and Paul played drums. As, I recall Paul, worked for public radio in Madison, WI. At a prior reunion, he gave me a funny CD about Wisconsin. I think it was called Forward Hey. I also remember being in some classes with Michael. Ira

Norman Liebman (6/51)

To my old pals and classmates Don Stickler Jerry Miller who inquired about Ronnie Piper, I am reminded of Ronnie frequently because he, as a designer practicing in North Miami Beach, is responsible for the huge white painted antique breakfront in my living room. However, I have not seen him in many years.

I remember the Bergen Street School connection to the Weequahic Class of June 1951 also included Freddy Mitterhoff, Sandy Katz, Esther Sher and Sandra Gray. I lived at 95 Osborne Terrace at the time and should have gone to Madison Jr., but my mother somehow convinced a school official that my "flat feet" made it too far for me to walk. So, I switched to the Annex which was located at Hawthorne Avenue School in 1947.

After 27 years of practicing Urology in Miami, I am enjoying a long and gratifying second career as an artist. I am at the easel almost daily. Love to hear from my classmates; liebmensch@aol.com, Norman 

The WHS NOTE is emailed to you by the WEEQUAHIC HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION for the CLASS OF 1963 ASSOCIATION and editor, Jacob Toporek.



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