Past Honoree Bios | Weequahic High School Alumni Association Hall of Distinction (2024)

Darryl Rochester
1971

Creative Arts

Darryl Rochester graduated from Weequahic High School in 1971 after having grown up on Johnson Avenue among a close-knit extended family and large circle of lifelong friends. Building on his foundation as a student in Kay Payne’s Dance Studio, Darryl’s love for the arts bloomed into his first career when he auditioned and was accepted in the famed Alvin Ailey Dance troupe. Unfortunately, Darryl soon suffered an injury which would bring an end to his dance career.

Darryl continued to embrace his artistic side by enrolling in the Wilfred Academy of Hair and Beauty Culture and Christine Valmy Beauty School in New York, receiving certifications from them both. With these certifications and the influences of his late mother Mabel and her dear friends, including Emily Miles "the grand dame of black style in Newark”, Darryl began taking the tri-state area fashion scene by storm. He was tapped by the legendary Al Murphy (who was obsessed with Emily Miles) to choreograph funky dance-theater pieces for Murphy’s highly extravagant fashion shows. Darryl and his dear friends, fashion designer Jaime McDonald and model Tommy Garrett, participated in these epic shows, as did such legends as Iman, Pat Cleveland, and Beverly Johnson, the first Black woman to grace the cover of Vogue Magazine. Around this time, Darryl opened his first salon in his family home on Keer Avenue. There, Darryl styled many of New Jersey’s hottest models and celebrities including Beverly Johnson, Pat Cleveland and one of his best friends, the groundbreaking Tracy “Africa'' Norman. He also styled participants of the legendary New York Ball culture and over the years was a premier stylist at Bamberger’s, the famous Soul Scissors Salon, and Avalon Day Spa in Greenwich Village.

Darryl was central to the theatrical environment of this era. Most notable was his association with the Club Le Jock, located on Halsey Street in Newark, an LGBTQ space that spawned the theatrical environment for the expression of free Black subjectivity and a precursor for similar cultural spaces throughout the tri-state area. Darryl's contributions to the LGBTQ community and cultural scene have been recorded in the Rutgers University Queer Newark annals. He later became a fixture at such legendary clubs as Zanzibar, Studio 54, The Garage, and The Loft.

Although Darryl did not have children of his own, he took great delight in being everyone’s Uncle Darryl; his many friends and clients were like his family. As a rite of passage, Uncle Darryl enjoyed taking his nieces clubbing to New York and New Jersey hot spots...after their hair and makeup were sufficiently snatched enough to make him proud. And while he also never married, his longtime relationship with Calvin Cleveland brought love and light to his life.

Darryl enjoyed traveling to places as far as Amsterdam; however, nothing could compare to his love for Martha’s Vineyard, where he traveled annually with his sister, Sandra and dear friend from Weequahic, Yvonne. He spent many a sunrise doing yoga on the Inkwell Beach and many lazy afternoons people watching in the front yard.

Darryl passed away on December 8, 2020, leaving behind a host of family, friends, classmates, and clients to dance on with the spirit he left behind.

Victor Parsonnet
Class of June 1941
Pioneer in Cardiology

An accomplished surgeon and researcher, Dr. Victor Parsonnet has demonstrated a lifetime of commitment and service to the advancement of cardiovascular medicine and surgery. Although he has gained international renown for his work with pacemakers, he also pioneered many cardiovascular procedures in
N.J., such as the first total esophagectomy, the first aortocoronary-bypass operation and the first kidney and heart transplantations.

Other contributions included the establishment of the first in-hospital emergency page system, now used universally as Code Blue or similar pages, the earliest demonstration that remote radiofrequency cardiac monitoring was feasible, now used in monitored critical care areas worldwide.

Among his many scientific contributions was the implantation of the first permanent transvenous pacemaker, a procedure now used in almost every pacemaker implantation throughout the world. He also implanted the first nuclear pacemakers in the United States and later pioneered the use of the lithium battery pacemaker, now used in virtually every pacemaker and defibrillator implanted today.

He is past Director of Surgery, a position he held for 34 years, and he founded the hospital’s Pacemaker Center in 1966 and remains its Director. He is Director of Surgical Research at the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, as well as Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Dr. Parsonnet has earned numerous awards and honors, and has served in various capacities, from founding member, trustee, to president, in many professional organizations and societies. He has been selected as “Outstanding Physician” of the year, received the “Pioneer in Pacing” award; and in 1996, The American Heart Association selected him to receive their “Heart of Gold Award.” This year they awarded him their 2008 Visionary Award that will henceforth bear his name for future awardees.

He has been a member of 13 editorial boards of cardiovascular journals, and holds five patents. As a recognized expert in his field, he has also published more than 600 articles, authored five books and 86 book chapters, produced 24 medical tapes and 20 teaching films, created 36 exhibits, and conducted more than 700 meetings, lectures, and presentations during his career.

Dr. Parsonnet attended Cornell University and the New York University College of Medicine where he received his medical degree. He completed his internship in surgery at Boston Beth Israel Hospital, and residencies in Pathology at Bellevue Hospital and Grasslands Hospital, and in surgery at the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. He completed fellowship training in vascular surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and in cardiovascular surgery with Drs. Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley at Baylor University College of Medicine in Houston. He served in the USNR during World War II, and the USAF during the Korean Conflict from 1952-54.

Through his avocational interest in music he became Board Chairman of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 1991. Earlier this year he was named Chairman Emeritus of the orchestra, and recently was their honoree at the 2008 opening night ceremonies, receiving the first Leadership Award that will bear his name for future awardees.

Dr. Parsonnet lives in Oldwick, N.J. with his wife, Jane. His first wife, Dr. Mia Parsonnet, also a physician, died in 2002. They have three children; one of whom, Julie, is Associate Professors of Medicine and Dean of Education at Stanford Medical School, Jeff is Associate Professor of Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School, and Brian is an engineer in business in Fort Collins, CO. They have five grandchildren, but now together with Jane they have six children, ten grandchildren, and one great grandchild.

Dr. Robert Lowenstein, Faculty
Distinguished Educator
By Dave Lieberfarb, WHS 1965

Thirty-one years after retiring as chairman of Weequahic’s foreign language department, Dr. Robert Lowenstein turned 101 in July 2008. Dr. Lowenstein taught at the high school during its early years before World War II, in the post-war era after serving overseas, and in the post-riots era after fighting his own battle against McCarthy-era political persecution. He and his wife, Zelda, who died three years ago, also raised three Weequahic alumni: Amy Lowenstein, 1962; Martha Lowenstein Rennie, 1964; and James (Jim) Lowenstein, 1965.

The centenarian has also maintained a 60-year relationship with one of Weequahic’s most famous alumni, Philip Roth, whom he met when the future author was in his freshman homeroom. A published poet and author himself, Dr.
Lowenstein was a model for a character in one of Roth’s novels, “I Married a Communist.” Dr. Lowenstein’s works have been published in a variety of poetry magazines. His daughter Martha recalled that when she and her siblings were young, their father also wrote a couple of plays and stories for children. She related attending a performance of “Petey and the Pogo Stick,” a dramatization of one of his stories.

Robert Lowenstein was born July 13, 1907, the fifth of six children, including two others who reached the century mark. He rattled off the names of his siblings: Ida, Eleanor, Aaron, Evelyn and Regina (Jean). Eleanor lived to 102; Evelyn to 100. Their mother reached age 92, and her mother made it to 95.

He graduated from South Side High School and received a degree in English from Rutgers in 1928. He earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania, then spent a year in France, where he taught in a boys’ secondary school where they trained to be elementary school teachers. Back in America, he went to Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a Ph.D. in French literature, writing his doctoral thesis on Voltaire.

Dr. Lowenstein’s first teaching job was in Trenton at Central High School where he taught French and Italian. “After a few years, I came to Newark,” he said, “because the pay was better, it was my hometown, and I could live in my parents’ house.” He spent time at South Side, teaching French, Spanish, and Latin, then Barringer, “to replace a retiring Italian teacher,” before coming to Weequahic.

During his first stint at Weequahic, he married the former Zelda Lewis on July 11, 1941. He joined the Army Air Corps and was sent overseas just before the birth of his first child, Amy, whom he didn’t get to see until he returned from 16 months in North Africa, Italy, and Yugoslavia, where he picked up a working knowledge of Serbo-Croatian.

Despite being a decorated World War II vet, Dr. Lowenstein ran afoul of the political persecution that took place during the Cold War. One of three Newark teachers fired in 1955, he fought it out in the courts. He was represented by distinguished Newark Judge John Bigelow and attorney Morton Stavis, who subsequently was one of the founders of the Center for Constitutional Rights. “When the case was finally decided in my favor, the opinion was written by a judge who had been a classmate of mine at Rutgers,” Dr. Lowenstein recalled. “Everything worked out fine.” Daughter Martha learned when she went to college that her father’s fame preceded her. “I didn’t realize that you were somewhat of a cause celebre,” she said. “When I got to [the University of] Wisconsin, some of the graduate history students wanted to interview me because I was your daughter.”

Reinstated with back pay in 1961, he went to Barringer as language department chairman. “I was very happy at Barringer teaching Italian,” he said. But his final transfer was to Weequahic in 1967, when there were no longer any young Lowensteins in the school. Although he gave up mowing his lawn and shoveling snow a couple of years ago, Dr. Lowenstein still stays active by taking several walks a day. Shirley Seltzer, widow of former Weequahic Math teacher Morton Seltzer, relates that “whenever I drop by to visit him, he has always ‘just returned from a walk.’” On the phone, he will give her advice for dressing for the weather conditions!

Dr. Lowenstein continues to write poetry and takes great pleasure in rereading his favorite writers, Montaigne and Dante. At the age of 101, family, friends, the natural world, reading and writing remain central to him. The French have a word for it - engagé.

Benilde Little
Class of 1976
Best-Selling Author

Former Essence magazine staffer Benilde Little is one of a new wave of successful African American female authors whose novels are earning legions of devoted fans. Her smart, attractive, overachiever protagonists are outwardly successful, but struggle with self-doubt, invisible class barriers, and heartache. Little has been compared favorably with notable writers of American fiction such as Edith Wharton and Terry McMillan.

Little is the best-selling author of Good Hair. The novel fictionalized the class issues Little had encountered both at Howard and in the world of professional, urban African Americans. The title referred to a trait that was essential for membership in the upper echelons of the African American social order, hair that didn't need to undergo lengthy chemical treatments to
become straight. Using whites as an example of beauty, the characters in Good Hair also judged their peers by the shade of their skin.

The main character of the novel, Alice Andrews, is an African American woman from Newark who earns a scholarship to a prestigious women's college in New England. Good Hair follows Andrews' life as she struggles for acceptance among her elite classmates and, after graduation, in her professional and social life in Manhattan.

Selected as one of the ten best books of 1996 by The Los Angeles Times, Good Hair spent six months at number one on the Blackboard Bestseller list. Little was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her work and was awarded Best New Author by the Go On Girl Book Club, a nationwide reading group. James McBride, author of The Color of Water, called the book “an important book to read for anyone who has ever been in love…a superb debut.”

Little’s follow-up novel, The Itch, was published in 1998. Set among the world that W.E.B. DuBois called, “The Talented Tenth,” she examined the privileged lives of the black elite in Manhattan and Los Angeles, and their struggle to find a sense of purpose amidst overwhelming material success.
Benilde’s critically acclaimed third novel, Acting Out, asked the question of how someone maintains their course when their world is turned upside down unexpectedly. Her latest novel, Who Does She Think She Is? was published in 2005.

Little was formerly a senior editor at Essence and a contributing editor at Heart and Soul. She has been a reporter for People, The Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Star-Ledger and has written for In-Style, Allure and other publications. She graduated from Howard University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and also attended graduate school at Northwestern University.

Little was born in 1958 and grew up in a modest, integrated neighborhood in Newark. Her mother had dropped out of high school, became a nurse's aide, and then served as president of the Parent-Teacher Association at her daughter's school. Little's father worked at General Motors as a materials coordinator and was active in community and civic organizations as well. Her parents provided her with music lessons and nice clothes and strongly encouraged her to excel in school.

The 1967 riots in Newark irrevocably changed Little's neighborhood. Many of the white families moved away, as did some of the established African American households. The Littles, however, refused to move.
Newcomers to the neighborhood, many of them from a riot-torn area of Newark known as the Central Ward, viewed middle-class families like the Littles with suspicion. Little, an overachieving student, was often ridiculed by her fellow African American classmates. "I was the rich kid," Little recalled in an interview with Pamela Newkirk in the Washington Post. On several occasions, she was attacked on her way home from school.

At Howard University, she met many wealthy students who had several generations of Howard alumni in their family. For the first time in her life, she was asked what her grandfather had done for a living. Little became acutely aware that there was a type of caste system among African Americans. Because she had her own apartment and car, she was considered part of the elite. These were some of the personal experiences that have become themes in her writing.

Benilde Little lives with her husband Clifford Virgin and their two children, Baldwin and Ford, in Montclair.

Alvin Attles
Class of June 1955
Player, Coach and Executive

Al Attles has witnessed it all during his lengthy NBA legacy with the Warriors (now Golden State) as a player, coach and executive - the exciting wins, the disappointing losses and the magical 1974-75 World Championship season.

He has personal, first-hand accounts of Wilt Chamberlain’s intimidating presence, Nate Thurmond’s defensive prowess, Rick Barry’s offensive explosions, the exciting days of "Run-TMC" and the high-flying antics of two-time NBA Slam Dunk Champion Jason Richardson. Attles is one of only 5 players in Warriors history to have his jersey retired (#16) - and remains one of the most publicly recognizable sports figures in the area.

Beginning his 48th year with the Warriors organization, Attles’ current stint with the same team represents the second-longest streak in NBA history, trailing only Boston’s Red Auerbach, who was a member of the Celtics’ organization from 1950 until his passing in 2006.

The 71-year-old Attles joined the Warriors in 1960 (a 5th-round draft choice) and has since been affiliated with the club in one capacity or another, building a unique relationship based on commitment, loyalty and dedication. He has spent the last 21 years as assistant general manager with the Warriors, assisting the front office in a variety of ways, ranging from player personnel input to numerous speaking engagements. His endless contributions locally as a player, executive and civic leader resulted in his much-deserved induction into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.

In the latter stages of the 1969-70 NBA campaign, Attles was named head coach of the Warriors, replacing George Lee after 52 games (spent the final two years of his playing career in 1969-70 and 1970-71 as a player/coach). His 30-game stint as head coach to end that season proved to be the start of the longest head coaching run in Warriors franchise history, a 13-plus-year tenure which produced, among other highlights, the lone NBA Championship in the club’s West Coast history (1974-75).

Under Attles' tutelage, Golden State captured the Pacific Division title during the 1974-75 championship season and defeated Seattle (4-2) and Chicago (4-3) en route to the NBA Finals, where the Warriors swept the Washington Bullets (4-0).

During his 13-year coaching run, Attles guided the Warriors to six playoff berths, two division titles and an overall 557-518 record, which ranks 18th on the NBA’s all-time coaches' winning list. One season after leading his team to the NBA title, he led them to a sparkling 59-23 record in 1975-76, the best mark in franchise history and the top record in the NBA that season.

Additionally, Golden State posted an all-time franchise record 11 consecutive wins during the 1971-72 campaign, Attles second full season at the helm. He also was named head coach of the Western Conference All-Star Team in both 1975 and 1976 and guided the Warriors to eight consecutive winning seasons during his first eight full seasons as head coach. Attles completed his coaching career in 1982-83 to become the Warriors GM, heading the team’s basketball operations for three years through 1986.

Attles originally joined the Warriors as a player when the franchise was located in Philadelphia, where he spent his rookie season with the team (1960-61) and one additional campaign before the team moved to San Francisco in 1962. One of the most aggressive and hard-nosed players in the league, Attles earned the unique nickname of “The Destroyer,” which appropriately described his mentality on the floor. During his 11-year NBA career, he averaged 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 711 regular-season games and currently ranks fifth on the Warriors all-time games played list.

Furthermore, he was involved in one of the most memorable games in NBA history on March 2, 1962, when he and Wilt Chamberlain combined for 117 points against the New York Knicks, the most ever by a pair of players in league annals. In that game, Attles tallied 17 points (8-8 FG, 1-1 FT), while Chamberlain netted an all-time NBA record 100 points.

Al and his wife, Wilhelmina, reside in Oakland and have two adult children, Alvin III and Erica.

In 2006, Al hosted a scholarship fund raising dinner for the Alumni Association and more than $125,000 was raised for the Alvin Attles Endowment Fund.

Philip Roth
Class of January 1950
Pulitzer Prize Winning Author

Philip Roth has been a prolific and celebrated writer of novels and short stories since Goodbye, Columbus, his debut collection of short fiction, for which he won the National Book Award in 1959 when he was only 26 and which was later made into a film.

He used his experiences in growing up in the Weequahic section, and his days as a college student in Rutgers and Bucknell as material for many of his works. In Goodbye, Columbus, the story is of a poor young Jewish man from Rutgers-Newark, who has an affair with a wealthy young Jewish woman the suburbs.

Roth, a January 1950 graduate of Weequahic High School, was born in 1933 to Herman Roth, an insurance salesman, and the former Bess Finkel. His older brother, Sandy, was a 1946 Weequahic grad. His first wife, Margaret Martinson, was the inspiration for female characters in several of Roth's novels, including Lucy Nelson in When She Was Good, and Maureen Tarnopol in My Life As a Man. She died in a car crash in 1968. In 1990, he married his long-time companion, English actress Claire Bloom. They are no longer together.

At a special ceremony attended by Roth in 2006, a plaque was placed on his boyhood home on Summit Avenue. “Today, Newark is my Stockholm, and that plaque is my prize," he said, "I couldn’t be any more thrilled by any recognition accorded to me anywhere on earth”

Roth's themes involve Jewish-American identity, sex, shame and the role of the individual in contemporary society, and his novels are alternately bleak and hilarious. The controversy over the sexual frankness of his third novel, Portnoy's Complaint (1969), made Roth a literary celebrity, a role he reluctantly embraced and used as fodder for later books. The Portnoy novel, a psychiatrist- couch monologue by a young, insecure, and hilariously articulate Jewish man who describes his life, notably his possessive mother, his erotic fascination with blonde Gentile girls, and his masturbatory exploits, is Roth's most famous. It has been widely acclaimed a comic masterpiece.

His alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman, appears in several of his books: 1974's My Life as a Man, 1979's The Ghost Writer and 1983's The Anatomy Lesson. His character David Kepesh is the protagonist of The Breast (1972), The Professor of Desire (1977) and The Dying Animal (2001), and Roth has also used his own name as the main character in mostly autobiographical works, including The Facts (1988), Deception (1990) and Operation Shylock (1993). His 1970 comic novel Our Gang is a parody of the Nixon administration... The Plot Against America (2004) is an alternate history in which Charles Lindbergh defeats Franklin D. Roosevelt for the U.S. presidency and turns America into an isolationist bastion of anti-semitism.

Roth is inarguably the most decorated writer of his era. His many literary awards include the American Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for the 1997 work American Pastoral. In 2002, he was awarded the National Book Foundation's Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Most remarkably, several of his novels have either won or been named finalists for one or more of America's four most prestigious literary awards, a phenomenal achievement for a writer now entering his eigth decade.

Literary critic Harold Bloom has named him as one of the four major American novelists still at work, along with Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, and Cormac McCarthy. In 2004, the Philip Roth Society announced the publication of the inaugural issue of the Philip Roth Studies journal.

Ron Stone

Ron Stone believed “the best measure of success is not how high up the ladder of achievement one ascends, but how many others you help along the way.”

After six years as Principal of Weequahic High School, Ronald G. Stone, passed away suddenly on Sunday, November 4, 2007 at age 57. His passing was a great loss to the high school, the Weequahic community, and the city of Newark. Mr. Stone was a passionate, dedicated, and determined educator. He was an inspiration to his staff and students. He brought to the high school a fresh vision, a compelling agenda, and a strategy for success. He embraced Weequahic with energy and enthusiasm. His bold, dynamic and extraordinary leadership truly made a difference.

During his tenure, the school prospered for the first time in many years. This included creating an atmosphere for learning and success; instilling school pride; the renewal of the school's accreditation; improved test scores; an increase in students graduating and attending college; better facilities for the marching band and athletic teams; the renovation of Untermann Field; a state championship football team; the use of conflict resolution as an alternative to gang violence; and the establishment of a working partnership with the school's active alumni association.

Ron was born in Newark’s Central ward, the oldest son of the late Dr. Elayne D. Brodie, who encouraged him to excel in academics, music, and athletics. He spent his adolescent and teen years growing-up in the North Ward section of Newark, where he attended Summer Avenue Elementary, Broadway Junior High School, and Barringer High School. At Barringer he was First Chair trumpet, leader of the Blue Jackets Jazz Band, in addition to his pursuit of athletics.

He became a three-year varsity wrestler and a track and field athlete, under the guidance of Coach Tony Naporano, and the personal influence of Coach Frank Verducci. Winning both the City and the District Championships in the 157-pound weight class, he concluded his high school career undefeated in 1968.

He continued his education and graduated Kean College with a BA in Physical Education and an MA in Admini- stration and Supervision. At Kean he lettered in football as the starting fullback. He also began to play Lacrosse, and after two years, was named Captain of the Lacrosse team earning All Metropolitan honors as a Midfielder.

In 1974, Ron became a Physical Education teacher and coached in the Newark Public Schools. In early 1980 he started the first wrestling club for elementary youth at Franklin Elementary. He coached boy’s basketball at Peshine, Dayton Street and First Avenue schools. He influenced the lives of numerous young athletes. Prior to coming to Weequahic in 2002, Mr. Stone was Vice Principal at Dayton Street School and Avon Avenue School.

In 1993 at age 43 in pursuit of new challenges and to test his physical limits, Ron won the North American Power Lifting Championship, squatting 680 pounds, setting a State dead lift record of 710 pounds. He held a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and placed 10th in the New Jersey State Road Cycling Criterion Championship two summers ago.

A motivational speaker, Mr. Stone received numerous recognitions and awards - most recently, the Benedetto Croce Educator's Award. He was also inducted into the Newark Athletic Hall of Fame and made the keynote address.

Forever the optimist, Ron would affirm “there is a crisis in urban public schools, but I contend these institutions are indispensable. Public schools are vital to inner-city communities. The bottom line is that, even when there is little evidence of educational efficacy, urban public schools provide services that are desperately needed. Therefore, it’s up to us to change a culture of hopelessness to a culture of, WE will succeed, no matter what!”

Ron and Meg Charney Stone were married for 16 years. He had four sons, Bobby Jr., Ronnie, Jr., and twins Jesse and Jarret. His legacy and devotion to his family, his students, and his colleagues will live in our hearts forever!

He firmly believed that “through God, all things are possible.”

73 years as a journalist

Excerpts from an article by Steve Politi, Star-Ledger

Sid Dorfman left his house in the spring of 1935 with three nickels in his pocket - two for the round-trip ride on the No. 14 bus and one “just in case” - and set out looking for a job. He showed up at the downtown Newark offices of a struggling newspaper called The Morning Ledger and was hired to write high school results at 10 cents a column inch. He was 15.

Seventy-three years later, Dorfman is still a vital part of The Star-Ledger, and along the way his contributions have helped it grow into the biggest in New Jersey. Sid started his journalism career at 15 as a rewrite person in the sports department, writing high school games. In 1938, he formed Dorf Feature service, which eventually became one of the largest news bureaus in the country, serving The New York Times, Herald-Tribune, N.Y. Daily News, and other New York papers.

At age, 88, Sid is not in retirement mode. He still runs Dorf Feature Service in Mountainside, which supplies The Star-Ledger with high school and college sports coverage and town news. He also writes a weekly sports column. No one has worn more hats. Dorfman has covered golf, midget bike races, boxing and virtually every other sport as a reporter. He has designed the front page and the sports pages, lobbied to get more funeral homes to post obituaries in the newspaper and set up a system of bureaus that puts reporters closer to the suburban towns they cover. “No single person in the history of this paper meant as much to its success as Sid Dorfman,” said Jerry Izenberg, whom Dorfman helped hire as a sports columnist in 1962. “In a lot of ways, there would not be a Star-Ledger without him.”

He did everything in the early years. He was the first golf writer at the newspaper, even though he had never played or even watched the sport. He covered midget motorized bike races at the Velodrome in Nutley. He was the “Masked Lady,” picking horse races at the local tracks. He covered amateur boxing at the Newark Athletic Club. He worked as a copy editor on the sports desk, and there were nights when he not only put out the sports section but filled in on the news side, laying out the front page as well.
He was, in a word, indispensable. But he is best known for his bureau’s expansive coverage of high school sports. Few newspapers provide more scores, results and features about school athletes than The Star-Ledger. Boyd Sands, executive director of the New Jersey State Interscholastic

Athletic Association, said “Sid is behind it all. It’s thanks to Sid that so many of our student athletes are show- cased around the state and across the country.”

Dorfman introduced some features that are still among the most popular in the newspaper today. He started the Top 20 ranking for high school sports around the state, and started All-State teams, not just for football and boys basketball, but for girls sports as well - the first newspaper in the metropolitan area to do so. “When nobody paid attention to women’s athletics, Sid was on the case,” said Donald Newhouse, president of The Star-Ledger. "History has proven his instincts infallible.” and his biggest contribution may have come in another unfamiliar area: death notices.

"Sid is a special New Jersey treasure," said Jim Willse, editor of The Star-Ledger. "In addition to being a great columnist, he is a terrific editor, mentor and friend, and the best thing of all - he’s just warming up."

Throughout his career, Sid has been recognized for his work with many awards and honors. Some of them are as follows: Old Time Athletes Hall of Fame; Newark Athletic Hall of Fame; Sports Hall of Fame of NJ; NJ Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame; World Golf Hall of Fame (best column in U.S., one year only); Metro West Jewish Hall of Fame; NJ Sportswriters’ Association Distinguished Service Award and Honorary Life Member- ship; NJ Interscholastic Coaches Association Service Award; NJ Interscholastic Athletic Association Service Award; Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark Philip Dameo Memorial Award; First Fidelity Bank Humanitarian Award; Seton Hall University Larry Keefe Memorial Award; NJ Genesis Drug and Alcohol Program Humanitarian Award; Honorary Chairman: United Way, Mountainside, N.J.; Honorary Member, U.S. PGA and N.J. PGA; Life Member Golf Writers Association of America; B’nai B’rith International Civics Award, Springfield Lodge.

In 2002, Sid was selected as a "Distinguished Alumni" by the Weequahic High School Alumni Association.

Seymour ‘Swede’ Masin
Class of June 1938
Newark sports icon
By Matthew J . Dowling, Star-Ledger

The athletic accomplishments of Seymour 'Swede' Masin have long been elevated to legendary status in Newark sports lore and led novelist Philip Roth to base a character in a Pulitzer Prize- winning book on ‘‘The Swede.’’

The two Weequahic High School graduates never met before ‘‘American Pastoral’’ was published in 1997 since they attended the Newark school more than a decade apart. ‘‘Until he got the book, he didn’t believe it,’’ Swede’s daughter, Patty, said. ‘‘It was very exciting for him and for all of us.’’

Still, Swede took the unexpected fame with the same humility that marked his outstanding sports career as a young man some six decades earlier at Weequahic, where he starred in basketball, track and football. ‘‘He was a truly great high school and college athlete,’’ said Sid Dorfman, a Star-Ledger columnist who met regularly with Swede to talk sports. ‘‘You had to tell him how good he was because he wouldn’t. We had to drag it out of him.’’

Swede was named to the Star-Ledger's top 50 athletes of the century as well as the all-decade basketball team of the 1930s. He is widely considered one of the greatest athletes in Newark history. With little training in track and field at age 14, Swede put the 8-pound shot 57 feet, 6 inches - a record that stood for 45 years. As he matured, he became an imposing figure by the sports standards of the 1930s and 1940s at 6 feet, 1 inch tall and 200 pounds.

He continued to build his legacy when he attended Panzer College, which is now a part of Montclair State University. He captained the basketball, soccer and track teams at Panzer. Swede led the basketball team to a 44-victory streak (longest in the country at that time) including wins over powerhouse teams like New York University and Long Island University.

Jerry Izenberg, longtime Star-Ledger sports columnist, said New York teams suddenly began refusing to schedule games against the upstart Panzers. And Swede's prowess in track and field earned him a state shot put and discus championship and a silver medal in the discus at the Penn Relays. He was also a Coaches All-American Soccer Player. ‘‘For him to dominate in everything was amazing,’’ Izenberg said. ‘‘He was the guy that the entire city of Newark knew. He was so complete, he had the physical strength to match his talent.’’

Swede served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War II, stationed on a minesweeper in the Mediterranean. When he returned from the war, he resumed his sports career by playing professional basketball for the Newark Bobcats in the American Basketball League, a precursor to the NBA.

His love of sports never waned during the 49 years he spent as a liquor salesman, primarily working for Gordon Bass and Co. in Union. Swede attended any community sporting event he could find and transferred his passion for athletics to his children.

‘Our whole social life was going to sporting events,’’ said Patty Masin, who was a physical education teacher
at Elizabeth High School. ‘‘He just loved sports and loved kids.’’

It wasn’t until Patty Masin uncovered a scrapbook documenting Swede’s achievements in high school and college that she understood the acclaim that followed his sports career. ‘‘He was just a powerful person, so loved and respected by everyone,’’ Patty Masin said.

‘‘I really treasured his friendship,’’ said Les Fein, who got to know Swede through their regular lunch meetings with Dorfman to talk sports. ‘‘He was an incredibly warm, soft and wonderful individual for his legendary prowess as a big strong man. He was like a gentle giant.’’

Swede had the opportunity to meet Roth when the author was a featured speaker at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center two years after ‘‘The Swede’’ character won Roth so much acclaim. ‘‘ You put me on the map,’’ Swede told Roth, according to an account published in The Star-Ledger at the time. ‘‘You put me on the map,’’ Roth replied. Most recently, his son, Bob, has written a book about his life.

In addition to Patty and Bob, Swede had another daughter Dale Raugas, a son Doug, and six grandchildren.

In his honor, after he passed away in 2006, the WHS Alumni Association established the Seymour "Swede" Masin Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Class of 1995

Alturrick Kenney is the current Surrogate of Essex County, NJ. In this elected role, he is the Administrative Judge and Constitutional Officer of the Surrogate's Court.

Alturrick is an experienced community leader who has always made it his mission to positively impact the citizens of the City of Newark, and the County of Essex, NJ. In his 20 + years as a public servant, he has served in many roles, including Deputy Mayor of the City of Newark, member of the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board, Manager for Port Activities and Business Development for the City of Newark, and Chair of the Port Oversight Committee.

Class of 1970

Antoinette (Toni) currently holds the position of Chief Education Officer for the City of Newark, NJ. She is a career educator who taught English, Theater and Creative Writing in the Newark public school system for over 30 years. She coached an award-winning speech team and directed over 30 musical and dramatic productions. She is also the Project Director of Stand & Deliver (a student public speaking and leadership program). Before retiring from the school district, she was a Coordinator at the Marion Bolden Student Center, developing a core of after-school classes and university partnerships.

Class of 1968

Coach Burney Lee Adams

(Teacher and Coach, 1963 to 2003)

Coach Adams grew up in Savannah, Georgia. After graduating from high school he served in the US Military and then attended Florida A&M University, where he played football. In 1963, he was named Team Captain,made the Southern Interscholastic Athletic Conference First Team and was an All American Nominee.

Coach Adams signed with the professional football team, the Hamilton Tigercats in Canada. However, his football playing career ended with a serious leg injury. He came Newark and was offered a teaching and coaching position in the school district. Coach Adams was an Assistant Coach and then Head Coach at Weequahic High School. He built up a high school football program at Weequahic which was second to none. He was a great motivator, respected and admired by his players, students and the community.

In the early 1970’s, he, along with the Honorable Don Bradley and the late Judge Irvin Booker, incorporated features into the football program that were ahead of their time. He made history when he hired NJ’s first female, on the field, Assistant Football Coach. Because of their success, the WHS football program was featured in both the NY Times and the Newark Star Ledger, and many schools modeled their programs after what was established at Weequahic.

Coach Adams was also the visionary and founder of “The Soul Bowl,” the annual Thanksgiving Game between Weequahic and Malcolm X Shabazz (formerly South Side) high schools, which draws thousands of alumni every year

Coach Adams retired in 2002, but he remained a role model for many students for whom he was a coach, father, teacher and mentor.

Class of June 1946

Schechner was a champion of the WHSAA's mission, assisting with fundraising efforts and providing legal guidance. David Schechner also served as the Chair of his own class of 1956 reunions for many years.

“He is a talker and needs no questioning before he speaks”
(Quote under David Schechner’s name in June 1946 WHS Yearbook)

Class of June 959

Eleanor spent her entire life fighting for social justice. As a graduate student at the University of Michigan, she was very involved in improving the status of women on campus, including access to University athletic facilities. During that time, she became a part timeconsultant to the Federal government for affirmative action on college campuses.

Class of 1956

After graduating from Weequahic High School, Eli attended Temple University, graduating in 1959 with an accounting major.

Eli worked as a Certified Public Accountant for several major accounting firms (J.H. Cohn & Co, Richard Eisner & Co, and EisnerAmper, LLP) before establishing his own practice in 2014. During his career, he provided financial expertise, conducted forensic audits and served as an expert witness in a number of legal trials.

He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, NJ Society of CPAs and the NY Society of CPAs.

Eli serves as Chairman of The Jaqua Foundation, a private not-for-profit charitable and philanthropic organization, which has provided grants over the past 35 years to Weequahic High School, the Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity, the NJ Tap Ensemble, St. Barnabas Medical Center and the Animal Medical Center of NYC, as well as to many colleges and universities. The Foundation also supports the NJ Performing Arts Center and the NJ Symphony. He has serves on numerous boards that focus on the arts and issues related to children’s education and social development.

Eli married to Barbara Schapiro Hoffman in 1972 and they have 5 children and 10 grandchildren.

Class of 1972

Class of 1971

Hisani is an experienced artist, onstage and backstage. During her senior year at Seton Hall University, she wrote the book and lyrics for her first musical, Different Kinda Blue, in which she also performed and served as choreographer. After graduating with a BS in Political Science, she moved to NYC, worked at the Dance Theater of Harlem and continued to write and co-produce two more musicals. In 2015 she received her MA in Media Studies from the New School in NYC.

Hisani spent 11 years as an Adjunct Professor at Bloomfield College in the Creative Arts and Technology Division. She has conducted screenwriting workshops at film festivals and adapted two books into screenplays. Throughout her career, Hisani has been an active participant in writers workshops and other artistic endeavors. She wrote feature articles for local magazines and a monthly column for an entrepreneurial newspaper.

Her documentary, The Vanishing Black Male, has been seen in film festivals around the country and won the Broader Vision award from the Garden State film festival. One of her screenplays placed as a finalist in Director Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope Screen Writer’s Competition.

In addition to her book, Do I Have to be a Starving Artist in the 21st Century?, Hisani wrote and produced a documentary on the history of African Americans in New Brunswick, NJ (The Roaring Whisper). She curated an exhibit on the history of African Americans in NJ’s film industry and she spent six years as an Associate Programmer with NJPAC producing community performances for international artists such as Hugh Masekela, Paquito D’ Rivera, Babatunje Olatunji, and others.

Hisani currently has a short documentary premiering on YouTube (It’s Time) that explores the journey of adult children who have parents with dementia, she recently released a new book (Be Epic), and is in the process of developing financing for a movie to be shot in Newark called POPCORN!

Class of June 1961

Dr. James Oliver Horton was born in Newark, NJ, and after graduating from Weequahic, attended the U. of Buffalo. He then joined the US Air Force and while in service, earned his M.S. degree from the U. of Hawaii. He then earned his Pd.D. in History from Brandeis. Dr. Horton taught at the U. of Michigan and then went to George Washington University, where he became the Benjamin Banneker Professor of American Studies and History.

Dr. Horton was a pioneer in the study of 19th century Black communities and he directed the African American Communities Project at the Smithsonian. He was a Sr. Fulbright Professor at the Univ. of Munich (Germany) and held the John Adams Distinguished Fulbright Chair at the U. of Leiden (the Netherlands). Dr. Horton lectured throughout the US, Europe and Asia. In 1991, he assisted the German government in developing American studies programs in the former East Germany.

He taught many summer seminars in history for elementary and secondary school teachers, both locally and nationally, and in 1994-95 he served as Sr. Historical Advisor to the Director of the National Park Service. Dr. Horton also advised museums in US and abroad, among them the Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Ohio), the National Civil Rights Museum (TN), Colonial Williamsburg and Monticello. Dr. Horton was a historical consultant to and guest on numerous historical documentaries, among them ‘The History Channel,’, and “Great Minds in American History.’

Dr. Horton published 10 books on African American History, many with his wife, Dr. Lois E. Horton, among them, Black Bostonians and In Hope of Liberty, as well as on general African American History, including Hard Road to Freedom, Slavery and Public History, and Slavery and the Making of America (the companion book to a PBS series). In 2004-05 he was the President of the Organization of American Historians, the largest national organization for scholars and teachers of American History.

James Oliver Horton died in 2017 and is survived by his wife, Lois E. Horton.



Paul Tractenberg

Class of June 1956

Paul graduated from Weequahic as co-valedictorian, president of the OBA student government and an all-state baseball pitcher. He was a recipient of a National Merit Scholarship (as a member of the inaugural class) and a National General Motors scholarship, among others.

He went on to graduate with academic distinction from Wesleyan University in 1960 and from the University of Michigan Law School in 1963. After a year’s post-graduate fellowship in Amsterdam, he was associated with two prominent NYC law firms. In between, he served as associate general counsel of the Peace Corps and as senior counsel of the Governor’s Commissioner to Review NY State’s Human Rights Laws.

In 1970, he accepted a faculty position at Rutgers Law School-Newark, then known as the “People’s Electric Law School” because of its singular commitment to using law to advance social justice and equality.

In 2016, he retired from full-time law teaching as the Board of Governors’ Distinguished Service Professor and Alfred C. Clapp, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law, but he continues to work on a number of professional projects.

Paul’s long tenure at Rutgers Law was a coming home to Newark, where he had been born, raised and public school-educated. His experiences at Weequahic, led him to specialize in education law and policy, and to become a leading advocate for urban students. In 1973, with a Ford Foundation grant he established and directed the Education Law Center, which not only has been the lawyer for New Jersey’s 300,000 urban students in the landmark Abbott v. Burke litigation, but is today the nation’s most prominent public interest law firm representing students and parents. The Abbott case has generated literally tens of billions of dollars of extra state education aid for Newark and other NJ urban school districts.

In 2000, Paul established and directed the Institute on Education Law and Policy at Rutgers-Newark, which tackled many of the education issues addressed in his advocacy efforts from an action research perspective. As a lawyer and children’s advocate, he has focused on equalizing the funding of education and integrating the schools of New Jersey, and he and his team of young researchers are currently completing a book on school integration for Columbia University’s Teachers College Press.

During his spare time, Professor Tractenberg travels and relaxes with his wife Neimah and tries to spoil his four young grandchildren. For many years, he was a devoted road cyclist until an accident this past fall caused him to put his cycling on hold.


Sadie Z. Rous
(Teacher, 1934 to 1967)

My mother, Sadie Z. Rous, taught at Weequahic High School from 1933 until her early death at the age of 55. She was born in Newark and lived in Newark for her entire life. When I was about eight, we moved from the Clinton Hill section of Newark to Hansbury Ave. I attended Chancellor and then Weequahic before I graduated and left Newark to go to college.

Outside of her immediate family and sisters, Newark and Weequahic were the great loves of my mother’s life. Her social life centered on her colleagues--almost all of her closest friends also taught at Weequahic. Their lunch together in the 3rdfloor teachers’ room was one of the high points of her day. We heard a great deal over dinner about their political and other discussions as well as about their families. I called many of them Aunt.

My mother always liked her students. Year after year, the members of her homeroom filled our conversation. She spent a great of time helping those who needed it, both academically and personally. Her students obviously returned her affections. After the riots in Newark in 1967, two of her male students came up to her and said they didn’t think it was safe for her to walk home alone at the end of the day. They took it upon themselves to accompany her and waited until she was safely in our house.

My mother taught social studies, which gave her the opportunity to educate her classes about current events as well American history. She always assumed her students were capable of reading their textbooks and the newspaper. She listened respectfully to their views and engaged them in discussion if they disagreed. I can still remember once when she discussed unions in class. She was very critical of the Teamsters for their corruption and violence. A student raised his hand to say that she didn’t understand what the union meant to their members and their families. His family was one. He said that his father had never made an adequate living, felt safe against the violence that periodically broke out in his neighborhood until he joined the Teamsters. My mother said it was a real eye opener to her.

Sadie Rous would be immensely pleased with this induction into the Weequahic High School Alumni Association Hall of Distinction, as am I and the nieces she was closest to.

Barbara (Rous) Harris – WHS, 1959


Steven Dinetz

Class of 1965

Beginning in 1963, while still in high school, Steve worked after school in advertising agencies in Newark and New York City, ultimately becoming a Copy and Account Executive. In 1975, he became a Sales Executive at WOR / WXLO-FM Radio in NYC.

Warren Grover

Class of January 1955

After graduating from Weequahic, Warren went on to earn a BA and an MA in History from New York University. He spent his life as a historian, teacher, and author.

Warren retired as President of MDM Technologies (a direct mail company), he was a history instructor at the Newark College of Engineering, Executive Director of the Newark Committee on Full Employment, and a visiting Professor of Newark History at Rutgers-Newark.

He has held elected positions as Chairman of the West Orange County and the NJ State Democratic Committees. In addition, he served on the boards of multiple agencies, including the YIVO Institute for Jewish History, the NJ Historical Society, the NJ Jewish Historical Society, a member of the Newark Congress of Racial Equality and he was Chairman of the Newark Archive Project. Warren also has the distinction being the Co-Founder and a board member of the Newark History Society.

Warren has authored numerous articles about Newark and politics for the NJ Italian Tribune, the NJ Jewish News and the Newark History Society, and he is the author of the book Nazis in Newark.


Wilfredo Nieves

Class of 1966

Dr. Wilfredo Nieves, President Emeritus of Capital Community College, retired after 18 years of service as a community college president in Connecticut, eight of them at Capital.

Dr. Nieves has served on the boards of the National Coalition of Advocates for Students, the Middlesex United Way, Capital Workforce Partners, the Community Renewal Team, the Hartford Stage, Leadership Greater Hartford, Latino Community Services, the Village for Family and Children and the Bradley Home. He also serves as a Director for Liberty Bank and its Foundation, a Corporator for Hartford Hospital and Middlesex Health, and he is a Past President of the Middletown Rotary Club. He was recognized by the Middlesex United Way and awarded its highest and most prestigious volunteer award, the Community Service Award.

Having a passion for education, Dr. Nieves has served as Chair of the Hartford Consortium for Higher Education, been a Commissioner for the New England Commission on Higher Education and has served as an evaluator for it as well as for the Commission on Higher Education for the Middle States Association. He has been a Director on the Board of the American Association of Community Colleges and has chaired the Commission on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, the Committee on Directors and Membership Services and the Committee on Program Initiatives and Workforce Training.

Wilfredo Nieves received his Doctorate of Education in Counseling Psychology from Rutgers University, and he holds an MA degree (Guidance) and a Master of Education degree in Applied Human Development from Columbia University. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Kean University-NJ.

Wilfredo is married to Iris Rivas-Nieves and they have two sons.



Sheila Y. Oliver

Class of 1970

Sheila Oliver became New Jersey’s 2nd Lieutenant Governor in January of 2016. She is the first woman of color to serve in statewide elected office in NJ history. She was also appointed Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs by Governor Phil Murphy.

Lt. Governor Oliver is a native of Newark. After Weequahic, she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Lincoln University (PA). She also holds an M.S. from Columbia University (NY) and has received honorary doctorates from Lincoln, Montclair State, Berkeley and Essex County Colleges.

She began her career in public service as Director of the office of Youth Services and Special Projects for Newark. Later she became the Development Director for the Newark Literacy Campaign, as well as the Coordinator of Career Guidance in the EOF Program at Caldwell College. Lt.Gov. Oliver has served on the board of numerous non-profit and social services organizations, including the East Orange General Hospital Board of Trustees, the United Way, the Newark Coalition for Neighborhoods, the Women’s Political Caucus of NJ, the NAACP and the Urban League.

First elected to the NJ General Assembly in 2003, Lt. Gov. Oliver became the Speaker in 2010, the second African-American female in the country to lead a State legislative house. She was Chair of the Assembly Human Services Committee, and served as a member on many committees dealing with children, education, economics, and equal opportunity.

Lt.Gov. Oliver has received numerous awards and accolades from organizations across the country acknowledging her lifelong public service and advocacy for women’s equality and social justice.



Stanley Markowitz

Class of June 1955

After Weequahic, Stan earned his BA at Rutgers-Newark. From there, he went on to graduate work at the University of Maryland-College Park.

As a teacher at Howard University, Stanley learned more fully the richer and truer history of the US and passed that on to his students. After three years at Howard, he became a professor at Essex Community College in Baltimore County where he taught for 28 years, served as chair of the faculty senate, chaired a committee on increasing student retention and became chair of the Affirmative Action Committee. Over the course of his career, he also taught classes at the Pentagon, the Jessup Correctional Facility and was an adjunct professor at the Maryland Institute of Art.

During the 80s and 90s, Stan was involved in work against housing discrimination, he chronicled the story of the steelworkers union in Baltimore, highlighting how life was for women and Blacks working in the steel industry. He became involved in wide ranging issues such as the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign and the Central America Solidarity Committee. Stannd used community organizing as a tactic to drive social change, focusing on economic challenges such as development, gentrification and predatory lending. From these efforts, Stan led training workshops for aspiring leaders of community organizations in Hungary and Romania.

Stan was passionate about standing up against racism in the US and, with his wife, formed Paso Training and Consulting, to help individuals understand the historical impact of racism on current issues of injustice. They also co-founded Baltimore Racial Justice Action, which continues their work today.



Nathan Weiss

Class of 1940

Nathan Weiss was a proud graduate of Weequahic and excelled both in academics and in sports. He went on to receive a BA from Montclair State College, after serving three years with the U.S. Army Air Force and an MA from Rutgers University. Dr. Weiss began his career as an educator (in his perspective, the highest of callings) at Fallsburgh High School (NY); and while there, he earned a PhD in government from New York University.

In 1961, he joined the Newark State College Department of History and Social Sciences; six years later, he became a full professor and department chair. In 1969, he became President and continued to teach until 1999, ten years after his retirement.

During his tenure, the college was transformed from a teachers college to a multi-purpose institution, becoming the second largest state college in NJ. He committed himself to the college’s growth and development through the creation of numerous academic programs, including in the fields of health and technology fields and graduate studies. Dr. Weiss presided over the name change from Newark State College to Kean College of NJ, and the purchase of the Pingry School which became an integral academic and performance center on campus. On the State level, he was a moving force in the pursuit and development of legislation and governance structue that enabled the state colleges to become more independent and responsible for their own visions and destinies.

Dr. Weiss was inducted in the Montclair State College Athletic Hall of Fame. As football was one of his lpassions, as President of Kean, he inspired the creation of its football program and was inducted into its Athletic Hall of Fame. He was the recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from Kean, Montclair State, and Jersey City State. The University also recognized his contributions in 1998 by naming its graduate division the “Nathan Weiss Graduate College.”

Class of 1963

When Jac graduated from Weequahic, he went on to earn his BA degree from Rutgers-Newark, his J.D. from NY Law School in 1970, and an L.L.M. in International Studies, NYU School of Law in 1974.

Jac began his creeer as Appointments to the Hon. Brendan Byrne, Governor of NJ., responsible for directing and coordinating the process of gubernatorial appointments to all the State boards and commissions. In 1982, he became Commissioner of the NJ Victims of Crime Compensaton, overseeing the agency and presiding over appeals.

In 2007, Jac became Executive Director of the NJ State Association of Jewish Federations, where he served as a liaison between the State Federations and affiliated agencies. In this position, he served as government affairs and advocacy director for NJ State Jewish Federations and affiliated agencies on behalf of Jewish community concerns at the state and federal level and coordinator of networking and collaboration with faith-based and specific issue interests.

Jac has been a member of the Advisory Committee on Non-Public Pub Schools, the NJ-Israel Commission (founding member), Advocacy Committee, NJ Center of for Non-Profits, NJ SHARES, Interfaith Advisory Council and numerous other organizations.

Jac is also the founder of the weekly WHS Note which reaches thousands of WHS alumni and as leader of the Class of 1963 has donated thousands of dollars to the WHSAA Scholarship Program.

Spanning 55 years, Phil Yourish has served the greater Newark community as an educator, nonprofit administrator, consultant, and volunteer.

“When it comes to career choices, I have been an extremely fortunate person. I can genuinely say that I have thoroughly enjoyed all the work experiences in which I have participated - and that they closely reflect my beliefs and values about life. And most of all, they have provided me with the wonderful opportunity to help other people. From leading an award-winning alternative high school for high-risk youth - to running a city-wide literacy program - to directing my high school’s alumni association, my work has been my passion! Moreover, an outstanding organization depends upon the collective ideas, skills, and talents of dedicated individuals - and throughout my career in several different settings, I have been privileged to have worked with many remarkable people.”

Phil, who was born at the “Beth,” grew up in Newark and graduated from Weequahic High School in 1964. He has a BA degree from Paterson State College and an MA degree in Urban and Community Education from Montclair State College. Starting his career as a social studies teacher at West Kinney Jr. High School, he has served as the director of four nonprofit organizations through seven decades.

For ten years in the 70s and 80s, Phil headed Independence High School, an alternative secondary school in Newark for high-risk youth that was selected as a national exemplary youth demonstration project by the U.S. Department of Labor. He states that this was his“dream come true job and it consumed me in so many wonderful ways.”After leaving the alternative school in 1988, Phil established his own firm, Consultants for Non-Profits, that allowed him to utilize his experience and skills in providing technical assistance to more than 20 other community-based organizations. During this time, he also worked with Accountants for the Public Interest - NJ and was the founding administrator for a substance abuse treatment center in Pennsylvania.

Although his work takes up most of his time, he has always found moments to do something unusual and exciting. Over the years, he has taken a few trips in his motorhome with his dogs, Ms. Beaujangles and Lady Red, traveling from coast to coast to explore the scenic, cultural, and historical landscape of America. In the early 90s, Phil went on the most fascinating journey of his life - a five-month sojourn to Nepal, India and Thailand to be part of a group that was teaching sustainable farming techniques. This trip was also highlighted by trekking for 19 days in the Himalayas, a one-week white water rafting excursion, living in an international community, and staying in the ashram of a famous spiritual leader. On his return, he was a member of a group of 17 from the Bread and Puppet Circus that went on an amazing road trip from Vermont to Nicaragua in a refurbished school bus to deliver the bus to a performing arts group as a part of a sister-city exchange program.

In 1995 when he became the Executive Director of the Newark Literacy Campaign (NLC), located at The Newark Public Library, Phil brought new life and vision to a program that had been struggling to survive. On being at NLC, he states,“how amazing it was to work in such a historic and beautiful building five days a week helping adults and children improve their reading skills.” When he left in 2000, he took on the reigns of a unique project managing a research team investigating the building of an alternative wastewater system for a women’s conference center in Ohio.

One year later, Phil’s life came full circle when he returned to the high school of his youth to help launch the Weequahic High School Alumni Association, where he served as its founding Executive Director for 13 years. He describes this experience as“unfinished business that was much better the second time around as an adult." Under his tenure, the organization flourished, raising over a million dollars for college scholarships and student activities as it became one of the largest, most active, and successful urban alumni groups in New Jersey.

On the volunteer front, Phil served as an elected Model Cities representative in Newark in the early 70s, and on the board of trustees of numerous community organizations including Newark Landmarks, the Newark Public Schools Historical Preservation Committee, the Cornucopia Network of New Jersey, the Northeast Earth Coalition, and The Jewish Museum of New Jersey, located at Congregation Ahavas Sholom, Newark’s oldest, continuously active synagogue. In 2016, he headed a group that created the exhibit,“The Synagogues of Newark,”for the 350thAnniversary of the city.

When Phil reflects upon his professional career, he doesn’t think he would do it any differently.“My work has always been a large part of my life. It gives me value as a human being. I have truly enjoyed assisting nonprofit organizations to evolve and build a solid foundation for success. Each organization presents a different challenge within a new set of circ*mstances. That’s what makes it interesting and exciting. It’s very rewarding to be able to contribute. I appreciate the opportunities I have had. They have enriched my life.

Now recently retired, what's next for Phil? "Rest, relaxation, reflection, renewal - and a few more challenging adventures."

(Deceased)After graduating from Weequahic High School in 1939, Herbert Wolkstein served in the Army Air Corps, European Theater, during World War II.

After returning home, Herbert received his Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering Degree from the Newark College of Engineering and began his professional career as an electrical engineer in the microwave tube division of the RCA Corporation.

Over the next 34 years at RCA, Herbert rose to become the Head of Space and Electronic Counter Measures Operations at the David Sarnoff Research Center in Princeton, N.J. During his tenure at RCA, he was awarded 25 patents in the electron-tube and solid-state fields; he authored 44 technical papers; and, he contributed to the development of numerous communications satellites.

In 1982, Herbert was awarded the RCA Laboratories Outstanding Achievement Award for his work in developing RCA communication satellites. In 1983, he received RCA Corporation's highest honor, the “David Sarnoff Research Award” for outstanding technical achievement.

Following the acquisition of RCA by General Electric in 1987, Herbert worked as a worldwide independent consultant in the aerospace and defense electronics industry until 2014. He was regarded as one of the world's leading experts in traveling wave tubes and satellite communications. He consulted for Lockheed Martin, Hughes Aircraft, Marconi, Orbital Sciences, NASA, Telefunken, and many more technical corporations and organizations. He also held top-secret clearance at the Pentagon.

Herbert resided in Livingston NJ until his passing in 2017. He was predeceased by his wife, Doris Eckel Wolkstein. He is survived by his daughter, Marianne, and sons, William and John; daughter-in-law, Amy,and grandsons, Eric, Jordan, and Zachary.