After '58 - Rich Cosgrove

  After working as a historian all my life, I have been embarrassed not to submit something for After '58... so here goes. I am so lacking in computer skills that I could not send a recent photo even if I had one - sorry!

After the Prep, I graduated from Holy Cross in 1962 and decided to attend graduate school at the University of California. At that time, few from New Jersey, much less Jersey City, ventured that far afield. The next year I married Loretta Cummings of Jersey City. We eventually had four children and now have eight grandchildren with our first great-grandchild due in January 2019. In 1967 I finished my doctorate with a teaching field in modern European history and a research field in modern British history.

In the fall of 1967 I accepted a position in the history department at the University of Arizona in Tucson where we have lived ever since. I retired in 2003 after serving a term as department head, and with the title of University Distinguished Professor. At my retirement I had published five books on British legal and constitutional history.

Upon retirement, Loretta and I have been able to travel, usually on cruises, and have visited all the seven continents and some 45 countries.

Although we grew up in New Jersey, we now consider Tucson our home. Living in the West has provided us with a perspective on our lives different from most of my classmates. We are able to return to New Jersey now and have completed the circle of our lives.

Richie 

 After graduation from the Prep in 1958, I went to St. Peter’s College (SPC.) It was easy to get to, had a decent reputation and, above all, was not too expensive to afford (thanks for the help, Mom and Dad. Rest In Peace.) 

Eventually, I learned to drive and got a car (Wow, a ‘60 Valiant! With stick!) but for a while, I was still busing it. A lot of us from the Prep went to SPC. Having so many friends from high school there made the transition easier for me, but college was a shock to my system. The Jesuits were still at it with their liberal arts education approach, i.e., theology, philosophy, English, history and social studies and, of course, a language class, all, more or less, mandatory.

Having declared my interest in pursuing a Physics major, a few other classes were added: calculus (UGH!), chemistry and freshman physics. Oh yeah, the military also got a piece of us with mandatory ROTC classes and one day a week marching drills, in uniform, with an M1 rifle (I think that thing weighed as much as me) The Velvatones were still going strong; and I joined the Glee Club and the ROTC band, so music was still a big part of my life and it continued to offer a good escape.

After 4 tough years, I got a BS in Physics (1962) and got my first for-real, job down the Jersey Shore at Ft. Monmouth, working for the US Army Electronics Research Lab. That wouldn’t start till Sept. of ‘62, so I had a free summer. I was a member of the American Legion Post 15 marching band in West New York and every year, in late summer, there was a band competition in Wildwood, NJ. A last fling, before reality set in...

That Summer down in Wildwood, I met my future wife, Annette (Bunny) Bourgeais. She was from West New York, like me, but we had never met; she had gone to Memorial high school (remember them?) Two years later (1964), we were married. Our first son, Michael, was born in 1966 about the time we were moving into our first house in Neptune, NJ. Our second son, David, was born in 1968. We had the usual compliment of cats and dogs; Dad was finishing up an MS degree in Physics (1970), part-time, while still working for the Army; and we all grew up together. Another nine years passed as my kids went to college and I completed a PhD in Electronic Engineering, part-time, at Rutgers. Was school ever going to end?

After 22 years with the Government, we moved to West Long Branch, NJ and I decided to try private industry. I was lucky to find a small company, affiliated with Canadian Marconi, close to home. That lasted seven years. Then, it was on to Cincinnati Electronics, also at a local Lab in NJ, for another five years before that office closed too. Finally, I went to work for Bell Labs in Holmdel NJ. That lasted 10 years before I closed them down, as well! After another 10 years of private consulting, I decided I’d had enough.

Annette and I just celebrated our 53rd wedding anniversary. We now live in an over 55 (way over!) community called Shadow Lake Village in Middletown, NJ. It has a little golf course which I frequent as often as the weather allows. Both of our sons are married; both live in Fair Haven, NJ, a town next door to us; and we have four beautiful grand children, all of whom are starting high school. (Someone once said that grandchildren are God’s gift to you for not killing your own kids!) Oh yeah, we have lots of grand dogs and grand cats too!

Thanks for keeping ‘58 alive. I wish all of you a happy life. 

Chas.

In 1872, my grandfather, Patrick Donnelly, was born on Union Street in Jersey City. Thus, when I was born to Monica and Joseph Donnelly on July 8, 1940, at the Margaret Hague Hospital, I became the third generation of Donnelly Democrats born in Jersey City.  Over the course of the next 23 years, I was joined by seven siblings.

The only blip in my happy childhood occurred when I contracted polio, but with medical treatment and physical therapy I eventually recovered and spent my grammar school days at St. Aloysius School.

In September 1953, I was off to St. Peter’s Prep on the Montgomery Bus. Little did I realize then what a powerful influence the Jesuits would have in so many phases of my life. To begin, I was introduced to Latin by Rev. Francis M. Redmond, S.J.  Although I was no Latin scholar, I enjoyed the camaraderie I shared with Fr. Redmond whom I assisted in the athletic store during lunch period and after school. However, my ulterior motive for working there was to avoid the thick clouds of smoke created by the privileged Seniors puffing away on their treasured cigarettes during lunch period.

Another Prep Jesuit who influenced me was Rev. George Butler, S.J. who taught us English literature. I got to know him well when I helped with preparations for the Father/Son Communion Breakfasts. It seems that some of my fondest memories of the Prep had very little to do with any experiences in the classroom.

After Prep my formal education continued at Seton Hall University (B.A.), Jersey City State College (M.A.), and Temple University (Ed.D.) However, I did manage to escape the classroom for a real education as a soldier in the U.S. Army. I was trained and then worked as a Social Work Technician at Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. 

At Fort Benning I met another Jesuit, Rev. Sam Hill Ray, S.J. and I soon discovered how small the world can be if you are from Jersey City. I learned that during World War II, Fr. Ray and Richard Cosgrove’s (’58) dad both served on the same destroyer that welcomed General Douglas MacArthur to Tokyo Bay to preside over Japan’s surrender to the Allied forces.

Returning to Jersey City from the army, I continued my real education as an  elementary teacher in #37 School for a year. In 1968, I was hired by Dr. John B. Burks to work at the Office of Graduate Studies at Jersey City State College. In 1975, I was appointed Director of Graduate Studies where I served for the next 28 years until my retirement in 2003. In that position, it was my privilege to be involved in the encouragement and development of urban teachers who would influence the lives of so many young people.

In 2002, William Librera, then New Jersey’s Commissioner of Education, appointed me to serve as his liaison to the Jersey City Board of Education. After serving in that role for three years, I won election to the Board in 2005 and again in 2008. I derived great satisfaction from witnessing the extraordinary work of so many quality teachers in the Jersey City School System. It was especially gratifying when I interacted once again with teachers whom I had counseled in prior years at NJCU.

On a community level I was proud to serve both on the parish council of St. Aloysius Church and the advisory council of Our Lady of Czestochowa School. In the realm of higher education, I was a founding member of the Association of New Jersey Deans and Directors and I also served on the Board of the  College Community Orchestra.

And yet, these career accomplishments pale in comparison to the fulfillment I have enjoyed as a husband and father. One day In December 1992, I visited my aunt. She was under the care of a nurse’s aide whose friend, Christine Agir, had dropped by. Having made a personal connection, a month later when my dad’s health began to fail, our family hired that bright and beautiful nurse from the Philippines to care for Dad on weekends. Christine’s easy laugh and smile were as comforting as her competence and compassion. Shortly after my dad’s passing, we began to date and the rest is history.

To weave a few more Jesuits into my life, Christine and I were married on her birthday, March 8, 1997, in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Rev. Charles F.X. Dolan, S.J. was the main celebrant assisted by Christine’s good friend, Rev. James J. Fischer, S.J. We were definitely off to a good start!

Our joy only increased nine years later when we adopted Christine’s ten year old nephew.  Angelo rapidly adjusted to life in the United States and soon he was amazing us with his expertise on computers as well as his detailed knowledge of anything related to sports. Never having been a sports fan, I even surprised myself when I wound up at the Prudential Center with Angelo cheering on the NJ Devils.

Meanwhile, Christine earned both a master’s degree and a doctorate. Not surprisingly, she ascended the nursing ladder at New York Presbyterian Hospital where she is currently the Administrator of the Patient Services Administration.

Since 1953, the influence of the Jesuits has shaped my life. In addition to establishing a compass for daily decisions, the Jesuits have provided me with a solid spiritual foundation. Through the years, I have often found myself returning to St. Peter’s Church for four o’clock Mass on a Sunday afternoon. Those Eucharistic celebrations have provided comfort during tough times and increased my joy during the good times.

Looking back over the years, like many of my Prep brothers, I am filled with gratitude for all the blessings in my life. Family, friends, education, career and experiences I never could have imagined in1958, have filled my days. I am profoundly grateful!  AD MULTOS ANNOS!

St. Peter’s Prep (1954-58) prepared me for anything and everything. Trekking 25 miles from Dumont to Grand and Warren and 25 miles back would frame my daily Prep adventure.

At the end of freshman year, our young Principal Neil Carr, SJ invited me to join the Greek class next year. I told him that I wanted to be an engineer and not a Jesuit and take science. My brother Greg ’60 would follow me at Prep and made varsity tennis with me. My younger sister Marilyn would play girls' varsity basketball at St. Cecilia's High in Englewood. As senior year closed, Fr. Shaloe suggested I apply for the Jesuits, which I did, along with friends like Hank Wefing, Gary Wiley and others. My cousin Denis Dwyer ’58 would head for Notre Dame.

My dad, a Regis grad, was my first coach and often would get me up for early mass. Aside from my mom and dad, the Society of Jesus played the most formative role in my life. A good outfielder, I learned to catch ground balls in the infield, which we built. (Our master of novices let us use a pneumatic drill to remove the shale at shortstop.) I also learned to catch behind home plate, play hockey, pray, work and handle tough questions tossed to me by men smarter and more spiritual than I’ll ever be. Their training has helped me focus on lasting values while wrestling with freedom and purpose, good and evil, in a distracted and distracting world.

Eventually, without taking major orders, I left the Society of Jesus to marry and raise four boys.

While a Jesuit Scholastic in the Philippines, mid & late 60’s, with an MA History from Fordham, I taught high school and college socio-economics and history and did some coaching and studying Theology. Thanks to Filipino Jesuit organizers, I took students to live with re-located squatters outside Manila, even refereeing basketball games for opposing gangs. I helped with earthquake rescue at Ruby Tower Manila in 1968. I lectured, by invitation, on democracy to Southeast Asian military attaches.

Back in the states, I volunteered one year with Cesar Chavez’ Farmworkers lettuce boycott in NYC. I studied theology. Saul Alinsky’s organization once loaned me to a federal union as a trouble shooter. I helped democratic Filipinos in the USA deal with Marcos’ Martial law which began in September 1972. I drove a Yellow cab in Manhattan. (Once Diane Keaton.) I earned my Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from Rutgers and started working with Bergen County in late ‘79. By the summer of 1986, my Filipino friends were inviting me to Manila to meet their new President Cory Aquino, whose husband “Ninoy,” assassinated in 1983, had addressed my college history class in 1967 when he first ran and won a nationwide senate seat.

Most important, 40+ years ago, I married a beautiful and super-organized Filipina “Toni” whom I had met in NYC. We raised four wonderful boys whom I initially coached in track, baseball and basketball. All four ran varsity for Prep. They have already given us five grandchildren with another on the way. (I’d say “fantastic” but my NYPD son Frank would tell me, “You criticize Trump BUT you sound just like him!”) Luke got Prep’s Wellington Davis Award. And Peter’s times would edge out those of his older brothers.

Of note: In 1994, former Prep Coach Bill Sharlow (then coaching DePaul) called me for the first time, 36 years after our ’58 graduation. Bill’s reason: to congratulate me about my son Alex’s great running performances and to rib me that Alex probably got his legs from his mother!

From December 1979, I worked 35+ years as a contract administrator with Bergen County Human Services, helping older adults and individuals with disabilities. My last 12 years , I was also the county’s white collar union president. I believe that honest unions help bring justice to the workplace and greater fairness to society. I retired from the county as of July 1, 2015.

Writing and/or reporting is a not-so-hidden part of me that calls me, even to poems. At home and abroad, I have gotten into and out of some tight situations. I’m grateful to be alive and am still struggling to nurture a faith that sees God in all things and in all persons. 

Whatever my limitations, I’m also drawn at times to speak truth to power, hopefully, for the greater good.    I’m not alone.
Gerry Drummond June 4, 2017

I am so grateful for my parent’s personal sacrifices to send me to St Peter’s Prep. I look back at what the tuition was in 1954-58 and I think it was about $250 a year and compare that to my grandchildren’s Catholic High School tuition that’s $20,000 a year. St Peter’s & the Jesuits laid out the foundation for us and instilled us with the intelligence to use what we learned to become mature adults.

In my senior year at Prep I applied to and received an Appointment to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at King’s Point. I dreamed of attending the Academy and pursuing a career in the Maritime Industry. A week before graduating the Prep I received notification from the Academy that I had failed the eye exam and my dream was over. I had been accepted at Seton Hall so off I was, destined to live the life of a day-hop student.

Like most recent high school graduates, I really hadn’t focused on my fallback plan but by the end of sophomore year I was leaning toward pursuing a career in Law. I graduated in June of 1962 and was expecting to attend Law school nights and support myself working as a Hudson County Probation Officer. Well, President Kennedy passing the married men exempt act advanced my draft status and that was the end of that plan. For the next few years, I was employed in several dead-end positions with no future.

In 1964 a friend informed me about SeaLand Service and I was immediately enthused and started the application for their Management Training Program. Another roadblock popped up when the Longshoremen went on a 13-month strike but after numerous interviews I was finally hired into their Management Training program in July of 1965, and sent to Philadelphia for the initial phase of training. 

The training program consisted of time spent in operation, sales, and administration. Malcolm McLean was the founder of containerization and the concept was well received and the opportunities were numerous.

1965 was a very great year for me for not only had I found my dream job but in August of 1965  I found my dream girl, Mary Callahan, who would become my future wife. We married on October 1st 1966 and after the reception we went back to her sister’s apartment and started opening envelopes to see if we could go on a honeymoon.

I concentrated in Operations at SeaLand and gradually worked my way up the ladder and was named Port Manager of the Elizabeth facility in 1977. The facility was the most modernized container facility in the world. As an example, there were 6 giant shore cranes and when all three cranes were working there were 900 unionized employees working on the 100-acre facility. It was a lot of fun and satisfaction running that facility.

In the early 80’s I was promoted to General Manager of all ports from Boston to Texas and Canada and my new office was located in Iselin, N.J. This new position involved a considerable amount of travel and that was the only drawback. As the key operations employee I was a participant in the contract administration of the various Unions we were involved with.

While all of this work was going on my Bride was involved in raising our 5 children. That certainly was not an easy task. Our children are Brian age 54, Sean age 52, Denis age 51. Maribeth age 49, and Eddie age 44. They all graduated from St Rose High School; Brian graduated from Rutgers, Sean from South Carolina, Denis from Arizona State, Maribeth from Monmouth University, and Eddie from University of Colorado…. I can’t tell you how happy we were when the tuition stopped.

In 1990 I was promoted to Vice President of Labor Relations and was based in Menlo Park N.J. My new responsibilities included contract negotiation and administration with the Longshore Unions on the East & Gulf Coast and the Teamster Union on the West Coast, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. Needless to say, there was a considerable amount of travel coupled with some Good times and Bad times. 

In 1995 SeaLand was taken over by Maersk and I was concerned whether the benefits would change with a Foreign owner so I retired. I was very fortunate to be hired by United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and spent the next 10 years having basically the same duties as SeaLand with limited travel. I made the decision to retire permanently in 2015.

Mary & I are snowbirds spending the summer in Avon & the winter in Stuart, Florida. Four of our children and our 6 grandchildren live within 5 minutes of Avon and our youngest son Eddie loves & lives in Denver.

To sum it up Mary & I have had had a great ride:

Married 55 years

5 great children & 6 wonderful grandchildren

Relatively Healthy

We owe all to God and The Prep!

 Pax vobiscum! It's been a long and winding road.   Fortunately I have not had to go it alone.

Life at Prep was life in transition - from long-time altar boy at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Jersey City to hell-raiser, Church drop-out, and quasi-atheist. The hell-raising continued into the first years of college at St. Peter's until I was required to change my school address-- they had had enough of me.

I transferred to Montclair State College, majored in English, played football for two years, modified my hell-raising somewhat, and finally got serious enough to ask Nancy Marcello to marry me. We were married in August of 1963. I needed to complete my student teaching requirement in the Fall of '63 while Nancy began teaching in an elementary school in Tenafly, N.J.

Shortly after I had finished student teaching at Northern Valley Reg. H.S. in Demarest, N.J., one of the teachers resigned unexpectedly, and I was offered her position. That was the start of a twenty five year career at Northern Valley where I coached football, basketball, ultimate frisbee, and was the English Dept. Chairman for twenty of those years, while moonlighting as an adjunct instructor at my Alma Mater, earning my masters degree along the way.

In 1964, our first son was born; we would have three more children before Nancy would succumb to multiple myeloma in 1987.

However, something had happened along the way that brought about a 180 degree turn in our lives in 1976, when a somewhat popular Church "mantra" was "Let the Spirit of '76 be the Holy Spirit". I had not "darkened the door" of any church from the time I graduated from the Prep, with the usual exceptions of weddings and funerals. 

While my faith had grown ice cold, the unexpected happened. I was team-teaching a Humanities course with two good colleagues- one a secular Jew and the other an ultra liberal Christian. We were showing our classes the film "Parable" which had been popular at the World's Fair. My Jewish partner sneered at the film and said," Oh, another creeping Jesus movie". Something inside me stood bolt-upright, ready to defend Jesus. I realized that in my heart of hearts I had not completely abandoned my loyalty to the Lord, that my faith was not dead, but merely dormant.

Nancy's faith had stirred back to life at the same time, and I found myself tagging along with her, reluctantly, to a "Life in the Spirit Seminar" to keep her happy. It was a Holy Spirit set-up. I was ambushed by the Lord, surrendered my life, my heart, all of me to Him as I was "Baptized in the Holy Spirit". Scripture came alive, I returned to the Church, and in 1977 joined a Catholic, Charismatic, Covenant Community-The People of Hope, an outgrowth of the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church. I ultimately would serve as one of the leaders of the community for many years.

Meanwhile, after I was widowed with four children, I was blessed to marry again. Eileen had been widowed as well and had three young daughters. We adopted each others' children so we would be one family. Suddenly, I was the father of seven children, three boys and four girls. The number would ultimately grow to four boys and seven girls (as well as our miscarried children already in Heaven).

Shortly after Eileen and I married, I had taken early retirement from Northern Valley to devote my time and energy to writing a series of self-published books called Raising Children For Heaven, while teaching English, religion, and boys' Phys. Ed. at Koinonia Academy, sponsored by The people of Hope. I would ultimately serve as academic dean at Koinonia. I finally retired in June, 2016 after 52 years of teaching and administration. I plan to write a book about people who have been married 50 years or more.

Raising a "blended" family has been an adventure - peaks and valleys, tough days, bright days, triumphs. Eileen and I have experienced having our faith tested, challenged, and ultimately purified and strengthened. I am a seriously blessed man.

Peace, Bob

  Just thought I’d try my hand at this and try not to make it sound like a bio of “Cellophane man”. The only time I received an ‘A’ in English composition was an attempt at humor… wouldn’t work here.

On to Manhattan College to study Physics after graduating from Prep. Three years later I hit one of life’s speed bumps.

The best way out was a tour in the U. S. Army Signal Corp, Cryptographic Section. Basic sure was fun; hated to leave it to go to Fort Monmouth for schooling. I only just missed a trip to Cuba while there. I much preferred my next assignment at USAREUR Headquarters, Europe in Heidelberg.

In October 1963 I flew home to marry Lois Bellino. She joined me a little later and we lived with a German family in Sandhausen, a suburb of Heidelberg. The Zubers were wonderful people: husband, wife and son and the man’s mother and grandmother. We corresponded with them for nearly 20 years after we came home. We got to travel to Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland while we were there and saw quite a bit of Germany as well. Mr. Illy’s German didn’t help much – not the kind they spoke there.

In April 1965 I began work at Bell Laboratories and was with them for 35 years, retiring from Lucent Technologies in 2000. Great company to work for; great work, great people and many opportunities. For about 17 years my work was in non-linear optics and lasers and did some programming in Intel assembly language, Fortran and Unix. In 1983 I transferred from Murray Hill to Holmdel to work in data communications, communications equipment and networking. I took part in equipment trials at Gillette, Kraft, Bechtel, University of Pittsburgh and some others. The travel was something I enjoyed very much.

While at the Labs I completed my BS in Physics at Fairleigh Dickinson and my MS in Bioengineering at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in ‘74.

My wife of 56 years and I had a boy and twin girls. We have three grandchildren, a boy and two girls: Michael is a student at RIT. The Jacqui graduated Drexel and is a nurse, soon to be Nurse Practitioner. Jeanine is working as a Medical Assistant and enters Nursing school in September.

We both retired in 2000 and are beginning to get used to it. During that time I had an opportunity to teach CCD in the parish for 7 years and to stand in for my daughter and teach her Latin courses at Red Bank Catholic HS when she was incapacitated for a time. Teaching was very rewarding and satisfying. Maybe if I could do it all over again….

You might ask what I do for fun, besides the doctors’ offices and the supermarket (like everyone else?). Got my fill of travel when I worked; my wife accompanied me on some of the trips. Besides Europe, we’ve been to Canada, Bermuda and Hawaii. Now, she likes to read and garden and I keep busy with The great Courses DVD courses in history, language and science, and stamp collecting, model trains and an occasional trip to the ANJRPC rifle and pistol club to make holes in paper with the ammunition I’ve made.