After '58 - Bill Kretzer

While at Prep, I was offered a contract to play baseball for the St Louis Cardinals. Not looking forward to bus rides to Oshkosh, I decided to accept a basketball scholarship to Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.. This choice was heavily influenced by my faculty advisor, Father Shalloe, a Buffalo native, and by Jackie Nies, a Prep grad who advised me to not go to Georgetown because “ they made you study all the time “.

After 4 years of chasing girls and drinking beer, I somehow graduated four years later in 1962. After a brief bout of commuting from my parents’ home in Ridgefield, NJ to downtown NYC, I signed up for the Army National Guard. Six months later, with the commuting still fresh in my mind, I headed back to Buffalo where most of my college friends still resided. I began working as a county probation officer & eventually switched to being a Fed. I retired at age 57 and for the next 10 years worked as a contractor doing background investigations for security clearances for Homeland Security. I stopped doing this when I determined that it was interfering with my feeble golf game.

I was divorced in 1991, and married Kathleen Trait in November 1993 ( I had to ask her what year it was ). I have two sons and a daughter from my first marriage and ten grandchildren. All are doing well with regard to careers, health, and relationships.

In 1988, I attended the 30 year reunion and reconnected with Ed Wilczynski. We decided to drive down to Florida in search of a beach investment. In 1989, we bought a beach condo in Ft. Myers Beach. Eventually, when I realized that in retirement I was going to spend six (6 ) months in Florida, I sold my interest to Ed & his wife. “Willie“ and I remain close friends to this day and get together frequently at the local restaurants in Ft. Myers.

My sister married Charlie Juelke, a ‘58 graduate from Prep. My brother, an attorney in Jersey City, also was a graduate from Prep in 1962.

As a footnote, Father Bob Reiser, former president of Prep, grew up in Buffalo. “ Bob “ and his sisters were the best friends of my daughter. I ran into Bob at one of the Prep on the road thingies here in Florida. I reminded him of the time that his sister & my daughter stole my car for a joy ride when they were underage. With a wink and a smile, he said “we won’t talk about that, Mister Kretzer “. He still calls me Mister Kretzer. That’s how you know that you are getting old.

Life really was great in ‘58.                 Bill Kretzer 

My parents were very big on Catholic schools and especially Jesuit ones. I have four brothers.

I’m the oldest, then Bob, Joe, Bill and Jim. Joe and I went to the Prep. Bob went to Fordham

Prep. Bill and Jim went to Regis. For college, the four oldest ones went to St. Peter’s. Jim, the

youngest, went to LeMoyne.

For college, Bob and I would usually get a ride with our classmate, Tony Neusch. Another

classmate, Jack Ford, was also a passenger and the last one picked up. Jack always liked to drive

me nuts with his big cheery “Good Morning” while I was still sleepy as anything.

In the summer of 1965, I decided to go to a singles resort for vacation. The place advertised that

many married couples went there because they had met there as singles. I considered the

advertising to be a lot of nonsense but no one will need two guesses as to what happened. I was

there for several days when Alice arrived with one of her friends. She told me that she was from

Bay Ridge although it would have been more informative if she simply said “Brooklyn”.  Alice

and her friend were seated at the same table as me for lunch. In the afternoon, I swam out to the

raft and there were Alice and her friend. That was where things got started.

We had one very interesting date. It was in the evening after a touch football game. There were

four of us playing with one of the players being Tony Neusch. We had a great play with me to

throw a pass to my teammate and with me to follow him, take a lateral and run for a touchdown.

The problem was that, after throwing the pass, I slipped on the grass and went down with no one

even touching me. I didn’t realize immediately that I had broken my ankle and drove to

Brooklyn that evening to see Alice. However, in the course of the evening my ankle worsened

and the only way I could leave her house was to go down the stairs on my rear end. When I got

to Bergenfield, I could only crawl into our house.

In time Alice and I got married and then along came Carol. Carol was born on 7/14/67 at the

time of the Newark riots. I was a member of the New Jersey Army National Guard and was

activated for riot control duty. Since I could not accompany Alice to the hospital, Tony

Neusch’s wife, Mary, filled in admirably to be with Alice for Carol’s birth.

Subsequently, Diane and Jean arrived on 4/27/72. Each of them weighed more than Carol. I

remember the morning of their arrival. The doctor had told Alice and me that they could come

quickly and not to waste any time getting to the hospital. I was just about to leave for work

when Alice got her first indication, and we headed for the hospital. I called work (The Bank of

New York) and later was told that Diane and Jean’s births were announced at the Bank’s Credit

Committee meeting that morning.

Like my mother, Alice was a stay-at-home Mom for Carol, Diane, and Jean. The daughters grew

up in Bergenfield and attended Bergenfield schools. All were cheerleaders, starting when they

were cheerleaders for the Junior Football League and continuing through high school.

The three daughters are college graduates: Carol, University of Delaware, and Diane and

Jean, Rutgers. All are doing well. I have five grandchildren: Avery, Lauren and Devin Shenk

and Sadie and George Myers. Avery and Lauren are out of college (University of Richmond and

University of Maryland, respectively). Devin is a senior at the University of Tennessee. Sadie

just started at Temple. The youngest, George, is still in elementary school. I’m hoping to be a

great grandpa but no one is in a hurry to help me out.

Alice and I were married for 44 years until she passed in 2011, being just 64 years old. May she

rest in peace. Jack Ford came from Worcester, MA for the funeral. Sadly, just a few months

later, Jack was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and didn’t live long after the diagnosis. (Tony

Neusch passed away in October 2023.)

Subsequent to Alice’s passing, I met a wonderful woman by the name of Shirley, and we have

been a pair since 2013. Shirley has two daughters and four grandchildren.

I have always been close to my brothers. Joe and Bill also live in Bergen County, Joe in New

Milford and Bill in Ridgewood. Sadly, my brother, Bob died as a result of an accident in 2018.

Miss him.

My work life was spent in banking, mostly with The Bank of New York. Now I’m retired but

keep active as a volunteer with the Friends of the Bergenfield Library for which I am the

Business Sponsor Coordinator. Basically, I beg for money. I also manage to drive the library

director a little crazy.

 After Prep, in September of 58, I headed to Marietta College in Marietta ,Ohio to study Petroleum Engineering, a field that I thought might hold a future of opportunity and rewards. I had originally applied and was accepted at the University of Oklahoma and had sent in a room deposit. However, friends that I had worked with during previous summers, convinced me to come to Marietta, the only School east of the Mississippi River that offered degrees in Petroleum. This would become a fortunate decision, several years later, and is where I met my future wife, Vera Messina, and we graduated together. I was born in Bayonne, and Vera was born in Jersey City and we met in Ohio. I also learned that the Doctor who delivered her at the Medical Center, was Rich Cosgrove's grandfather.

While at Marietta, I became quite interested in Geology and realized I wasn't cut out to be an Engineer. I changed my Major to Geology with a minor in Petroleum and graduated in June 1962. In April of our senior year, Vera and I got engaged. I had not gotten a deferment, and in December 1961 received a notice from the Draft Board to take a physical, which I promptly did at Ohio State. During my semester break in January 1962, I joined he National Guard at the Armory on Montgomery Street. I was anxious to fulfill my military obligation so that we could get married. Within one month of graduating I reported to Ft. Dix, on July 7th for 6 months of Active Duty, Infantry Training, finishing at Christmas 1962. In February '63, 3 months before our planned wedding in April, I went to work with Liberty Mutual, in Rockefeller Center as a Safety Engineer, in Loss Prevention. My long term objective was to find a position with a Major Oil Company, which I did when I joined Texaco in December 1965 in Linden, NJ in Industrial Sales.

For several years I sold fuels and lubricants to some major Consumers in the North Jersey Area. Customers included General Motors Assembly Plant in Linden, Ford in Metuchen, Linden Airport and hundreds of other accounts throughout the area. I was right in the middle of the construction boom of the Interstate Highway System in North Jersey including I-287, I-78, I-80 and the Western Spur of the NJ Tpke, supplying the major road-building contractors with fuels and lubes. It was very interesting to see the landscape changing all around me. I vividly remember road graders and dozers clearing trees and boulders off the land, excavating the roadway, and ultimately paving the highway. The particular area was around Somerville (I-78), and one year later I moved to Annandale, and this new road became part of my daily commute.I was promoted to Sales Engineer in 1968, and expressed a desire to management to have opportunities to become "multifaceted" and broaden my knowledge and experience within the Company. My next assignment was District Credit Sales Supervisor and exposed me to Financial training and classes of customers such as Wholesalers, Distributors, Aviation and Marine Accounts. In 1970 my next assignment was in Operations as an assistant manager of the Newark Sales Terminal, one of the 12 largest of 90 Terminals in the US. I had been given the opportunities which I sought to expand my knowledge and value to the Company. To me it was like looking at a painting from various perspectives and getting a clearer understanding of  "the big picture". It was also like learning something entirely new, and being thrown into the water, to learn how to swim again. In the Marketing Department they called it "cross-pollination" and I became a model, that several others followed.

In 1974 I was transferred to the Long Island District in Melville as District Operations Supervisor and 2 years later as Long Island Sales Terminal Manager on Jamaica Bay next to JFK Airport. The end of my Dock was only about 500 yards from Runway 22L at JFK and I could wave to the 747 Pilots as they passed over my office. We were a Supply and Distribution Terminal serving all of Long Island with about 98 employees open 24/7 in a Union workplace.Over the years I was assigned to several special projects which allowed me to work independently and utilize my experience. In the Fall of 1976 I was on loan to a major Texaco project in Harrison NY. This project involved the construction of a new Texaco Headquarters and Executive Offices with the planned relocation of approximately 2000 employees from the Chrysler Building in NYC, where we occupied about 22 floors and several hundred employees from our Long Island City office. After the successful completion of a Travel and Transportation Study and the development of a Van Pool Program, I was named Moving Coordinator for the Harrison Project.

I worked closely with the coordinators from about 20 operating and service departments and the Santini Bros. Moving Company. The Building was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and was faced with travertine marble from the same quarry in Italy where the stone for Lincoln Center originated. The building was three stories tall above ground, and two below, with underground parking for 1200 autos. It was three football fields long and one wide and it was designed to blend into the rolling hill landscape, equal to a seventy story building. It had numerous features including a bank, barbershop, cleaners, news stand and was like a small city including a staffed medical facility. It had numerous environmental and energy conservation design features. An example was the elongated rectangular shape was oriented so that the short side faced into the prevailing wind direction for minimal heat loss. and the overhangs on outer perimeter offices allowed for lower angle sun in winter months to add heat, block higher angle summer sun from competing against the cooling system. During Spring and Fall months ambient air could be circulated through the building negating full time use of either the heating or cooling systems. I mention these features since Oil and Energy companies do not usually get any recognition for conservation and environmental awareness.
When the new building opened in September 1977, after a successful, on-time, under-budget move, I was one of the first 6 people to move in. My new job of Assist Manager - Facilities in the Corporate Services Department covering about 15 major offices from Coast to Coast. In July of 1978, I was loaned to Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to assist in planning a move into new HQ facilities they were building. Texaco was one of the partner companies along with Esso, Chevron and Mobil and the Saudi Government.
In September 1979, I was recruited, as one of the charter members into the newly formed department Alternate Energy & Resources to work on forming a joint venture in Solar Energy to manufacture solar photovoltaic energy cells. Motorola showed an interest in sharing their semi-conductor tech and we would be a financial partner. We worked together for about 10 months and Motorola did partner with Shell, who could contribute solar cell research at Delaware along with financial backing. It was a fascinating year learning about solar energy with the US DOE at the Jet Propulsion Lab meetings in Pasadena and, World Solar Conference in Geneva.

In 1980, my next assignment in Alternate Energy was as a member of the Partnership Committee with Corn Products Corporation (Mazola Oil, Karo Syrup etc.) to convert a corn wet-milling plant in Pekin Illinois to produce fermentation ethanol for blending with gasoline to produce gasohol. My multifaceted background came in handy to market, transport, store and sell the product as the ethanol plant was completed and production was ramped up from the initial 60 million gals/yr. to 100 million gals/yr. I never thought while studying Geology that one day I would be following the Corn Futures Market at the Chicago Board of Trade. While walking across the Plant at Pekin, there was often a blue haze in the air, that would give you a "little buzz". Across the river was a neighboring plant, Hiram Walker, they kept their alcohol in bond. We denatured ours with gasoline, which made it unfit for human consumption.
My next assignments included (all in Alternate Energy) Mgr - Admin & HR, Mgr - Compliance & Controls, Mgr - Environment, Health & Safety, which brought me up to 1989. We had been the leader in putting together a Joint Venture called the Cool Water Combined Cycle Coal Gasification Project in Dagget California, near Barstow in the Mohave Desert (not far from the recent earthquake activity in Ridgecrest). This was a $300 million Demonstration Project for using clean coal, to produce electricity at A Southern California Edison Generating Station that used fuel oil to produce electricity. It was one of only two projects to go forward under the US Synthetic Fuels Corp Program. Since the cost of the electricity from the experimental program would be slightly higher-to the ratepayers-than the conventional oil fired plant, the Government provided payments that allowed the ratepayers to continue to enjoy the same costs for electricity.

For about 15 months, during late 89 and 1990, I had offices in Harrison NY and in Apple Valley California (in the Mohave Desert). I commuted between these offices about every other week, flying First Class on American, while working on a project that involved using Municipal Solid Waste from LA and surrounding Counties, mixed with coal to produce electricity and beneficially disposing of waste streams that had been dumped in the ocean, particularly from large cities like LA and NYC. Ocean dumping of waste had been banned by new environmental regulations, and our proprietary technology had been tested with a number of waste streams that were disposal problems. My coast to coast commute resulted in not having to relocate my family in Bethel CT and allowed Vera to retain her teaching position in Town where she retired in 2006.
In 1994 and 95, I was assigned to Manage the World Wide Environmental Auditing Team of 15 members who traveled globally to conduct compliance audits on all Texaco facilities and operations, to insure we were operating within local governmental regulations. In 1996 I took early retirement as part of an ongoing reorganization and downsizing within Texaco.

During our 56 years of marriage, Vera and I raised 2 Sons and 1 Daughter and have 5 grandchildren, who all live within a 60 mile radius of our Bethel, CT home. My hobbies included 40 consecutive years of Spring fishing trips to Maine for land-locked salmon. Thirty-eight years as a Philatelist (stamp-collector) and 32 years singing with the Danbury Madhatters Barbershop Chorus. While singing with the Chorus, I was also a member of Rare Occasion, an acapella Quartet for 12 years. I enjoyed singing very much, and entertaining audiences throughout Connecticut and competing in Montreal, Lake Placid, Providence and many other places in the Northeast.

I have great memories of my years at Prep, and value the wonderful education I received as a member of the Class of "58 and all the fine instructors and classmates that I met and will never forget. 

As I sit on the beach in Brigantine, I think of all the blessings I have received throughout my life.

While growing up in Secaucus, I had parents who worked hard to send me to St. Peter’s Prep. There I received a great foundation which enabled me to go to college (Rutgers) at night while working during the day at Registrar & Transfer Co., where I met my lovely wife, DoAnn. Together 55 years now, we raised 3 wonderful children in Hasbrouck Heights, and are blessed with 7 grandchildren.

I held 2 other jobs in my life, one at Trust Company of NJ, then later traveled to New York City working for Continental Stock Transfer.

After retiring in 2006, we settled in Brigantine. In 2014. I had a little setback with my health and had to have triple bypass surgery. Since then I feel 20 years younger.

We are very active members of St. Thomas Church, involved in our Social Committee, Tuesday Rosary Group, choir, KOC. DoAnn is a Eucharistic minister and a member of the women’s club. 

We are also involved in the community delivering Meals on Wheels to the home bound, and the Farmers Market. We are very active and enjoy our community and church activities, and watching our grandchildren grow up and start their careers.

YES, GOD has been good to us.

 Grew up in Union City down the block from Vince Grillo and his brother Sal. Vince and I went to the Prep and to Newark College of Engineering (now NJIT) and then we lost touch.

In 1962 I graduated from Naval Officer Candidate School on the same day that President Kennedy announced the Cuban embargo. I reported to the USS Northhampton, the President’s flagship and home to a permanent detachment of reps from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This was a spit and polish ship. We were out at sea for weeks at a time and not allowed to tell anyone of the ship’s movements due to the classified nature of our mission to be an alternate presidential residence and office of the JCS. In those days daily news updates on board were not available so none of the officers and crew realized how close we were to nuclear disaster. In 1963, I transferred to a guided missile destroyer, USS Sampson, and had a great time visiting the Caribbean islands and European ports.

In 1964 I married Arlene and we have stayed married for 53 years. Why she puts up with me is a mystery, maybe because of our two great daughters and two wonderful grandkids. We left active duty in 1965 and I got a job in Livingston, NJ building fossil fired power plants. Great job but the commute was killing me. I then got a job with Bechtel Corp. in MD with a promise to Arlene that we would only be in Gaithersburg (where the hell is Gaithersburg?) for two years. Managed to squeeze in an MBA and a professional engineering license. Thirty seven years later I retired as a project manager after 34 years in and out of Gaithersburg, MD. Travel took me around the globe and several family moves here in the US. During that time I was involved in building nine nuclear power plants, a dozen fossil fired plants and literally hundreds of cell phone sites that allow all of you to call from anywhere to anywhere.

After retiring, Arlene and I moved to the San Francisco area principally to be near to our two grandchildren. We are looking forward to having the older daughter join us this year. Other reasons for choosing California: San Francisco, the excellent weather and proximity to some of the nation’s great coastlines and national parks. We have now seen a lot of them but the list is a long one. We drive down to the LA area to see the grandkids frequently. The drive is about 2.75 NJ turnpikes (330 miles) and we don’t think anything of it. This is the same as driving from NJ to Maine for the weekend.

We live in an “active adult” community called Rossmoor 25 miles east of San Francisco and a short ride to the city on the BART system. Sister communities are called Leisure World throughout the US. Aside from the allergies that Arlene suffers from, we are very active in some of the 200 clubs available in the community. We meet truly great people with an enormous range of backgrounds and interests. I also manage one of the homeowner associations – unpaid of course.

Visited the Prep several years ago and didn’t recognize it or the neighborhood. I remember I could park my ’52 Ford next to the demolished buildings. That’s just a memory. How come we weren’t smart enough to buy a few of those brownstones across the street from Father Murray’s office?

Life is good. I pray that each of the alums stays with us for many years to come. And thanks to Vince Grillo for bringing us together.

Walt Braun 5/24/2017

  After Prep I accepted a football scholarship to Villanova Univ, despite being flown to LA and recruited by USC. Wanting to be an Engineer more than a football pro & having a girlfriend (V.U. only 3 hrs. from J.C.) probably influenced this decision. My roommate for 4 yrs was Bill Borden ('57 Prep football) who is still my best friend today. Later, had a lot of Prep company at V.U. - Lou Rettino, Rich Gronda & Jim Kropke. Played through junior year, the highlight being spoiling Rutgers undefeated season. Mangled my knee in spring practice so missed senior season & trip to Sun Bowl. Graduated with a B.E. in Chemical Engineering in 1962.

Got a research fellowship to Brooklyn Polytech (now NYU Engineering school) for an M.S. in Chem E.   Married my first wife, Regina Cullen (St. Mary's H.S.in J.C.) in June of 1963 and started working for Exxon in their Chemicals business (then Enjay Chemical Co.) at their Linden, NJ research facility doing applications development for their synthetic rubber product line.

This was the start of a string of "being in the right place at the right time" (otherwise known as LUCK!!!!) that would shape most of my career. By late 1965, I was supposedly the market development expert for a product Exxon wanted to build a plant for in Europe and I was sent to England for 2 yrs. to build a sales base to justify the plant and was asked to continue on to Brussels, Belgium for 3 more years for the start up of a new Chemicals Research facility as Esso was separating their Chemicals activities from Petroleum into an independent company. For a 25 yr. old from J.C. this was an incredible adventure! My assignment was extended for 2 more years as I moved into marketing/product management. We had 2 children in Belgium - Keith & Janine. Unfortunately on a personal note my wife & I drifted apart. While I had the excitement of work and extensive international travel, she missed the US. & her family and friends. So we were basically separated - She in the US. & I in Belgium - for the final years of my time there.

The next phase of my life involved 2 major events. I met my current wife Jenny in Brussels, which was an adventure of itself, as she didn't speak English and I just started to pick up French (only had Latin & German at Prep). Luckily I had an incentive, was a quick learn and we still only speak French at home, when alone. The 2nd event was Exxon's plan to build a plant in Japan for the same product I handled market development for in Europe. Again was asked to spend 6 months in Tokyo to familiarize myself with the market, our organization and our Japanese manufacturing partner, then move to Hong Kong, our Asia-Pacific headquarters to manage the regional Elastomers business.

This move posed unique challenges as Exxon doesn't cover the cost of "girlfriends". It involved (1) purchasing a home for my first family. As I had no credit history in the US., Exxon had to get a favor from Citibank for a mortgage; (2) Mutual consent divorces took years at that time so needed my Italian friend/colleague to be in the US. on business to testify to my adultery; (3) Getting married - even civil ceremony in Belgium requires posting bans for 3 months & there was no way for 2 non-Japanese to marry civilly in Japan or at an US. embassy, so it had to happen in the US. on the way to Tokyo. Within a hectic 6 weeks (which i could never do again!), I purchased a house, spent 16 hrs. a day, painting and fixing it up, got divorced in the morning, married in the afternoon of 1/11/1974 and got on a plane to Tokyo the next morning for a 6 month "honeymoon" on Exxon's dime!

Our years in the Far East were filled with memorable experiences and vacations prior to the region becoming a popular tourist destination. Work travel extended from India to Japan and China to Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. A highlight was a "going-away" present from our Japanese partner for my role in shareholder negotiations - a wooden mask of the "Devil-of-Kamakura".

In 1979, I was transferred back to Linden, NJ as Worldwide Technology Manager for a product that wasn't meeting corporate profit goals. I was to be part of small team to decide it's fate - withdraw, sell or fix - and prepare for a move of the labs to Baytown, Texas. The study product was a decision to fix and a "how-to" plan. So in early 1982 I got to return to Brussels as Division Manager to implement the plan for Europe, the region "bleeding the most red". Jenny, of course, was ecstatic and we enjoyed another 7 years in Belgium.

In 1989, I was transferred to Michigan to start up a Plastics business with the automotive industry. This was my most frustrating assignment, as the then Exxon Chemical President and the Polymers V.P. were the executives who 20 years earlier concluding it couldn't be profitable, and withdrew from this same business. Not only do auto companies have long memories but I had to shuttle between Houston HQ. & Detroit to justify "why/how it could work this time" while setting up a local development laboratory, recruiting a team of industry experts that we didn't have in-house, and establishing a working relationship with the auto companies.

In 1994 was asked to move to Houston HQ. as it was too expensive to keep an executive "in-the-field" for an ongoing activity. As Jenny is a city/public transportation person she would go crazy having to take a highway to go anywhere, as well as suffering from the heat/humidity of Houston. AndI was not enamored to work within the constraints of Corporate HQ. since until then I had managed to work in organizations where I had greater authority and freedom to act than similar positions in the US. So we looked over our finances and decided I could early retire and still have a good life.

We now live in the "green" city of Birmingham, MI, which has a population of 19,000 with sidewalks and a "downtown" of shops & restaurants we can walk to. When at home we walk, work-out, swim, frequently eat out with friends and enjoy the arts - opera, ballet/dance, theater & museums in Detroit, a short 20 mile drive away. We travel about 35% of the time. Immediately after retirement, this entailed 10-11 long weekends of cross-country skiing/snowshoeing, visiting National Parks in late spring, summer visits to family/friends in MO, IL, PA, NY, NJ, NC, FL & an annual early fall return to Europe. Once we hit our 70's, a string of year-end surgeries to replace/repair various body parts led to the end of snow sports and Jenny's desire to spend more time in Europe resulted in an additional spring time trip to Europe.

I feel blessed to have experienced and learned to appreciate diverse peoples, cultures, values, history and geographies outside the US. at an early age - an education I had no interest in while studying to be an engineer. I also appreciate renewing ties with a very active group of "old Prep" friends since back in the US. Now Jenny & I work hard at staying healthy & enjoying our extended retirement!

Hope this isn't too wordy, Vince, but once I started, it just flowed! 

 I graduated somewhere in the middle of the class. I didn't have much interest in college, and wasted much of my abilities. Eventually got a job, through an employment agency, starting at $55 a week on Wall Street as a clerk. I liked the job, but immediately realized that only a college education would lead to advancement.  

I wasn’t sure that Wall Street was for me long term, although I did like it, so I opted for pre-med at Seton Hall. Once again I squandered my education, struggling through barely, with a 2.00 cum.  

I decided to go back to Wall Street. Armed with a degree in Biology, I was offered a position as a Preferred Stock Trader, at $8K per year. My boss quit, and I got his job, and $40K! Averaged about $300k for the next 30 years.  

I met my wife, and we had two kids. Happily married to Jeanne for 25 years. Served on first SPP Board of Trustees about 20 years ago.

Living as a semi retired stockbroker and a snowbird in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, playing golf. My game is constantly improving as I'm only losing 3 balls a round (down from 6). 

I'm happy and healthy!

 After Prep, I attended St. Peter’s College, along with several other of my best friends:  Bill Sullivan, Jack Fahy, Jim Beggans, and others. Bill Sullivan and I were academic twins at College, taking all of the same courses toward degrees in German. Ironically, when our “Greek” class was offered a choice between French and German for junior and senior years, Bill, Jack, Jim, and I, plus two others chose French, but we were outvoted. God provides!

 In 1962 I was fortunate to have received a Fulbright Scholarship to study for a year in Germany at University of Saarbrücken, on the French border. (Yes, I did learn some French then.) I was very grateful that Richie McConville and Bill Sullivan visited me during that time.

After the year abroad I attended Brown University toward an eventual Ph.D. in German in 1970. However, because I received an ROTC commission at graduation from college, I had five years of deferments from active duty and eventually was called up in November 1967 before I completed my doctoral dissertation.

I met my first wife, Paulette, while I lived in Providence, R. I., and we were married in April 1968. The Army sent us to US. Army Europe HQ in Heidelberg, Germany and I was assigned to counterintelligence duties in document security and the to special weapons information security.

Upon my return home in late 1969 I interviewed for and was offered a position as chairman of the Department of Foreign Languages and associate professor of German at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville to begin in June 1970 after I completed my dissertation and received my doctorate. I spent 33 years as departmental chairman, with a promotion to full professor in 1974.

My daughter, Lisa, was born in Heidelberg, and my son, Michael, was born in Jersey City shortly before we moved to Tennessee. Lisa and husband have two sons (17 and 15) and live in Danville, KY; Michael and wife have two daughters (6 and 4) and live in Fairfax, VA.

In 1978 my wife left to pursue other interests, and I settled into the role of a single parent, since my daughter and son lived with me. I was fortunate to have help, though, since Paulette chose to live nearby until the children were grown.

Although I received a church annulment a few years after the divorce, I did not remarry until 2005. My wife, Nancy, suffered from a number of illnesses, and in 2003 I resigned the chairmanship of the department and taught four more years fulltime and another four years two-thirds time. I retired in 2011, just in time to become a full-time caregiver for my seriously ill wife. Nancy passed on in March 2012.

While I was serving as departmental chairman, I had to deal with many administrative frustrations, of course. Helping to maintain my sanity was the service work that I did with foreign language professional organizations at the state, regional, and national levels.  Since Nancy’s death, I have busied myself with volunteer work in my parish (outreach program similar to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, banking committee, annual Fall Festival) and other service work through the Knights of Columbus council and the 4th Degree Assembly here.

Other than that I enjoy reading, gardening, my stamp collection, and a very long project to digitize and catalog 100 years of inherited and personal photos and family documents and clippings (over 20,000 done and almost 10,000 more digitized but not yet cataloged, plus several thousand more to go.) It keeps me off the streets!

May God continue to bless all you great guys. I have been blessed to know you.

AMDG!

 After graduating from the Prep, I enrolled at St. Peter’s College (now University) where I graduated in 1962, with a major in French. After Infantry Officer Orientation Course at Ft. Benning, GA,I served my two-years of active duty as an infantry officer in Ft. Knox, KY, the first year as the company commander of a basic training company (E-9-3), and the second as an instructor. Being a company commander as a new 2nd Lieutenant, and the only officer in the company, was a sobering experience.

After completing my military service I enrolled at Université Laval in Québec for graduate studies in French. I obtained my MA and completed the course work for the PhD, but did not complete my dissertation. In graduate school, I met and married Charlotte Fortin from Québec, and our daughter, Barbara, was born there. We have been married for 51 years, and Charlotte is still the apple of my eye, as Stevie Wonder would say. I taught in the Québec college system until 1969, when I accepted a position as Technical Director of the Canadian Weightlifting Federation/Fédération Haltérophile Canadienne (CWFHC), in Ottawa.

Our daughter Barbara had been schooled only n French until our move. In Ottawa she opted for a bilingual system, half the courses in French, half in English. She eventually enrolled at the University of Ottawa, and was one of the first recruits into the new Canadian Security Intelligence Service, where she enjoys a wonderful career, I think. I don’t know what she does, so don’t ask me.

While at the CWFHC I was active in international sport, serving on the Scientific and Research Committee of the International Weightlifting Federation. I was the speaker for the weightlifting events at the Montréal, Los Angeles, and Atlanta Olympic Games, as well as at the Commonwealth Games, and Canadian Championships. My commitment in sport gave me the opportunity to travel to many countries, for meetings and for training others.

Charlotte had a career in the Canadian Civil Service, leaving for other ventures after Barbara finished university. I eventually left the CWFHC and became a free-lance translator and interpreter (FR-EN and EN-FR), eventually building an extensive client list, and hiring many interpreters. This career gave me the opportunity to travel everywhere in Canada, From Newfoundland to the Yukon and British Columbia, about 7000 km and 3.5 time zones. 

  Aloha kakou to all who read this.

The genesis of June ‘58 was that September morn in 1954 when all of us tremulously arrived at the intramural yard behind Mulry Hall. We wee ones wondered and wandered (at least I did) among the big dogs until someone told us to find our names on the white sheets taped to the wall of Mulry Hall and then to join the file forming on that sheet. My line was 1H. I fell in. Promptly at the appointed time (9 a.m.? 8?) the door atop the stairs leading up the wall opened. The Reverend John Murray, S.J., gunslinger extraordinary, stepped out in all his glory. Did a hush fall over the yard? The first class (Seniors?) began its trek up the stairs and passed into the building under the searching eye of the prefect of discipline. At least most did. A few were pulled from the line and sent home to correct defects in appearance. I conducted a head to toe inventory to reassure myself I would pass inspection.

What a beginning! In retrospect, it marked our passage from the tutelage of women (religious and lay) to that of men, soldiers of La Compania de Jesus, created by that broken warrior Ignatius who, unable to wield the sword anymore, took up the Cross. So we began our basic training as “men for others” as Pedro Arrupe, S.J. described it in 1973 (amended now-a-days to “men and women for others”).

Having completed Jesuit basic training, September ‘58 found me treading the halls of St. Peter’s uptown majoring in “Pauw Wow”, “Argus Eyes”, Jersey City politics and, ultimately, English. My focus on the first three earned me an involuntary sabbatical after a doleful performance in the latter during Junior year. I spent the year off writing obits and feature stories for the Jersey Journal and later the Sentinel Newspapers mid-state. Oh yeah, and making up the credits. SPC took me back in September '62. After a June graduation with a BA in ‘63 and eight weeks of ROTC summer camp (earning a U.S. Army butter bar), I snagged a full-time reporter job with the Hudson Dispatch in Union City covering that town and Weehawken.

It was great job but only lasted 'til the following June. Uncle Sam called to remind me my butt was his and he wanted both me and the butt at Ft. Benning for basic officer training (I was commissioned in Infantry). After that schooling I was off to a basic training company assignment at Fort Ord, CA. 1964 was the year of a meningitis epidemic at the post. There were several trainee deaths. Soon after I arrived, basic training was shut down until the cause was detemined and eliminated. Media focus was intensive. The post information office was harried with the attention and needed help. A records check by the PIO colonel revealed yours truly. I was offered a PIO job and figured it was better than hanging around an empty barracks twiddling my thumbs. As things quieted down at Fort Ord, the PIO job opened up at Fort Irwin, then a remote and desolate desert post waayy outside of Barstow CA,. In exchange for extending my active duty tour, I was assigned there in early 1965.

The Irwin job lasted until late 1966. After a two-week tour at the Army’s Jungle School in Panama, I began a (in total) four-year stint in Vietnam. Remember that futile exercise in the ‘60s and early ‘70s? It wasn’t a straight four years and, though I wore the crossed rifles, I spent little time patrolling the jungle. I did a year as a PIO with the 4th ID helping the likes of Dan Rather, Morley Safer, Brit Hume, Bill Plante, Horst Faas, Jurate Kazickas and others get their stories and pictures. After a brief service break at home and in California, I came back after Tet 1968 as an administrative officer with the 1st Brigade, 5th ID at the DMZ. A year's tour as a district senior advisor in Tay Ninh Province north of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City now) followed. After a year of advanced schooling at Fort Benning, I was back again as the adjutant of the Bien Hoa Army/Air Force Base in ‘71 and ‘72. I may have bunked in the barracks that Al Gore did when he was a writer with the 20th Engineer Brigade’s The Castle Courier. The garrison HQ had taken over the long-gone brigade’s rather plush digs. I Ieft Vietnam in mid-’72, a month or two before the Army’s last major combat unit in country, a brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, also stationed at Bien Hoa, pulled out. I didn’t exactly turn out the lights when leaving, but pretty close to it.

In its wisdom the Army sent me to Hawaii and the 25th ID. I was joined there by my newly wedded bride, Pihsia Chen of Taiwan. She fell in love with the Islands. I got to command a battalion headquarters company and, afterwards, run the division’s GS plans shop. But the post-Vietnam Army had lost its luster for me.

I left active duty in early ‘75 and landed in Santa Rosa, CA. I styled myself a freelance writer, scribblers' euphemism for unemployed. Mainly I was pitching applications to the Feds and state government for PAO slots. It had dawned on me that my eleven military years were an important retirement investment. In mid-’76 I took a call from a John Boyles in Las Vegas offering me the new PAO job in his US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) district there. What the hell is BLM? On the other hand it is Las Vegas and a job up my alley. What was not to like? So we (Pihsia, me and first son Marco) packed up and headed for Vegas. Soon after arrival second son Jason was born.

Vegas was a hoot. BLM is an Interior Department agency that manages 10% of the land in the United States, mainly in the 11 western states, and about 30% of the Nation’s surface and subsurface minerals. From district PAO I moved to head up the district’s Planning and Environmental Coordination Division and then to the #3 job in the district, chief of the Division of Resource Management. In ‘84 I grabbed the brass ring job of chief of the public affairs staff in the BLM’s Oregon/Washington State Office in Portland, OR. Some would say I jumped from the frying pan of Las Vegas to the fire of the Pacific Northwest’s spotted owl vs timber harvest controversy. They might be right! At any rate, in the Spring of 1994 I wrapped my military and civilian time together and retired from Federal service.

Portland was a great stop for me. It is a town with the positive ambience of the New York-New Jersey area, but little of its detractions. The family prospered. My sons and I joined Boy Scouts. I was an assistant scoutmaster of their troop. They attained their Eagle ranks. I also ran a half dozen Spring Camporees for the Sunset Trails District. Both sons earned their college degrees. Both followed dad into government service. Marco is a lieutenant colonel in military intelligence, supporting NATO in Belgium. As I write, he is on the cusp of retirement. Jason is in the Homeland Security Department, initially as a Border Patrol Agent in Arizona, currently an agent in Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Both are leaders and senior managers.

However, I was not a retirement aficionado. A few months after retireing in 1994 I went to work for a Sears Auto Center as a customer service advisor. I retired from Sears in ‘99 after the college bills were paid. For a year I volunteered as the vice-chair of a huge Boy Scout celebration in Oregon of the organization’s 90th anniversary called Scoutrageous 2000. Over 15,000 Scouts and Scouters gathered in Oregon’s Milo McIver State Park in September 2000 for a weekend of Boy Scout fun, adventure and entertainment.

After Scoutrageous I picked up part-time work as a Library Assistant at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City where Pihsia and I then lived. (You’ll recall I spent my four years at Prep as a member of Catherine Collins’ Library Club.) Pihsia still had a soft spot in her heart for Hawaii. Over the years, between semesters, we took several trips to Oahu. The spot only grew softer. Finally, in 2012, we made the call: Just Do It! I retired from the community college. We sold the house and most of our worldly goods. We shipped the cars, the bed and our pictures to Hawaii. In August we boarded a plane for Honolulu. After a year renting in Makakilo on the Leeward side, we bought a condo in Kapolei. It is proclaimed as Oahu’s Second City (after Honolulu), and is also on the Leeward side. It’s only about 30 years old but a real star! We have two local hotels, a Costco, Home Depot, Target, Walmart, several food stores and everything else you need right at hand. A big new shopping center, Ka Makana Ali'i, marked its first anniversary with celebration and fireworks this month. A few miles up the road is the multi-hotel resort at Ko'olina. Pihsia was and is delighted.

While I generally knew the basics of the Hawaii story, I wanted to learn more. I took some Hawaiian history and culture courses at Leeward Community College. Out of the first one came a poem “A Hawaiian Lament” and an on-camera interview about it. Check out https://pupuaoewa.edublogs.org/2015/02/22/a-hawaiian-lament-a-poem-by-ed-ciliberti/

As I said, I’m not a retirement aficionado. After three years in Paradise I tired of just hanging around. I began submitting applications for library positions. I got a few nibbles but no catches until the Spring of 2016 when Hamilton Library of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, UH’s flagship campus, bit hard. I’ve been a library assistant there for a year and a half now, enjoying the heck out of the work and all the young people.

My “After ‘58” has been an interesting journey, a challenging adventure, a time of fun and, yes, the occasional success. In retrospect, Prep was the first step on that “journey of a thousand li” away from Teaneck, New Jersey. The Jesuits led us out of our mental and spiritual darkness into a more profound understanding of ourselves and our world and the relationship between them. Elsewhere on this blog you ask for memories of events at Prep. Significant for me is not an event, but a book: Rerum Novarum. Yes, the Jug book. Not that I was a habitue of Jug, but while printing out some of the encyclical’s passages they resonated with me, and still do. Gerry Drummond’s views and mine on the role and rights of labor in society pretty much march in step. It's a pity that in our twilight days, after what FDR did for our fathers and mothers (and us, if truth be told), we should find those wise words of Pope Leo XIII marinating in the curbside effluent, carelessly flicked there by Mammon.

On the other hand, as Ted Kennedy remarked, "Hope never dies". Who would have figured it? The pope is a Jesuit, son of Italian immigrants, who rode the bus to work in Argentina and bunks in a communal hotel in Rome! What's not to like?

Ah hui hou! October 2017 

  Shortly after attainment of 48 years of life, I went to my internist for my annual check up and was advised to get more exercise and start a more formal program of physical activity. Being a runner-Sprinta during my years at The Prep and a few seasons at St. Joe’s, in my mind that meant getting back to running twenty-five years later… but now it would be distance running of the 5K variety. Ugh! I never could stand distance running … I start to “whine like a Two Year Old" if it was a meter beyond 200!

Then by sheer serendipity, I ran into a fellow Montclairite, my same age who also claimed to be a Sprinter. With that, I began my second athletic career as a Masters Track and Field athlete. After a period of about two years of increasingly intensive training, I started competing regularly in my five year age category in Masters T&F meets that were scheduled on weekends anywhere from Providence, RI to Baltimore, MD. On more than one occasion, I would rise early on a Saturday morning, put on my track outfit and advise Betty Ann that "I'm off to a track meet at Swarthmore.” To which she responded “Swarthmore? … That’s outside Philadelphia! … You’re going to drive more than 100 miles to run for 13 seconds?”

Sheepishly, I said “Yeah … I guess I am … but I’ll also be doing the 200m, 110m Hurdles, Long Jump and, maybe a leg on the teams 4 x 400m Relay.” In true spousal fashion, the conversation ended with, “You’re Crazy! … Have fun! … Don’t hurt yourself!”

And that’s pretty much is what I've been up to until until age 57, when on the Sunday before my prostate surgery, I won the State, Age-group Hurdles Championship. Of course, during convalescence I pretty much lost my competitive conditioning.

During those years, I also got to run the lead off leg on our team's 4 x 100m relay team at the prestigious Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia; attained All-American, age-group status in the 100m and participated in the Masters Track and Field World Championships in Buffalo NY, having been held two years previously in Turku, Finland. I remember my reaction… “There are some pretty fast old guys out there!”

Currently, after a number of years of getting old and surviving some rather seriously significant surgeries, I get out of breath running to the bathroom, but still can perform as Coach GrandPa for my Grand Daughter's Grade School Track and Field team.