Debra (Hoovler) & Don Teator (2025)

No municipal historian knows exactly what they are getting into when they receive their appointment. An unglamorous town organizational meeting, over in (hopefully) forty minutes, gobbles up an unsuspecting civilian and spits them out a newly-minted scholar tasked with knowing many things they’ve yet to learn and a phone number listed in the town directory. Some of us founder, some of us get up and walk, and some of us soar. In the end, the job becomes that of the gardener - planting seeds and seeking new dirt to turn over in the hopes that someday, someone will get to sit under the tree you planted. 

Don and Deb Teator have planted a lot of seeds and done a lot of soaring, and this year’s Greenville Local History Group Calendar finally bears this brief page honoring their years of work sharing, preserving, and celebrating Greenville as a rich tapestry of people and moments. As a historian myself I am obligated to provide their biographical details, that posterity may know the basics:

Don Teator is a Greenville native, born here to Connie and Donald O. Teator in 1952 and raised on the family farm in Freehold. He graduated Valedictorian from Greenville in 1970 and completed his BA and Master’s at SUNY Albany before commencing a career as a teacher. He spent over 33 years in the classroom - the last 25 at Cairo-Durham - and has somehow managed to transform what others call retirement into its own full-time job. In 1989 he was appointed Historian for the Town of Greenville, a post he has filled admirably, while also serving over twenty years on the Greenville Planning Board as both a member and chair. In 1992 he founded the Teator/Teter Biennial Family Reunion, and also served on the committee that expanded the Greenville Library. Ever conscious of the future, he is also President of the Freehold Cemetery Association - this being the only office he holds in which he doesn’t get calls from the people he serves. Don is an avid cyclist, performs upkeep on the small park in Freehold, and was an early entrant into the world of personal internet blogs where he has diligently chronicled his and Deb’s remarkable international trips for friends and family to enjoy. 

Debra Teator is the daughter of Clem and Rita Hoovler and was born on Long Island in 1956. Her father’s own remarkable life brought the family to South Cairo in 1960, and the Hoovlers became the owners and operators of the Freehold Airport a few years later. Deb, a remarkable photographer and artist, was a member of the first graduating class of Cairo-Durham CSD before taking a job as a darkroom tech at the studio of Chestnutt and Smith in Catskill. In addition to working as a monitor and cleaner for Greenville CS, she also freelanced as an aerial photographer in partnership with her father. While Clem flew, Deb snapped photos of everything from real estate listings and scenery to the crowds and traffic at Woodstock ’94. She volunteered with the Greenville Youth Soccer League, becoming president during the mid-90s, and was also on the organizational committee for Arts Around Greenville. In the midst of all of this, she also maintained membership (and remains) an active member in the Clematis Garden Club, a group for which she currently serves as president. In addition to her pastel artistry of the last decade, she also serves as the coordinator of the Greenville Library Gallery. A vital part of both Debra and Don’s lives is their son Nathan, born in 1980. 

It would be irresponsible of me to forego noting that when Don was appointed Greenville Town Historian nobody told Deb she became his trusted deputy. She has leveraged her remarkable talents behind the camera lens to document thousands of moments, places, and people in Greenville over the last thirty years - forming a collection of photographs and negatives that serve as a remarkable documentary endowment for future historians and members of the community. Truly, they are something of a dream team.

With the biographical details out of the way, it must be said that it is the true pleasure of the student to honor a teacher - this is also something we in the history field don’t often get to do. In Don’s time as Greenville historian he has created a template and developed a community many historians could never imagine cultivating. Were it not for the fact that I get to witness the Greenville Local History Group in action I’d scarce believe something so magical existed - and magical is precisely what it is. The role of any historian is to foster dialogue, and Don has created a group that meets regularly, draws big crowds, and gets the community at large participating, documenting, and discussing their shared heritage. The GLHG Calendars are one small part of the diverse offerings and efforts Don undertakes to make sure people find ways to connect - he also holds regular meetings, collects and interprets archival materials, and sends out one of the richest monthly e-blasts of any historian I know. In just 2022 alone he put an unbelievable amount of time into preparing a slew of digitized images from three decades of the GLHG calendar for hosting online, yet another testament to his fidelity for the mission of the municipal historian - share, share, share! 

As a young historian in the unique field of local history I’ve reaped the benefit of Don’s example and his tireless work - just as every one of you have reading his newsletters, attending GLHG meetings, and hanging these calendars on your wall. To Deb and Don - thank you both, and keep up the wonderful work. 

Jonathan Palmer

Greene County Historian

Jack and Barbara (Baker) Van Auken (2024)

Barbara and Jack exemplify two lives of work and service that have benefitted Greenville.

Born in Catskill (living in Greenville) in 1940, Barbara was the older child of Clara (Faehndrich) and Marshall Baker. Barbara’s grandfather was Gus Baker, owner of the Main Street restaurant.

            Barbara graduated in the GCS Class of 1958 and worked three years with NYS.

Meanwhile, John “Jack” Van Auken was born in Catskill (living in Cooksburgh), the older son of Edward and Ruth (Wood) Van Auken in 1941, He attended the Durham Central School (Grades 1-8), moved with his parents to Red Mill Road in Greenville in 1957, and graduated GCS in the same year as Barbara.

            High school sweethearts would marry in 1960 and have children Lori (m. Marc Lewis, ch. Christopher); Lynn (ch. Aaron, Eva); and Kimberly.

            Barbara worked at NYS Division of Architecture Landscape and then a public relations office for three years before working full-time at home as a mother.

            Jack spent many hours of his youth on his grandfather’s dairy farm in Cooksburgh when he was not riding with his dad who had a delivery route. Jack’s grandfather Niles had operated a milk route to Manorkill and then Jack’s father expanded into general delivery.

            Jack started at Albany Business College but four months later his dad had an opening in the delivery business. After fifty-two years of leadership of Red Mill Road-based Van Auken Express, Jack transferred his share of the business to his nephews, Jim and Ed. Jack would spend another ten years semi-retired before accepting the fact that the business could survive without him. Van Auken’s Express served the regional area, carrying anything that a truck could handle.

            Barbara and Jack lived on New Ridge Road, Norton Hill from 1964-1991 before moving to their current home on Turon Rd.

Although life stories are informative, GLHG awards its recognition for service above and beyond the usual. And Barbara and Jack epitomize this trait.

Barbara:

·       volunteered for 4-H in the 1970s

·       supported the school musicals with costumes and makeup in the 1970s

·       is a lifelong member of Christ Church Episcopal: teaching Sunday school for 10 years, a lay reader, and altar guild directress for 50 years

·       assisted Greenville blood drives for 10 years while also acting as a recruiting blood drive chair

·       served as a Friends of the Greenville Library for 20 years and as its treasurer 10 years

·       worked with All Arts Matter as a board member as well as coordinating AAM’s poetry contests

·       sang with Mamas Without Papas as one its original members in the 1970s

·       was part of the Mary Heisinger-led Dine and Discuss book group for about 25 years

Barbara socially enjoyed her bridge group for a half century and led a demanding business and family life have been blessed in so many ways

Jack’s life, he will say, was the family business.

            Still, he has served as a Town Board member, Planning Board member, the Christ Church Episcopal Vestry including as a Warden, as well as a scattering of community projects.

            When he retired in 2014, Jack acquired the fields of the former Turon Farm that fills the eastern boundaries of Rt 26, Turon Rd, and Irving Rd. He daydreamed about restoring the hayfields and dreaming about what they could be, the product of which passers-by admire.

            Jack’s most recent project, with the assistance of other community members,  is a renewal and improvement of the grounds of the Greenville Cemetery: cutting brush, improving roadways, clearing threatening trees, straightening gravestones, and pursuing the history of one of Greenville’s historical gems.

Jack and Barbara, thank you for your decades of sharing your lives and service.

Barbara Walter (2024)

Barbara was born to Edith and Joe Walter in 1949 in Little Rock, Arkansas, moving shortly thereafter to St Louis, Missouri. She graduated from University of Missouri (Phi Beta Kappa), NYU (MBA Management), Stern School of Business, and Stonier Graduate School of Banking. 

She married Robert (Bob) M. Reithner, Jr. (Bob).

Barbara worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1971 as Research Assistant before retiring in 2005 as Senior Vice President and Manager of the Buffalo Branch.

Upon moving to Greenville, Barbara gave of her time and energy to the Greenville Memorial Public Library. Appreciating the role that libraries have played in her and our lives, Barbara has supported the “Friends of the Library and its fund-raising efforts that have enabled the library to offer free programs for residents of all ages beyond what taxpayers provide.” Importantly, Barbara helped the Friends to maintain its non-profit status with NYS.

Another beneficiary of Barbara’s talents is Community Partners of Greenville (CPOG). These efforts include:

·       Fifteen years as (co)treasurer

·       Greenville Beautification Committee projects: 19 historic lamp posts, benches, banners, flower planters for the hamlet

·       Fund-raising of private donations of over $50,000

·       Two Quack-Quack-Greenville duck art projects

·       Improvements to Prevost Hall, including raising $150,000 in grants for stained glass restoration. Barbara believes that Prevost Hall is important to the character of Greenville and to the attractiveness of the town as a place to live.

·       Written grants for Vanderbilt Park trail improvements and support of Greenville Day festivals

A unique and niche volunteer effort of Barbara’s for the Town of Greenville is her volunteer grant-writing. Her efforts assisted in:

·       Completion of an extensive process and paperwork needed to recover $100,000 in grant funds from NYS to reimburse the Town for its first major sewer upgrade.

·       The successful sidewalk federal grant, resulting in significant safety improvements in the Greenville hamlet. She worked with Supervisor Paul Macko to replace the crumbling sidewalks on SR 81 east and to aid the extension from Vanderbilt Park to County Estates on Route 32.

·       Assistance to the town board in using over $350,000 in ARPA funds (Covid relief funds from the Federal Government) by helping with the filing of required documentation.

·       Collaboration with Debbie Von Atzingen in filing a grant request for up to $5 million for the town in the NY Forward grant program in 2022.

“I have especially enjoyed lending analytical and writing skills to tasks undertaken by the town when needed, working closely with Town Supervisor Paul Macko as the town focuses on improving its infrastructure to support a vibrant community.”

            Barbara is also proud of the efforts she and husband Bob have taken to improve and preserve their property in Greenville. “When we bought what was then called Carelas Lake, the lake was in danger of eroding due to erosion, neglect, and muskrat damage.  We rebuilt Lake Barbara in 2007 to modern DEC standards so that it will last another 50 to 100 years and have improved the landscaping so that the view from Route 32 is an asset to the community.”

Barbara also enjoys painting, crossword puzzles and Wordle, waterskiing, and Pilates.

Barbara Walter, on behalf of our community, the GLHG thanks you for your diverse contributions to Greenville.

Bill and Kathie (Mack) Quackenbush

It is an honor for the Greenville Local History Group to bestow its 2023 recognition to William III and Kathleen Quackenbush,

Back in 1949, the family of Bill Jr & Dot Quackenbush moved to Greenville, thus marking a three-quarter century legacy still felt today.

Five children – Bill, Ed, Mike, Mary & Dan – came with the move to Greenville. Five more – Judy, Joe, Mark, Bernadette & Matt – were born while the family lived in Greenville.

The oldest of the ten children, Bill was born in 1943 and attended GCS through 8th grade. After two years at Christian Brothers Academy in Albany, he returned to Greenville, graduating in 1961 and was president of his senior class. He graduated from Albany College of Pharmacy in 1966 with a degree in pharmacy. After serving a one year pharmacy apprenticeship in Bristol, VT, he returned to his father’s pharmacy on Main Street, Greenville in 1967.

Meanwhile, Kathie Mack was born in Albany in 1944, the second of four children of Ed and Catherine (McArdle) Mack. She graduated from Cardinal McCloskey in 1962 and from Albany College of Pharmacy in 1966 where she met her future husband. Kathie and Bill married in 1968. (Their mothers had graduated together in 1933 from St. Joseph’s Academy in Albany!)

Bill and Kathie have three children: William IV (m. Carrie Brezzo, son Liam); Kerry (m. Eoin Connolly, daughter Maeve, sons Cian and Cael); and Katie (m. Chris Mcgahey, daughters Claire and Molly). Will, Kerry and Katie are all GCS grads and all went on to higher education.

Bill became the Supervising Pharmacist at the Greenville Pharmacy on Main Street in 1967 and, with his father, oversaw the move to Bryant’s Country Square in the mid-1970s. When Bill’s father became ill in 1978, Kathie joined temporarily for clerking and organizational duties. She stayed for thirty years! Bill’s brother Mark was a senior at Albany College of Pharmacy in 1979 when Bill Jr died; he joined after graduation. And then Mark’s wife LuAnn (Von Atzingen) joined the family business after her parents’ business, Von’s Dept Store, closed, offering her keen business acumen and rich people skills..

The Greenville Pharmacy, aka Quackenbush’s, served Greenville as a health center, supplier of goods, friendly ear, and a crossroads where snippets and crosscurrents of news and social glue were exchanged. Their business value was recognized by I.P.C. -  an independent pharmacy cooperative, 4000 pharmacies strong - with its Most Valuable Pharmacy Award in 2010; Merck Lab’s – Bowl of Hygeia Award in 1985; and Drug Topic Magazine’s – Outstanding Pharmacy Award in 1987 .

In the 1980s, new opportunities arose. The Quackenbushes bought the Windham Pharmacy from the Wakefield Family, started Northeast Home Care, a supplier of durable medical equipment and oxygen, and then Greene Medical Arts Pharmacy in Catskill.

Through it all, Bill III’s baritone voice was a calming voice of reason, hope, comfort, and consolation during all these years. The selling of the Pharmacy to Rite-Aid in 1999 was the end of a 50 year chapter in Greenville, a difficult, but necessary decision for the Quackenbushes.

However, GLHG proffers its recognition not only for the Quackenbush business skill but more so for the service and heart they gave and instilled to the Greenville community.

Both Kathie and Bill are/were active in the Catholic Church in different roles and different parishes in Greenville and Albany. And they supported the activities their children participated in: Cubs Scouts, Boys Scouts, athletic teams, clubs, and extracurricular activities. They especially supported the GCS music department, serving as chaperones to Boston, Nashville, Toronto and Europe, as well as fund-raisers for the gazebo.

Bill also:

·         served on the Columbia-Greene Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees

·         served as a Stiefel Laboratories – Durham Pharmaceutical Division Board Member

·         served as Treasurer of Greene County Rural Health Network

·         served in St John’s in Greenville and St. Vincent’s Parish in Albany in various liturgical ministries and administrative roles as Parish Council President and Parish Trustee.

·         Actively involved in prison ministry (Residents Encounter Christ) for over 20 years

·         Co-managed many Greenville Little League Baseball teams

·         Supported his alma mater - GCS

Kathie also:

·         taught religious ed classes and served as Eucharistic minister

·         was involved in the classroom activities of their children

·         served as a Greenville Library Board of Trustee

·         supports the Friends of the Library.

One of their comments attests to the friendship between Greenville and the Quackenbushes:

“We were indeed a family business but we had lots of wonderful local folks of many backgrounds join us. We enjoyed so many students, some went on to become pharmacists.

“Our rewards were doing what we loved to do for the people from the greater Greenville area. The biggest reward of all has been living with and in this marvelous place.”

photos courtesy of Kathie and Bill Q

Ruth Stevens (2022)

Ruth grew up the oldest of five sisters at the Thompson House, a resort in Windham, NY. After college, she taught in Greenville, met and married Pierce W. Stevens, and in 1952, they purchased the Vanderbilt home on South Street. Together, they realized their vision of Greenville Arms, creating an ideal home and family business, a gathering place for people from all over the world. Visitors noted that a welcome from Ruth resonated for a lifetime. Family, faith, education, and community were paramount values and service was central in her life. Described as “the minister to the ministers,” Ruth supported the work of five pastors accepting countless leadership roles in the Methodist Church. She cooked and baked for church suppers and fairs and delivered innumerable boxes of Christmas cookies to neighbors. She was attuned to the village of Greenville and, given an opportunity to assist, she always responded. She supported GCS as PTA chair, and for years never missed a ball game or music concert. For decades, Ruth taught 4H cooking and baking in the inn kitchen. As employer, Ruth guided many young people to develop work ethic and life skills, and to experience pride in a job well-done. During quiet winter months, Ruth turned to study and travel. In the mid-1960s, she visited the South Pacific, a challenge at that time, later broadening others’ knowledge by speaking to local groups. Ruth Stevens lived with strength, courage, love and great joy, modeling daily how to live a life that matters. She was born in 2917 and passed away in 1980.

 - written by Ruth’s daughters

Phil Ellis (2022)

More than any other person, Phil Ellis shaped how Greenville saw itself. As editor of the Greenville Local from 1963 to mid-1990s, Phil oversaw the menagerie of topics—local news, some national news, local correspondents, clubs and organizations, good stories, tragedies—and much more. He was the Local’s main photographer and reporter, as well as one of the town’s most loyal business supporters through his leadership in Rotary, Kiwanis, and Chamber of Commerce. Phil is responsible for the moniker of The Miracle Mile of Norton Hill. The Local remains even today the single best source to analyze Greenville’s goings-on during this forty year period.

            Phil, otherwise known as The General, was born in 1920 in Sunside, NY, to Elgirtha (Ingalls) and Scott Ellis. He graduated from the GCS Class of 1939 and then from Delhi Technical and served in the US Navy for three years during WWII. He worked at home construction and then in the insurance field. He worked at GNH for thirty years and took pride in being instrumental in the founding of the Greenville Medical Arts Building.

            He married Ramona Hueg in 1946 and they had a daughter Ramona (m. Turner Fawkes; ch. Christian, Ethan) and Curt (m. Charlene Manning, ch. Sophia). As Judy Ferrer noted at his memorial service in 1997: “It was Phil's love of music, people, and community that made Phil special. He would tease his tenants, fight the doctors, play the piano, and sing for friends. He will be most remembered for his broad grin.”

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Ray Beecher (2022)

Ray Beecher was born in1917 and moved from the New York City area with his family in 1927.  His father Valentine built and operated The Cabin.  Ray graduated from Greenville High School in 1934. 

            Ray served in both the Pacific and European Theatres in WWII.  He went on to teach at Coxsackie Correctional Facility and moved to a riverside estate in Coxsackie with his beloved wife Catharine.

He had a distinguished tenure as the Greene County Historian.   

Ray researched primary sources: diaries, newspapers, correspondence, business records, photographs, material which usually no one else had looked at before.  All the while he created a record in his mind of names, places, and dates, which no one else could match.  Then he wrote it down.

            Ray wrote a newspaper column on local history for local newspapers every week for over twenty years.  He wrote dozens of scholarly articles for the Greene County Historical Society Journal.  He wrote or edited seven books, including Out to Greenville.   

            Ray’s generous financial contributions seeded the preservation of the Thomas Cole House and the construction of the Vedder Research Library.

He led by example.  When he was 86 years old, he was carrying boxes full of items for the Historical Society yard sale out of the attic of an old house.  He had gotten there early and couldn't wait, so that most of the work was done by the time the younger people arrived.  You could tell Ray what he shouldn't be doing, and he'd say yes, yes, yes, and then do what he wanted. He passed away in 2008.

 - written by long-term friend Ted Hilscher

Helen Brown (2022)

Helen Brown was a gifted educator and benefactor who got things done with plenty of grace and a warm smile. Born in 1923 to Vincent and Sabina (O'Reilly) Golden, she graduated from Girls High School in Brooklyn; from St. Joseph's College (Bachelor’s); from St. John's, Columbia, and Fordham Universities (Master’s); and from SUNY Albany (PhD).

            Early in her adult life, she moved to Greenville, residing a mile north of the town line on Rt 32. At GCS, she taught 7th and 8th grade history for 20 years before serving as guidance counselor for another 16 years. She was active in starting the teachers’ union at GCS.

            Outside of school, Helen led the drive to urge National Bank of Coxsackie to open a branch in Greenville, where no bank had previously existed.

            She was a strong motivator in the growth of the Greenville Library, often investing her own money for books and supplies. She generously gave to her church. Residing in the Town of Westerlo, Helen sat on the town zoning board and helped acquire books for the library in Westerlo.

            She helped support the renovation of the Potter Hollow Schoolhouse and, before her death, donated 39 acres of her land to the Greenville Boy Scout Troop.

            All of this was accomplished while caring for her invalid husband. She passed away in 2017.

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Bill & Sue Von Atzingen (2021)

Greenville has been enriched by its community members who have found Greenville in a number of ways. We have recognized those born here who then gave a lifetime of service. We have recognized those who have settled in Greenville in retirement or later adult years, giving years of service. This year we recognize a third way - finding Greenville in one’s early adult years and serving Greenville for their entire adult lives.

Bill and Sue (Anthony) Von Atzingen moved to Greenville during their early married years in the 1950s and continue to be a strong element of the Greenville community. The Von Atzingens bought Bogden’s Department Store when they were young marrieds, knowing little of the business, endured the tougher early years, and spent 28 years (1957-1984) in business as Von’s Department Store on Main Street and, later, in the Greenville Country Square.

They raised three children: LuAnn (married Mark Quackenbush; son Jeffrey), William (married Deborah Sacco, son William), and Lori (divorced, daughter Martina).

Patriarch Bill was born in 1933 in Jersey City, New Jersey, attended Dickinson High School, worked for his father at the Atzingen Dairy, graduated from SUNY Cobleskill where he met Sue, and entered the Army in 1955.

Susan B. Anthony was born in 1934 in Johnstown, New York, graduated from Gloversville High School in 1952, and graduated from SUNY Cobleskill before marrying Bill.

Their Greenville connection? Longtime resident Charlie Mesow’s mother and Bill’s grandmother were sisters, and the Vons came to the area on vacation, socializing, with Bill remembering the old swimming holes at Dean’s Mill and Barlow’s on the Catskill Creek where he learned to swim.

Bill was also a partner with Zan Bryant and George Jones in STG, a land development business that started in 1983 before he retired from that group six years later.

Sue’s interests include(d): bridge, Mahjong, bowling, skiing, bridge, oil painting, cooking, baking, traveling (47 of 50 United States), play productions, and weekly croquet May-September with their local eight-some for twenty-five years. Sue is also an accomplished miniaturist, having created a dozen miniature houses, often creating her own furnishings and material. 

As for Bill, the 1999 Rotary International Man of the Year booklet characterized his retirement interests as the 4 G’s: golf, gardening, gambling, grandchildren.

 This is a full life in itself.

However, there is much more to both Bill and Sue, and it is for this that the GLHG recognizes them.

Bill's service above and beyond the ordinary includes:

• Rotary International: 1959-present

• 2020 Senior Citizen of the Year by the Greene County Department of Human Services

• Pioneer Bank Director: 1966-1994

• State Bank of Albany Advisory Board: 1971-1988 (Greenville, Cairo)

• National Bank of Coxsackie Director (1988-2009)

• Stiefel Labs Board: 1988-2003

• Asbury UMC @ Norton Hill: 1959-present. Lay leader in 1973 merger

• Greenville Cemetery Committee

• Meals on Wheels delivery

• Greenville Volunteer Fire Co Life Member

• Rescue Squad: 1974-1989

• Greenville Chamber of Commerce

• Coach: Babe Ruth, Greenville, 1969-1973

• PTO President – early 1960s

• Golf League: Schmollingers, Rainbow

• Rotary International Man of the Year 1999

• Postmaster-Greenville (youngest in country, at the time)

Sue Anthony Von Atzingen has accumulated a worthy list herself:

• after closing of store, several part-time jobs until “retirement” in 2005

• Methodist Church, Norton Hill: member 60+ years; president of United Women six years; taught Sunday School for 25 years, Superintendent for 15 years; president of administrative board for 4 years, on board 20 years; ran phone chain and head Under Shepherd programs for 25 years

• local day care center: president, board eight years

• Cornell Co-operative Extension board: six years

• Home Demonstration: member and presentation ten years

• taught 4-H and Girl Scouts

• helper for Mother’s Touch

• ran local bloodmobile: 12 years

• Meals on Wheels: off and on for past 40 years

• worked at local thrift shop

• board member of Cultural Center

• a member of The Mammas Without the Papas

Whatever happenstance brought the Von Atzingens to Greenville, we are grateful and appreciative of the years of service and contribution above and beyond the ordinary. For this, the Greenville Local History Group is proud to recognize two of our town’s anchors.

GCS Teachers (2020)

The 1932-1933 faculty of the new Greenville Central School

The influence of teachers on their students is indisputable. Over the course of thirteen years, we GCS students absorbed many lessons and facts, endured tests, developed a network of friends, encountered others similar and dissimilar to us, beamed when praised, were satisfied when gaining an insight, developed a sense of self, and learned life lessons from our teachers.  A few of us even became friends with some of them. 

Although we may not have realized it at the time, teachers have the power to change their students' lives for the better. We now better understand the many efforts our teachers made for us.

Despite GCS being located in a rural area, we were fortunate to have an impressive roster of teachers with a wide variety of backgrounds and personalities to educate us.  The best teachers realized there was more to working with students than methods and techniques. The connections they developed with us students could brighten our day and inspire us to create an exciting future for ourselves. These teachers were the bridge from our everyday affairs to the goals we set ourselves for what lay ahead. These teachers knew that their labors would not bear fruit for ten, twenty, perhaps even forty years in the future. Their expertise gave us the ability to think critically, throw back a question, engage in peer teaching, and know where to look and not just what to see.  They reinforced love of community, what it means to be a good citizen, and the importance of our shared history. This prepared us for the adult world and shaped us for what was to come next.

In a departure from the tradition of recognizing individual community members, the Greenville Local History Group, for its 2020 calendar, chose to recognize one of the most influential groups in our lives—the teachers of Greenville Central School, from its organization of the early 1930s to the present day.

This calendar recognizes twenty-three individuals who epitomized the best qualities of being a teacher, as determined by feedback from GLHG members and an enthusiastic Facebook posting asking for input. Several dozen more teachers were cited for their influence, but not everyone could be included due to the restrictions of calendar production. 

 F. May Shaw 1931-1970 Mathematics

--- Carol Johannesen Lamb, 1959: I lived around the corner from Miss Shaw. She would pick me up on the way to school for early morning extra help in math. And she was my Sunday school teacher. She was the best math teacher ever, as well as a friend.

--- Philip "Flip" Flach, 1966: My memory of her is the dedication of spending her lunch in the room with kids needing extra help (me, at times) on one side of her and a peanut butter sandwich in her other hand

 Muriel Wooster 1932-1969 U.S. History

--- Edna Ingalls Huffman, 1958: She was strict as a teacher but when correcting a student she had a dry sense of humor to get the message across.

--- Philip "Flip" Flach, 1966: She is an unforgettable classic… made learning fun and interesting with her antics.  Her favorite saying when you didn't know an answer when called upon but said "I can't remember" was: “Spit into the wind, it will all come back to you"... will never forget her! 

Eberhard “Ed” Volmar 1970-1999 English

--- Bill Youngs, 1974: Mr. Volmar challenged me to move out of my comfort zone and made me realize that I was capable of more than I thought. I will always be thankful for that. I also enjoyed his good natured teasing!

--- Kathy Turon Kieffer, 1980: Ed Volmar truly cared about instructing students in a manner that pushed them to reach their fullest potential. In the late 1970s, he was the first teacher to organize student trips to NYC see first-quality plays on Broadway. He even led a trip to England and Scotland - which I believe was a first for GCS. 

 William Ransom 1969-1999 Agriculture

--- Glenna Teator Ryan, 1988: Mr. Ransom was a true inspiration for his students due to his motivational, unbiased, supportive and fun approach to teaching and to life.

--- Christy Bensen Charise, 1997: Beyond a teacher, Bill Ransom was a friend, advocate, inspiration and true blessing to GCS.  His presence alone compelled action, while his relentless prodding, always humorous and warm, unveiled unique gifts within others.  His unwavering dedication enabled student learning beyond the classroom: bolstering self-confidence, encouraging contribution, and ensuring pride in a job well done.  Thousands of students, hundreds of leaders, dozens of state officers… immeasurable impact.

 Mary Lou (Cusack) Birk 1955-1989 Spanish

--- Audrey Hynes, 1981: Marylou Birk used her love of Spanish and of life to create a highly interactive and engaging classroom dynamic where everyone was welcomed. She made each student believe they were special, valued and capable of anything. Mentoring students to become “good people” was the priority, learning Spanish was the bonus!

Helen Brown 1951-1974 Social Studies / Guidance

--- Robert Meringolo, 1966: Helen Brown was more than a good teacher. She was kind, thoughtful and funny and carried herself with a grace that served as an example.

 Robert Tyrrell 1949-1975 Music, HS Principal 1975-1982

--- Kathy Turon Kieffer, 1980: Mr. Tyrrell simply was GCS! He truly dedicated his life to the students. Bob was a commanding presence in the high school both as a music teacher (band conductor) and High School Principal. He earned the respect of students, staff and the community. As a teacher his goal was to improve our skills as musicians both as individuals and as a whole ensemble. As principal, that goal broadened to working to make all students feel success both in and out of the classroom.

 Leonard “Red” Sutton 1968-1993 Elementary 

Kerry Volmar Houlihan, 1992: Mr. Sutton could bring learning to life like no other, with that big voice and even bigger heart! 

 Art Thorman 1976-2011 Social Studies

--- Nate Teator, 1998: Mr. Thorman was a history performer.  He made the story as funny and relatable as anyone could; a teaching stage that extended to the far ends of school property.

 Charles Welden 1966-1994 Science

--- Katie Arel, 1998: With his dedicated passion for his subject base, Mr. Welden engaged each and every student of every interest and knowledge level the same. Nobody was ever left behind or made to feel any less than another, and even the most mundane assignments and projects were captivating and enticing.

 Ron Frantz 1971-1980, 1993-2007; Social Studies

--- Angela Mauriello, 1998: Mr Frantz was quick-witted and always leveled with his students. He appreciated and encouraged students to think for themselves, and even his punishments were fun. If we were late to class or forgot our homework, he made us go outside, and roll down the hill that was right outside of his classroom window. His easy disposition was a welcome distraction from the pressures of high school.

 Herb Ford 1946-1958 Mathematics; 1958-1964 HS Principal

--- Jerry Adinolfi, 1959: Mister Ford made learning mathematics fun, understandable, and relevant to our everyday world. From the simplest of geometric figures to the most complex of equations, his teaching method was conducive to learning and growth for a wide variety of secondary students.”

James “Coach” MacTavish 1956-1987 Physical Education

--- Philip "Flip" Flach, 1966: Gym can be a tough class when one is overweight, far from agile and athletic, but he was never judgmental, always encouraging, and dedicated to the best for the kids... also his infamous soccer shout during a game: "be there!" when the ball was in flight. 

 Gail (DeBonis) Richmond 1978-2012 Music

--- Angela Mauriello, 1998: Gail Richmond dedicated many years of her life to teaching at Greenville, and even after retirement she continues to fight tirelessly to make sure that students, as well as teachers are informed and treated fairly. Her joy at seeing children thrive and succeed is written all over her face when she speaks. She's a shining light to all who had the joy of crossing paths with her whether it was in school or out. 

 Vince Seeley 1971- 2000 Social Studies, Alternative Education

--- Andy Coates, 1980: We can recognize that Vince lives on. He lives on in the example he set. Through his teaching. Through his thoughts. His virtues. His union and community activism. Through his kindness to animals. His deeds will continue touch the lives of others, people whose names we do not know, far into the future. (from Elegy for Mr. Seeley, 1948-2006: 9/17/2006)

 Eli Shapiro 1970-2002 Business

--- Lorrie Flannery Spinner, 1973: Eli made it easy to be in his class, do your work, have a few laughs, and laugh at yourself too, which taught us it was OK to be human.

 Bonnie Persico 1984-2014 Elementary

--- Sarah Eron, with Class of 2000: Bonnie Persico was the first teacher to shape my identity as a writer. Her incorporation of the "Writer's Workshop" at the elementary school level was innovative and ahead of its time. For Bonnie, the practice of writing was more than an elementary school subject. It was a way of cultivating community, craft, and individual expressiveness. I'll never forget working with Bonnie on my first book project over the summer, long after classes had ended. It was then, at that young age, that I truly became the writer I am today. 

 Henrietta Rice 1956-1971 Elementary-Rensselaerville

--- Rose Kuhar, 1968: Mrs. Rice took on the challenge of having students in grades 1-3 in one classroom where her love of learning gave me and my classmates all the fundamentals of education that we would need for the rest of our lives. I remember at age five being a first grader learning to read with Jane, Dick, Sally, Puff and Spot and a copy of this early primer is in my personal library.

 JoAnn Simmons 1990-current Computer Science –

--- Audrey Start Matott, 2003: Mrs. Simmons is a vibrant and compassionate educator; she ensures each child is included and enjoys coming to school.

Margaret Bogardus

 Margaret Bogardus 1931-1962 Elementary

--- Tom Baumann, 1958: Margaret Bogardus started teaching in a one room schoolhouse… Her home was like a museum, with files of every major or minor accomplishment that any of her students ever had. 

 Gretchen (Straub) Coyner 1984-2009 Guidance

--- Heather Murphy Zacchio, 2001: Mrs. Coyner made it a point to know her students individually, taking time to accentuate their strengths. This helped to influence and motivate me to be where I am today.

 Linda Davies 1969-2006 English, Gifted & Talented

--- Gretchen Burmeister, with Class of 1974:

Mrs. Davies was extremely important in my early life as a student. She allowed us to be ourselves and supported us to develop our strengths and talents. One of her gifts was how attentive and encouraging she was. She truly cared. I speak for many students in saying that Mrs. Davies made a huge difference in our educational experience.

 Muriel (Harding) Falkey 1946-1976 Business

--- Eberhard “Ed” Volmar, 1966; Mrs. Falkey had a unique ability to recognize her students’ needs and abilities and worked diligently to help prepare them to become productive members of the work force and responsible citizens.

Virginia Mangold (2019)

Ginny Mangold was born to Vincent and Anna (Marino) Eufemia in a quiet town in northern New Jersey. During summers, the family vacationed in upstate New York, staying at a local family boarding house in Norton Hill known as Lena Bishop’s. During WWII, her parents relocated to the country, moving to Creamery Road, South Westerlo in 1945. Further work on the old farmhouse resulted in the restaurant we know today as Vince Anna’s Restaurant.

Ginny enjoyed 4-H with Marion Blasidell and Priscilla Palmer, and she admits to being a good student, graduating with the GCS Class of 1954. Her enjoyment and skills in bookkeeping and stenography led to jobs with New York Telephone in the Commercial Department (Ginny thanks one of her teachers, Muriel Harding Falkey.)

She would marry fourth grade sweetheart Robert Mangold in 1956 and raised five children: Rob, Kim, Jeff, Michael & PattiAnn, with twelve grandchildren and four great-grandchildren to follow.

Ginny left the phone company during the family years, but continued work at her family's restaurant, as well at the Pioneer Insurance Company, and then for 15+ years at the Greenville Central School, first as an aide in Elementary Office and then as Administrative Assistant with the Special Ed Department and Director Pam Again-Smith.

A side job, real estate, became a full-time job and Ginny went on to create Virginia Mangold Realty in 2001 and expanding her perspective of the Greenville area. Her husband Bob and daughter PattiAnn joined her later on.

If this were all, Ginny would be a valued and active member of the community. But it is other activities that burnish Ginny’s service star.

Ginny was invited to join the Greenville Rotary Club in 1989, the first woman in Greenville Rotary. She served the Rotary community for more than 20 years, assisted the Interact Club, and was instrumental in raising funds for the Four Corners clock. 

Virginia has served on the Town of Westerlo Zoning Board of Appeals Commission since 1987, assisting in establishing the Towns’ first Zoning Law in 1989, and continuing today as its Chairperson.

Another major community service saw her involvement with All Arts Matter, teaming up with friend and artistic director, Tony DeVito, AAM offered plays, theatre, major concerts and children’s events in the former Presbyterian Church next to the Greenville Library for twenty years, suspending their efforts only for major repairs needed to the building.

            Her passion for her community led Ginny to join the Greenville’s Beautification Committee (GBC) in 2003, an organization she still serves. Ginny is proud of GBC’s success in group grant writing, leading to funding for projects such as the establishment of Prevost Hall (the former All Arts Matter building). She looks forward to Prevost Hall becoming a viable asset to the community.

Ginny has watched and overseen, with other caring members of GBC, an “old fashioned Colonial town undergoing major improvements. We still have a way to go,” she explains, “but it will happen;we just have to be determined and hopefully it happens in my lifetime.”

This optimism and determination has marked Ginny Mangold throughout her lifetime, serving as an inspiration to many and reminding the Greenville community of the asset they have in Ginny.

Ginny Mangold, the Greenville Local History Group is proud to recognize your lifetime accomplishments for our town.

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Lee and Arlene (King) Brown (2019)

Nestled on the corner of Carter Bridge Road and Old Plank Road sits the Stanton Brown Farm, an old farm house (was used as a boarding house), a large red barn, sheds, and even an outhouse! Lee and Arlene Brown moved there in 1976 but Lee’s family had resided there since 1900 and kept boarders for over fifty years.

            Lee was born in 1931 at home to Cora and Frank Brown. He had three older step-brothers. (Stanton, Warren, and Ralph Winnie). He attended and graduated with the GCS Class of 1949 and worked on the farm raising chickens and selling eggs.

            Arlene was born in 1937 to Zelma and Woodbridge King and lived in Athens (The Rex Croft Farm). She and her older sister (Janice) always walked a mile to the Athens School! When she was ten, they moved to the village and then to a “truck farm” in Catskill. She graduated from Catskill Central School and SUNY Oneonta.

            Lee and Arlene met on a blind date and married two years later (1958) and lived in the village of Norton Hill. Arlene taught six grade for two years and then subbed for twenty-two more years, wanting to be home for their children: David (Jennifer), Lyle (Theresa), Lawrence (Laura), Diane (Nope), and Stephen (Kate). For the Browns, family always came first, and are proud of their children, six grandchildren and four great grandsons.

            They were both 4-H leaders (40+years) and all five children were active in the Poultry Club, exhibiting and working at the Youth Fair, Altamont and State Fair and became 4-H youth leaders. All were involved in the Greene Sweep Recycling Project. Lee and Arlene have camped throughout the Adirondacks and Catskills, were charter members of the Circle Eight Square Dance group, and loved to travel with a Farm Group throughout the US and other counties. In addition:

            Lee:

• Worked at GCS for thirty six years (7 as Head Custodian)

• Has raised chickens and sold eggs for 60+ years

• Was Sexton and head usher at UMC for 30+ years

• Was chairman of the Trustees when the two Methodist churches merged

• Coached Pee Wee Baseball for Norton Hill

• Ran the town Recreational Basketball for boys & girls for 15+ years

• Was president of the Men’s Garden Club of Greene County

            Arlene:

• Attained her Master’s Degree and became a School Librarian ,.(Cairo/Durham fourteen years) when three of their children were in college

• Was a storyteller for children and adults

• Has served her church as a Sunday School teacher, leader for the DVBS, bells player, President of the UMW, Chair of the Church Mouse Nursery

• Currently is her church’s  Chair of the Mission Committee and works at the Thrift Shop

• Was “Queen” of the Red Hatters for several years

• Was a pool mother for the Red Cross Swim project

• Served on the board of Cooperative Extension of Greene County for 20+ years

• Loves to read, garden, and being with family and friends

            The Greenville Local History Group is proud to recognize two “quiet” people who have served their community, family, and friends so generously. Thank you, Arlene and Lee.

- by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Tom and Joanne (Schermer) Baumann (2018)

In the summer of 1949 the Q-clan moved next door to Tommy Baumann and his wonderful family, and a life-long friendship began.  In the fall of that same year I became a first grade line-up partner with Joanne Schermer – short kids up front - and another rich relationship was born.  I have celebrated life’s ups and downs with these great people for over 65 years.  I have had the joy of watching them become generous stewards of the many gifts God has blessed them with – untiring public servants, gracious ministers of hospitality, wonderful parents and grandparents and determined friends and neighbors to throngs in the greater Greenville area. –Bill Quackenbush

 Joanne Schermer was born in 1943 in Brooklyn to parents Reinhold and Josephine (Gawel) Schermer. Her family moved in 1948 to her grandparents’ resort, Willow Rest Farm, renamed the following year to Pine Lake Manor. She graduated with the GCS Class of 1961 and attended SUNY Albany. She had started working in her parents’ resort office at age 19, work she continues today some 60 years later.

Meanwhile, Tom Baumann was born in 1940 in Catskill, NY, to parents Wilbur and Thelma (Boomhower) Baumann. He graduated with the Class of 1958, attended Albany Business College, worked at Kennedy International Airport, and returned home at age 21 to his family’s business – Baumann’s Contractors – with his father and with his older brother Ron. Baumann’s Contractors had been started in 1923 by Tom’s grandfather, Neil Baumann.

Joanne and Tom married in 1963, entered her parents’ resort business in 1972, and reared three children: Amy (married Christopher Short); Kevin (married Julianne Zehnter; children Olivia, Amelia, Thomas); and Jacquie (married James Fitzmaurice; children Ava, Tess, Bryn). In 2018, Willow Rest Farm/Pine Lake Manor celebrates its 94th year, having started in 1924 with Joanne’s grandparents Nicholas and Lydia Schirmer. Pine Lake Manor continues today by the joint efforts of their entire family plus many loyal and dedicated staff.

In addition to the resort, Tom and Joanne have engrained their names into the fabric of the Greenville community. Joanne’s list of contributions include: parishioner at St John the Baptist Church, member of the Greenville Rescue Squad, dispatcher for Greenville Volunteer Fire Company and Greenville Rescue Squad, Trustee and President of the Greenville Library, a Friend of the Greenville Library Fund Raising Committee, Chairman of Greenville Republicans Committee, member of the NYS Republican Committee, member of the GCS Parent-Teacher Organization, in addition to the host of ad hoc committees that these organizations have needed at the time.

Tom is also active. Tom’s list of contributions include: member of the Greenville/Norton Hill United Methodist Church (sharing churches with his wife); 50 year member, life member, and past president of the Greenville Volunteer Fire Company; member of the Greene County Tourism Advisory board; Greenville Town Councilman; president of the Greenville Cemetery Association; and member of NYS National Guard. He, too, has served on various advisory committees.

Tom has always been an automobile enthusiast since his affiliation at a young age with Baumann’s Auto Sales in Hudson, NY. He is an avid collector of classic cars of the 1950s and 1960s. Most recently, he is a founding member of the recently formed Saratoga Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA).

Over the years, Pine Lake Manor has acquired many adjacent properties. Other properties in town were acquired by Baumann’s Contractors, and were converted into apartments and businesses. Many of those are still owned by Tom and Joanne today.

There is one other accomplishment of which they are most proud. Tom and Joanne’s long tenure in the resort business has added a dimension that is more than the sum of its parts. Yes, as Pine Lake Manor owners, they have employed hundreds of community members, purchased supplies from other business local and otherwise, and dealt with details and vagaries of a people-service enterprise. Through it all, anyone who knows the Schermers and Baumanns have witnessed a larger family of connections: kids earning money for college and expenses, youngsters learning responsibility from a first job, the exposure of us locals to the worlds of those vacationing in Greenville, and the development of a web of friends and people crossing several generations. Friends of Joanne’s grandparents and parents, and Tom and Joanne’s children have created a network that has not only served the family well but has also benefited our community.

 Joanne and Tom Baumann, the Greenville Local History Group is so proud to recognize your life achievements.

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Richard P. Schreiber (2017)

When he was fifteen, Rich told his parents (Richard P. and Mae Pudick Schreiber) when they were returning to their Queens home from a vacation at Baumann’s Brookside that he wanted to live in Greenville one day.

            And that wish came true, and Greenville benefitted ever since.

            Rich was born in 1940, married Carol Baumann, daughter of Russell and Vivian Baumann, in 1961, moved to Yonkers, and returned to Greenville three years later to help her parents with the resort. Rich and Carol’s three children—Richard (Lynn), Rosemary (Kevin Lewis), Courtney (Jason Reinhard—live locally and also manage or help run Baumann’s Brookside. The next generation includes six grandchildren.

            Rich was active in the community, joining the Greenville Volunteer Fire Co. in April 1965, and serving as Chief for five years and Firer Commissioner for over forty years.

            Judge Schreiber was appointed to the position of Town Justice in 1986, a position he was elected to continuously until his death. Rich’s relationship with Robert Rose as Town Justice spanned nineteen years, and as a friend for fifty-one years.

            Rich would say that he was fortunate to know many community leaders and other town and village judges which, along with raising three children and running one of Greenville remaining resorts, gave him a better ability to understand people, especially those who appeared before him in court.

            Rich will be remembered for saying he had a wonderful life in Greenville and that he would change nothing if given a chance to relive his life. He passed away in 2016.

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

----------------------

            The Two Towers of Local Justice

(this piece was centered on the page above the photos of Robert Rose and Richard Schreiber)

These tributes are written for Robert Rose and Richard Schreiber. The two of them served as Greenville’s two elected justices for nineteen years together, providing a wise

Robert C. Rose (2017)

Bob Rose was a country boy with good country manners and sensibilities, a trait that many admired.

            Bob’s family (parents Ralph and Helen Comstock Rose, and sister Carol) moved from Mt. Vernon when he was six to the Hillcrest Road farmstead where he lived the country boy’s life. A member of the GCS Class of 1953, Bob served in the U.S. Navy for four years. Working for the NYS Police for a dozen years, Bob then was chosen to go to the NYS Police Academy, working at a counselor and then as quartermaster until his 1992 retirement.

            He married Jeannette Singer in 1959, resided near her parents’ resort Alberta Lodge on Red Mill Road, and had two children, John and Denise.

            In 1992, Bob undertook an acting Justice position for the Town of Greenville, a position he would assume fully on his own in the next election and for the next several elections. Nineteen of those years were co-worked with Greenville’s other justice, Richard Schreiber, a friend that Bob valued. He retired from the Justice position in 2011 because of poor health.

            Bob had a friendly, relaxed, common sense approach to life. He could tell a good yarn, was deemed a good judge of character, had a knack of remembering names, and engendered respect and love from those who knew him, even those appearing before him in court. Son John can attest to all those qualities when he worked for the State Police, with many of those familiar with his dad verifying his father’s character. And many of you reading this saw those qualities also, knowing we lost a quiet pillar of strength with Bob’s passing.

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Wilbur P. Baumann (2017)

Wilbur was one of those people that everyone in town needed sometime in their lives, for plumbing or electrical work or just general advice on various topics.

            Wilbur was born in 1910 to Cornelius and Bertha Yanke Baumann in Queens. He and his family (siblings Russell, Cornelius, and George) moved to Greenville around 1912. He would come to own Baumann’s Contractors, a business his father had started in 1923.

            Wilbur married Thelma “Tut” Boomhower in 1932, had two sons Ron and Tom, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren at the time of his passing.

            Wilbur was a joiner: a member of the Greenville-Norton Hill Methodist Church, Greenville Cemetery Director, Greenville Volunteer Fire Company (Life Member, Charter Member, Fire Chief, Fire Commissioner), Chairman of the Greene County Board of Electrical Examiners, Greene County Saving Bank Director, Greene County Fire Advisory Board, Charter Member of the Greenville Rotary Club, and a community member of committees as the need arose: highway garage, water, etc.

            People who knew Wilbur knew a strong minded person, one who wanted things done right, one who might not compromise his high standards. No problem was too big to be solved; in his calm and unexcited demeanor, he would tackle it until fixed

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Stanley L. Ingalls (2017)

Stanley (Stub) Ingalls followed in the long line of Ingalls ancestors in their involvement in Greenville area affairs. Born in 1892 to early setter Jacob Ingalls’s grandson Truman and Truman’s wife Carrie Spalding, Stanley grew up in Norton Hill where he lived his whole life. He and first wife Eleanor Goff bore four children—Edna (Norman Adams), Randall (“Buddy”; Cornelia Yeomans), Claribel (Len Gardiner), and Walter (Shirley Burnett, Donna Winans). Stub grew up in a changing world and adapted to it, starting as a farmer, a logger, a teamster, before founding GNH Lumber, still a mainstay in the Greenville area.

Stanley was a member of the Norton Hill Methodist Church; the James M. Austin Lodge, member and president of the GCS Board of Education, charter member of Rotary, president of the Greenville Cemetery Association, local treasurer of the Salvation Army, charter member of the Greenville Fire Company.

He served as Greenville’s Superintendent of Highways from 1925-1937 before serving as its Supervisor from 1942-1947. In between, and during, Stub was a constant force in town as almost everyone needed lumber and hardware supplies.

Stanley’s death in 1969 ended a life that accomplished much, not only for his family but also for his community he loved.

Before Stanley died, he said to son Walter that he was the richest man in the cemetery – he had given away all his money but he had the love of his family and the respect of the community.

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Mary Kler Heisinger (2016)

I have had the distinct honor of working with Mary Heisinger on some of the many volunteer projects and committees she has led over the years.  In that time, I have been awed by Mary's selfless dedication, boundless energy and commitment to her work on behalf of the town of Greenville and its residents. Mary's wisdom, insight, sense of humor, and unwavering positive attitude are some of the reasons she is so well respected and admired by those who worked with her.  The town of Greenville is extremely lucky to have benefitted from Mary's vision and leadership.  – Joanne Baumann

 It has been my pleasure to have been associated with Mary during her many years of volunteer efforts for the Library and its programs. She could always be counted on to step up to any need or challenge. Her dedication and accomplishments have been invaluable to me. – Barbara Flach, Library Director

 The year was 1990.

After almost sixty years in New Brunswick, NJ, or Stamford, CT, or Windham, NY, recent arrivals Mary Heisinger and husband Bob settled into one of the new houses on one of Greenville’s new roads, Turon Road.

And Greenville has benefitted ever since.

Mary was born in New Brunswick, NJ, in 1932, to Dr. Joseph H. Kler, MD and Elizabeth Vaughan Kler, graduated from Kent Place School (Summit, NJ), and then from University of Rhode Island with a BA in English, minor in History.

She married Walter R. (Bob) Heisinger in September, 1955, and lived in Stamford, CT, and raised their three children—Thomas, Edward, and Elizabeth.

Besides being a busy mother, Mary served on New Brunswick’s East Jersey Olde Town, and, in the 1970s, was recognized for organizing Vision Screening for the State of Connecticut.

Ready for a career change, and Bob’s family having a summer home in the Little Westkill area, the Heisingers left their CT home in 1974, moved to Windham, and operated the Prattsville Hardware and Variety Store in Prattsville, NY, until selling it in 1984. Mary, in her volunteering efforts, served as Vice President of the Pratt Museum Board of Directors in the 1980s, and was a committee member of the Community Church and Library Restoration in Windham.

With husband Bob serving as Greene County Coroner, it became convenient to move closer to area hospitals, and Greenville fortunately became the residence of the Heisingers.

            The irrepressible Mary found projects to attract her time and energy—enjoying the small town character of Greenville while involving herself with the area’s activities.

One of her first philanthropic efforts, Mary served as chairperson of the fund raising committee for the Greenville Library Expansion in the 1990s, a testament to the good will of the many people who helped promote the addition.

In addition, Mary has found time for these activities:

• Current Library Trustee of the Greenville Library as well as the President of the Friends of the Library

• Honored as the Trustee of the Year (November, 2003) by the Mid-Hudson Library System

• Served as Secretary of the Greenville Republican Club when husband Bob was president

• Has served as a Board member of the Greene County Historical Society, and presently sits on the GCHS Historical House Register Committee as well as its Education Committee

• Earlier in the 1980s, Mary worked for Cooperative Extension 4H and also was a Board Member, served as Chairperson of the Community Action of Greene County, and was also a member of the Head Start Board

• Recognized in February 2011 by the NYS Assembly for her work in the community and library

• Recognized in 1996 Greene County Legislature for almost ten years on the Board of Directors of the Community Action of Greene County.

• Has been or is a member of several ancestry/heritage groups

 Mary organized the Civil War Round Table, with monthly meetings commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Civil War events. The May 2013 program honored Ayres Barker, a Greenville soldier killed in the battle of Gettysburg.

In addition, she conducts two monthly reading discussion groups with Library sponsorship—the fiction group and the history group.

And she is a member of the Clematis Garden Club, serving as President in 2015.

Unfortunately, lifelong partner and husband Bob passed away in 2013.

 Recreationally, Mary has served President of the Women's Golf League at the Windham Golf Country Club and, upon her arrival in Greenville, formed an 18-hole women's golf league at Thunderhart Country Club. And she enjoys bowling as a member of a woman's league in Ravena.

After a pause to catch our breaths at Mary’s pace, the Greenville Local History Group is so pleased to recognize a person who jumped into Greenville’s social fabric, openly and enthusiastically shared with others, and serves as one of Greenville’s beloved good-will ambassadors and role models.

Mary Kler Heisinger, thank you for sharing these past twenty-five years with all of us.

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Richard Ferriolo (2015)

When Richard Ferriolo was six, his parents, Adeline and Joseph Ferriolo, moved from Manhattan’s East Side to the Acra, Greene County area. Several years later, they moved to Lampman Hill (McCafferty Rd), and Richard has called Greenville home ever since.

He was born in 1929, the youngest of three children.

He graduated from GCS in 1948, having played basketball; Richard takes pride in being an excellent history student (as well as a capable student when need be). 

He received an accounting degree from Albany Business College, and worked for Union Carbide and then NYS as an auditor, retiring in 1992.

He married Alice Hopkins in 1955, and had children Tracy (m. Brad Boomhower; ch. Bradley and Elizabeth) and Tom.

 It is, however, for his other accomplishments that GLHG salutes Richard.

Richard, with able help from his wife and daughter, initiated A History of the Greenville Central School District (2003), a compendium of facts, history, and stories that serves as the single best source about the school.

Another document Richard spearheaded is the two volume Veterans’ Books of Honor, a listing of the community members, whether originating from or living in the Greenville area, who served our country in the various wars. (Richard is a Korean War vet.)

Most recently, Richard instigated the restoration, and possible educational use, of the Potter Hollow Schoolhouse, now property of the Greenville Central School District. This schoolhouse is the most authentic of the district’s former one-room schoolhouses still extant.

In these three efforts, it cannot be underestimated the value of Richard’s persistence in seeing these projects to fruition.

Richard also served as a school board member from 1973-1988, taking pride that his efforts, along with his fellow board members, benefited hundreds of students.

Richard has also served the Greenville community as a lifelong member of the St. Johns Roman Catholic Church (an usher for many years), member of the Greenville Fire Company in his earlier days, a person interested in preserving our local history, and as a community member who was interested in the goings-on and politics of the time, always with the best interests of the community and student in mind. “Super Fan” (an affectionate nickname given Richard by his granddaughter’s GCS teammates) was “there” for so many of Greenville’s events, every-day as well as momentous.

And Richard takes pride in his forty-plus years of being a Red Cross blood donor, every eight weeks, of a special blood type.

 Thank you, Richard Ferriolo, for a friendship and caring that has spanned all these decades.

 - by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian

Pat & Dave Elsbree (2015)

Pat and Dave Elsbree have always lived in Greenville, or so it seems, and Greenville has benefitted from the half-century of their residency.

David H. Elsbree was born in 1930 in Cambridge, MA. His family, however, has a long history in Preston Hollow, and that is where David’s father, Hugh, was born, and would visit and vacation and became a connecting point with Greenville.

            After a circuitous route, Dave would graduate high school from Middleburgh, NY in 1948, worked summers and odd jobs in the Preston Hollow and Potter Hollow area before working at the Stevens Farm Store (1953-1957) and then at Pioneer Insurance Company (1957-1995).

Meanwhile, Patricia E. McCabe was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, moving to St. Albans, NY before moving to Oak Hill, NY with her grandparents, attending the one room schoolhouse on Fish Road and graduating from Middleburgh, NY. She worked for NYS and took courses from Columbia-Greene.

Dave and Pat married on November 25, 1949 and lived in Albany and then Preston Hollow (ten years) before their eventual move to Greenville in October, 1961, buying the D. H. Rundell house on Rt 81 where they lived until 2001.

            They would have six children between 1950 and 1965: Christiané, Ken, Jeff, David Andrew, Wayne, and Steven; and 19 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren grace their lives.

Dave still found time to volunteer and share. He:

• Managed Little League and Babe Ruth Leagues teams in the late 1960s and early 1970s

• Served as a member of the Youth Council about 1970

• Served as a member of the Greene County Planning Board for several years in the 1970s

• Was a member of the Greenville Fire Company and the Rescue Squad

• Has been a member of The Methodist Church of Greenville-Norton Hill since 1963

• Served as a Director of The National Bank of Coxsackie from about 1976 until 2005

• Has delivered meals for the Greene County Department of the Aging since 2001

• Was an active Red Cross blood platelets and/or plasma donor for most of the last twenty years

Yet, as much as Dave has done, he quickly defers to Pat’s contributions.

Pat worked part-time at Bryant’s and then became one of the first teacher aides in the Greenville Elementary School. She worked at GCS full time in the Reading Lab until a family accident in 1975. Pat worked for Parent Aides for Greene County, retiring in 1988.

In 1975, Dave and Pat’s son Jeff suffered a severe accident, and Pat’s earlier work with the Bryants led her to pattern (teams of five people coordinating the manipulation of Jeff’s limbs and head). After two years of tireless work, and with the help of 147 neighbors and friends, Pat and Dave realized their hopes that Jeff could walk and function.

 In between, Pat found time to:

• Served several years on the town election board.

• Helped start the Area Council Churches Next-To-New Thrift Shop when it was in the shop where Cumberland Farms is now.  It moved several times and ended in the Old Legion Hall.

• Served as a member of the Greenville Volunteer Fire Company-Ladies Auxiliary

• Served as an EMT on the first Rescue Squad

• Was voted, along with Shirley Abrams, Concordia Circle’s Outstanding Young Women of 1965

• Is a member of the Greenville Quilters

• Is a member and officer of the Clematis Garden Club, working with Community Partners with the plantings in the village park and the Town of Greenville. 

• Helped with the founding of the Medical Center in Greenville when Dr. Bott retired (Pat had read in a magazine how a small village rallied to build a new medical center in their town; she passed that idea to others)

• Helped with Meal on Wheels, the Old-Timers dinner, organizing the Red Cross blood drives, 4H, Cub Scouts, GCS school activities

• Helped neighbors and elderly with meals and everyday chores

• Served the United Methodist Church of Greenville-Norton Hill: committees, Administrative Board, choir, Sunday School teacher, lay delegate, Elliot House Thrift Shop, Caring team (home visits, hospital calls, driving people to doctors, baby sitting and other chores), and United Methodist Women member (holding many offices on the local, district and conference levels since 1962).

• Worked with the group who helped Garth and Terry Bryant pattern their son Michael

 Thus, the GLHG recognizes Pat and Dave Elsbree, as a couple, and as individuals, for a lifetime of influence, neighborliness, and friendship in our community.

- by Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian