Huntington Alumni News

Theresa Dokoupil graduated Huntington High School with the Class of 1989. She’s now residing in South Carolina, enjoying a new and slower paced life after a recent move there.

“Since graduating high school, I got married, raised a step-son and worked as an office manager in an insurance agency,” said the Huntington grad now known as Teri Saunders.

Mrs. Saunders recently contacted Huntington High School for a copy of her transcript, which was needed as part of a job application with a South Carolina sheriff’s department.

She said her favorite Huntington High School teacher “by far” was Dr. Leonard “because he was always able to challenge me without making me feel like a ‘student.’ He was a very special teacher and person! My favorite class was creative writing with Ms. Merchat, and that was mostly because she encouraged us to think outside the box and be creative in ways that I had never thought of.”

Naturally Mrs. Saunders has some treasured Huntington High School memories, the best of which “really revolve around the fun things I did with my friends back then, many of whom I am still in touch with today,” she said.

One of Huntington’s Oldest Alums Passes Away

Anna Marie Sohn, one of Huntington High School’s oldest alums passed several months ago at age 98. She attended high school when the building was fairly new, having opened in 1908 at the site that is now used as Town Hall on East Main Street. Robert K. Toaz was the principal.

According to her family, Mrs. Sohn enjoyed telling about a visit she made to Syosset with her sister. She was nearly knocked down by a horse there. The rider wore thick glasses and sported a mustache and large khaki hat. After he calmed down the horse, he apologized to both girls and asked them to pet the horse before he rode off into the distance.

Later, the sisters identified the horse rider as President Theodore Roosevelt, who lived nearby at his home at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay. He was fond of taking an early morning ride on his horse.

The Huntington grad loved traveling extensively around the country by car and also flying and boating around the world. Mrs. Sohn, who was interred in the Huntington Rural Cemetery, is survived by her sons, Frederick and David, nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles, son Roger and daughter Juanita.

Huntington Grad is Top Lawyer

Joshua Pollack, a 1979 graduate of Huntington High School, is now one of the top lawyers in the state. He obtained a BA degree at SUNY College at Oswego and earned a JD at Brooklyn Law School.

Mr. Pollack is a partner in the law firm of Kramer & Pollack, LLP, with offices in Mineola and Manhattan. The firm specializes in personal injury and medical malpractice.

In one case Mr. Pollack tried to verdict, a jury awarded $16 million to a woman hit by a New York City Transit Authority bus. He has either won jury awards or negotiated settlements worth millions for a string of other clients.

Class of 1937 Loses Member

Huntington High School’s Class of 1937 lost one of its members when Amandus “Red” Rottmann, Jr. passed away at age 91. He grew up in Greenlawn and attended Huntington in the era before there was a Harborfields High School. He flew B-24 bombers during World War II for the U.S. Army Air Corps.

In the 1937 edition of The Huntingtonian, as the Huntington High School yearbook is known, under Mr. Rottman’s photo it states: “His hair disguises a placid temper.” He was a member of the band as a senior.

Married Kathryn McMackin in 1947, Mr. Rottmann was employed by Grumman Aircraft Corp. on an airplane wing assembly line. He later worked for the company as a metallurgical engineer after earning a degree in 1951 from Clarkson College of Technology.

Mr. Rottmann worked as a representative of Whitehill Taxkeeping Systems from 1961 to 1986. After retiring he lived between homes in Florida and Connecticut.

Mr. Rottmann was nicknamed “Red” because of his fiery red hair. He was preceded in death by his wife of 51 years and son, Dean and is survived by a son, Paul and a daughter, Kathryn and four grandchildren. A memorial service was held last week in Highland Park, Illinois.

After retiring he enjoyed playing tennis with his wife. He was a resident of The Ponds in Lincolnshire, Illinois at the time of his passing.

Retired Dean

Mark D. Richard, a member of Huntington High School’s Class of 1970, is the retired dean of health sciences at Caldwell Community College in Hudson, North Carolina. He earned BA and MA degrees at Appalachian State University and resides in Granite Falls, North Carolina.

Bill Hergrueter Passes Away

Wilfred Franklin “Bill” Hergrueter, a member of Huntington High School’s Class of 1936, has passed away at 91 years of age. He was residing in Southern Pines, North Carolina. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army in the North African and European theater campaigns, earning a field commission and the Bronze Star for his superb actions.

The Huntington alum obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at New York University. He was employed by Exxon Mobil Corporation for 38 years where he headed up the technical service laboratory at a facility in Princeton, New Jersey. He spent most of his retirement life in Chatham on Cape Cod where he was a member of the First Congregational Church, a former member of the Monomoy Yacht Club, a member of St. Marten’s Lodge and a volunteer at Cape Cod Hospital.

The Huntington grad is survived by his wife of 62 years, Norma, sons Robert and Donald and grandchildren Jackelyn, Kris, Ryan, Corey and Kristy.

“My grandfather was the best,” granddaughter Corey Hergrueter said. “We have a ton of great memories together, especially at the Cape (Cape Cod). I’ll miss him more than he will ever know.”

“A gentle giant is no longer physically here but he will always be with us, for as long as we live he too shall live,” said the Rev. Carl Naylor who presided over Mr. Hergrueter’s funeral.

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