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Bill Frank grew up in Hicksville. I have known him for about 40 years. Bill served in Vietnam and has helped veterans who served not only in WWII but also through the most recent wars and conflicts.
Hicksville
Bill Frank's First Year at ChaminadeBill moved to Hicksville from Island Park in 1959. His family rented a house at 31 Libby Ave, behind Sears. Bill attended Hicksville Junior High for 7th and 8th grades. During those two years, he met my husband, Phil. The two then attended Chaminade High School in Mineola. At the end of Bill’s Senior year, his parents moved to upstate New York. Bill stayed with my husband’s family and prepared to attend Niagara University. During that time, Bill worked at Kresge’s in Mid-Island Plaza.
Niagara University and ROTC
After graduation from Chaminade in 1965, Bill attended Niagara University in Lewiston, NY, where he roomed with my husband Phil all four years. There, he studied accounting and took part in ROTC. In 1967, he had a choice: he could opt out of ROTC or continue and enter the military as an officer after graduation. Bill was sure his number would eventually be up, draft number that is, so he decided to continue with ROTC. Since Bill decided to continue with ROTC, he attended an ROTC Summer Boot Camp between his Junior and Senior years. While there, he became friends with another ROTC cadet from a rival school who happened to be in the same platoon as Bill. They made a pact that they would make sure that their platoon would be the best and would support whoever was platoon leader. They did such a good job that they both received the Distinguished Military Student Award, which allowed them to pick where they wanted to serve. Bill and the other student both picked the Finance Corps.
Vietnam
Bill was sent to Vietnam. He worked out of the Finance Office in Cam Ranh Bay as the disbursing officer. Bill was responsible for making sure that the troops 
Bill in Vietnamwere paid. Oddly enough, the officer he sent his requests to was the other ROTC cadet from his Summer Boot Camp days who happened to be stationed in Saigon.
Bill was stationed in Cam Ranh Bay before being sent to Nha Trang to run the Finance Office there. But before he left Cam Ranh Bay, on August 25, 1971, he experienced the scariest day of his service when an ammunition dump was blown up. (To read more about the blast: https://www.newspapers.com/article/enterprise-journal-315-aug-25-1971/35029849/)
Bill felt fortunate to be in the Finance Office. They didn’t think of themselves as regular Army. Usually, when someone asks Bill what movie about Vietnam most closely depicts his experience, he replies, “None. My experience felt more like the movie M*A*S*H.” Bill told me that when someone would leave and return to the “Real World” (U.S.), they would have parties that included steak and wine. “It was nice sending them back to the real world that way.” Bill even remembers the finance department saying,
“Ours is not to do or die, but to add, subtract, and multiply.”
Back to the "Real World" and Giving Back
When Bill returned to the “Real World,” he resumed working at a Top 8 accounting firm in Buffalo. He then interviewed for a management job with the State of New York Department of Taxation's Audit Division and got the job. He worked for the State of NY in the Albany area until 2007, when he retired.
From 2010 until his retirement in 2023, Bill worked for the Schenectady County Veterans Service Agency. Bill helped veterans from WWII through the most recent wars and conflicts. 80% of his time was spent filing claims for Service Connected Disability Payments. He also helped to acquire service records to help veterans qualify for burial in Veterans Memorial Cemeteries, as well as helping spouses file claims for pensions to help with senior living expenses. Bill mentioned that pensions have actually been around since the Civil War. It’s a low-income benefit the VA pays. Bill found that the WWII vets didn’t want to take the benefits because they felt that it took away from other veterans.
 Bill Frank receives the Spirit Award Feb 5th |
 Bill receiving his awards with his family |
 Bill Frank receives a citation Feb 2023 |
“Working with the Veterans Agency was very rewarding.” Unfortunately, many of the Vets who came in had PTSD. Bill found that when someone came in and found out he was a vet, they felt more comfortable talking to him. Even after he retired, he was still getting called by some of his clients.
Remembering Our Vets
Bill is a champion for the Vietnam Vets and works to get them the recognition they deserve. Bill co-chaired the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee with a Schenectady County Legislator, Holly Vellano. The committee worked to erect a Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Campus of SUNY Schenectady. The ceremony took place in January of 2022. It honors 2700 Vietnam veterans who call Schenectady County home.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial at SUNY Schenectady
Bill was also on the committee to erect a Veterans Memorial plaque at Niagara University. This plaque was put up in June of 2022. Bill’s
Niagara University Veterans Plaque
graduating class, the class of 1969, had 141 members serve. Sixty-seven of them were commissioned 2nd lieutenants upon graduation. The 141 members were the highest number of class graduates serving since the class of 1946. Bill's grandchildren posed for a picture before the plaque, pointing out his name. One of the members of his class, Joe Sheridan, actually wrote a book about the war, "Angel in the Cockpit." Bill is featured in a chapter in the book, Honor Thy Brothers: The Fight Against Communism, by Suzanne Dietz.
Bill's Grandchildren Pointing to His Name on the Plaque at NU
Final Thoughts
Bill doesn’t consider himself a hero because he wasn’t in a firefight or foxhole. I disagree. As far as I am concerned, he is. Bill Frank has been an advocate for veterans, especially the Vietnam Vets who never got the recognition they deserved.
Bill Frank lives in upstate New York with his wife Joanne, who was a childhood friend. They lost track of each other and reconnected through a mutual friend. They have been married for 45 years. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.
 Bill with his wife, Joanne |
 Bill's grandchildren pointing to his name on the Niagara University Plaque. |
 Bill speaking to a veterans' group. |
 Joanne and Bill Frank with me and my husband, Phil. |
 Bill Frank and my husband Phil in front of their old dorm, House 4, on the campus of NU. |
 Bill and Phil with Monty NU's Purple Eagles Mascot |
I walked into CVS the other day to pick up some prescriptions. We all know those golden days aren’t so golden. Anyway, this is not about aging or prescription drugs. It’s about looking back 55 years ago.
As I walked past a woman to get on the long line at the pharmacy, something struck me about her. She looked awfully familiar. It didn’t take long to realize why. I turned to my wife and said, “That’s my kindergarten teacher, Miss McCormack.”
Memories of Miss McCormack
Immediately, I was flooded with emotions and memories conjured up from a time in my life that was so innocent. It was 1968 and Miss McCormack would be my kindergarten teacher. I instantly remembered her caring, supportive, and encouraging demeanor. I can remember many of my teachers throughout the years: Ms. Palermo, Ms. Oliveri, Ms. Booth, Mrs. Jurgenson, Mr. Evers, and Mr. Ericson, to name a few. But, it was Miss McCormack who left the greatest impression on me. Was it the chocolate chip cookies and milk breaks or the quick naps? No, it was that she noticed a young boy who had no clue what life would bring.
After moving up from kindergarten to 1st Grade at Burns Avenue Elementary School, I was surprised to see her as my teacher. She was moved up and I was lucky enough to have her for a second time. Miss McCormack, who would later become Mrs. Grumo, was still the same caring, supportive, and encouraging teacher that she was just a few months before summer vacation.
Karl's 1st Grade Class Picture
I was all grown up and ready for first grade. I remember the cubbies in the back of the classroom to hang my coat and school bag. We started the day with the Pledge of Allegiance and introductions. We still had snack time and lunch in the classroom with my NFL Thermos lunch box. Once again, Mrs. Grumo was warm and cheerful. I remember sitting alone and in groups as Mrs. Grumo taught us the alphabet, cursive writing, and simple math. I remember raising my hand as if I thought I knew the answer, and like every other kid in the class, when Mrs. Grumo called on us, we shouted out the wrong answer. She had that caring and nurturing style. She didn’t hop on me for the wrong answer or tell me not to raise my hand unless I had the right one. She gently and caringly helped us all learn the correct answer.
Life after Mrs. Grumo
I remember moving onto 3rd, then 4th grade and so on, yearning to have a teacher like Mrs. Grumo again. It was Junior High School, and the years following that set me deeper into being an introvert. Finally, it was in high school that my love for art and history would serve as an avenue to learn more and be more outgoing.
Fresh out of high school and into the working world, joining the volunteer fire department would force me out of being an introvert. I was meeting new friends and had more interests. I’d get married and have children.
One constant memory of my school days would be Mrs. Grumo and the caring person she was and the influence she had on me. It was time for my daughter to attend Burns Avenue School; luck would have it, her first-grade teacher was Mrs. Grumo. My daughter and I share the same sentiment for our first-grade teacher.
Full Circle
It all came full circle as I sat in the CVS Pharmacy 55 years later. As we chatted about our past and where we were now in life, she told me she had followed my career over the years. She told a story that around the time the movie “Titanic” was released, she was traveling with her niece in Hicksville, and a Fire Chief passed by her car with its lights and sirens. She turned to her niece and said, “I had that fire chief as a student.” They joked about age, but truth be told, Mrs. Grumo was just starting her career as an educator, and I was just starting life. She may remember her students, but I like to think she knew the difference she made in my life.
Of all the people I have crossed paths with over the years, Mrs. Grumo was the one educator that I remember and meant the most to me.
John Maniec, Class of 1964
Did you have a positive experience growing up in Hicksville and attending its public schools? Was there a teacher or administrator who had an important influence on the successful adult you eventually became? Why not now, "pay it forward" and help current and future HHS students become successful future adults?
We are asking HHS Alumni, local residents, and business owners to consider supporting the Hicksville High School Alumni Foundation, Inc. (HHSAF) mission, which funds HHS scholarships and worthy student-centered activities not funded by public tax levied money. HHSAF hopes that HHS alumni will consider donating to our scholarship fund and supporting worthy student activities and club events. By watching the attached video and perusing the Playbill, you will see the high quality of HHS students and education that cross different educational fields (i.e. graphic design, video production, string and wind musical instruments).
The HHS Student Video Production Club produced the concert video below under the direction and guidance of HHS teacher, Adam Clive. These talented students created a highly professional-looking end product. It highlights talented HHS student musicians, video production, and graphic design students who donated their time along with their teachers to make the April 22, 2023, HHSAF scholarship fundraising concert with Dr. K's Mo Town Revue successful.
The IRS recognizes HHSAF, Inc. as a non-profit charitable organization. Donations can be sent payable HHSAF, Inc. to P.O. Box 302, Hicksville, New York 11802. We also seek paid and unpaid internships for HHS student musicians, video production, and graphic design students. If you can help in this regard, send us a note to the above P.O. Box 302. Now enjoy our musical gift.
In this video you will notice HHS music teacher, Mr. Shmuel's Wind Ensemble student musicians on stage with Dr. K.'s professional entertainers. These professionals were so impressed with these kids that they themselves called them "Downtown Horns" and music teacher Ms. Weiss' String Ensemble, they named repeatedly "Uptown Strings."
Feel free to browse the Playbill from this event. The goal was to publicly acknowledge the very talented and creative HHS students who created in a pre-concert 16 different promotional flyers advertising Dr. K's Mo Town Revue concert. Their teacher, Renee Andolina, teaches a graphic design class. She also did all the pages of this playbill.
Did you know Dr. K is Hicksville's own Paul Korman (Class of 1969)?
Please take the time to "Pay it forward," remembering HHS teachers and staff in your past who sent you to be highly successful after graduation.
- Congratulations to the Hicksville High School Marching Band! They took 1st place again in the Large School category for the 3rd year in a row! When they arrived back at the high school, they were escorted by the Hicksville Fire Department! If you have Facebook, you can follow this link: Facebook Link to Fire Dept Escorting HHS Band Here is a link to the story that was on News 12 Hicksville's Winning Band Returns.
- The Hicksville Fire Department will have its annual Popcorn Day on Sunday, November 26th. The December issue of HixNews will have an article about this exciting event over the years.
- A Reader Reached Out...and the correction was made: Hi all, Thank you for doing this for our beloved hometown. I've been unofficially keeping track of the Class of 1975 In Memoriam page, and notice that Loreen Zahn is listed as passed. She contacted me a couple of years ago, thinking I might be able to change the list and to confirm that she is indeed alive! Can someone please remove her name from the In Memoriam list for class of '75? Thanks! Diane Harvey HHS Class of 1975
- Follow-up to Wavy Lines Article... Submitted by Ronald Wencer (Class of 1964)
An article published in October’s Hixnews unexpectedly led to two 1950s Hicksville grads getting reconnected.
In his article “Wavey Lines,” Pete Foster discussed the early days of broadcast television in Hicksville, including a question that they must have posed for many inquiring minds: Why is there no Channel 1? The article’s title, incidentally, refers to the particular TV interference that afflicted some Hicksville neighborhoods. It was caused by the West John Street operations of Press Wireless Corporation, which then were vital for national and global news media.
After reading Pete’s article, I emailed him to ask if he had personally known my late sister Marilyn, who also was a 1957 HHS grad (he had not). In the same email, I mentioned that a 1958 HHS grad, Vicky Penner Whitaker, once had mentioned Press Wireless to me. When Pete responded, I learned that when Vicky was growing up, her family was close to that of Pete’s late wife, Alice Davidson Foster – even though their respective homes were separated by the vast acreage owned by that same Press Wireless.
Comet Yearbook photos of Vicky Penner and Alice Davidson
Pete and Vicky (who is married to Roger Whitaker, webmaster for the old Hixnews) have since started catching up. She has shared the photo below, which may be of special interest to readers who are descended from any of the children shown. Note that this group includes both Vicky Penner and Alice Davidson.
KINDERGARTEN PHOTO 1946, NICHOLAI STREET SCHOOL, HICKSVILLE, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK. IDS (FROM LEFT, BACK ROW) Alice Davidson, Arlene Gilbert, Marie (Corky) Strong, Nancy Ann Crosby, Vicky Penner, Karen (last name unknown), Marilyn Zeier. (FRONT ROW FROM LEFT) Harold Kasten, Charles (last name unknown), Alan Schlicting, Michael Moscow, George Rinney, David Van Wart.
The old school on Nicholai Street was demolished decades ago. Information about the 1898 building (shown above, in a photo Vicky also provided) can be found in Hixnews at https://hixnews.com/features/hixtory/may-2021 in an article that focuses on the Victorian Era approach that still was in vogue when the school first opened.
The building was well-designed and modern for its time. Had the construction of the East River railroad tunnels in the early 1900s not opened the village to suburban growth, the school would have met most of Hicksville’s needs for many years. As it turned out, by the 1910s, the school’s size literally had been doubled, but thanks to the children of all the new commuters, there still was not enough room to provide desks for all the students. Nicholai Street School would soldier on until after World War II, when a flotilla of new brick suburban-style schools opened (and even those schools would eventually need to be supplemented with temporary classrooms).
Another Hicksville landmark that directly affected Vicky’s and Alice’s families was Cantiague Park, which eventually replaced the Press Wireless installation that had separated their homes during the girls’ childhoods. Consider the two maps below. The first is a 1939 Dolph & Stewart map.
It highlights the original 20-acre Press Wireless Hicksville site, which in the 1940s expanded into the large adjacent fields to handle far-reaching radio transmissions, increasing PW’s presence in the village to 185 acres. Note that when this map was made, Northern State Parkway was still “proposed,” so all the open space shown represented undeveloped fields.
In contrast, below is a contemporary map of the identical area:
What HASN’T changed since 1939?
Northern State Parkway is now real, and – aside from Cantiague Park -- residential streets have replaced the farmland. An exception is the former site of St. John’s Protectory, which has given way to retail space and parking lot asphalt galore. An interesting sidelight is that the streets immediately to the east of the park, which were numbered on the 1939 map, are now shown with their names.
Those of us who get to return to Hicksville only occasionally always notice how it keeps changing, and we may be tempted to shake our heads. But looking back at its past in this context, I think it probably was changing at least as much when we were growing up.
