OLLI CouncilMERLE ARCOVIO – Thomaston Merle was born and raised in Waterbury, attending Beth David Academy and Crosby High School. She received her B.A. from Morris Harvey College in Charleston, West Virginia and a master’s degree from Central Connecticut State University. Merle taught elementary school in the Waterbury Public School System for 34 years, 33 of those years at Barnard School. She is an active member of the math committee, a Barnard PTA officer and taught in the after school program at Barnard. Merle is presently an officer in the B’nai Shalom synagogue Sisterhood. Since retiring, she enjoys needle pointing, reading, gardening, playing golf and spending time with her family. Merle has two adult children – Adam and Rebecca – and is the daughter of OLLI Council member Allyne Kadish. PHILIP BENEVENTO – Waterbury Philip V. Benevento, Jr. was born and raised in Waterbury. He attended Waterbury public schools, graduating from Kingsbury Grammar School and Crosby High School. He received his B. A. in English and history from the School of Education at the University of Connecticut and his M. A. in English Education from UConn as well. He matriculated at Wesleyan University where he received his Certificate of Advanced Studies in literature and received his Certificate in Administration and Supervision from Southern Connecticut State University. Philip taught at Crosby High School where he was chair of the English Department for fifteen years. In addition to his 34 years at Crosby, he has taught at St. Margaret-McTernan School (now Chase Collegiate) and the summer program for teachers at the Taft School in Watertown where he taught a course in The Literature of Film. He was a part time instructor in English composition and literature at Mattatuck Community College and later taught Verbal SAT prep courses at NVCTE. He also implemented the Advanced Placement in Literature course at Crosby. In addition to his teaching experience, he was a member of the Connecticut Oversight Committee for the CAPT in English and language arts, an editor for The Learning Edge, Westwood, New Jersey, chaired a city-wide committee on English curriculum, wrote scripts for videos on Waterbury neighborhoods for Mattatuck Museum, served on Silas Bronson Library Board and is presently President of the Silas Bronson Board of Library Agents. He has served on the steering committee of the Big Read and has been City Historian for Waterbury for the past four years. He has also presented talks, walks and slide shows on Waterbury and its history. Recently he conducted a tour of the historic Riverside Cemetery in Waterbury. Phil has had a scholarship established in his name at Waterbury UConn by a former Crosby student, was recipient of the Service Appreciation Award by the Friends of Silas Bronson Library, won certificate of merit from Playreaders Theater of Waterbury for an original one act play and was recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award given to him by the UConn Alumni Association. Phil is especially proud of the enrichment courses that he was able to foster at Crosby including courses in creative writing, African-American literature, minority voices, and drama. KAY V. BERGIN – Waterbury Kay V. Bergin is a longtime Waterbury native and resident. Her education began in local public schools; undergraduate work at Central Connecticut State University where she earned a BS and at Wesleyan University with an MALS. Her teaching career began at Naugatuck High School where she chaired the Business Department and continued when she was one of the first faculty members appointed at Mattatuck Community College (now NVCC.) Leaving Connecticut, she became New York Regional Director for Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation and developed Neighborhood Housing Services programs in many cities and towns in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Returning to her hometown, she brought together her interests in finance and housing and opened offices for Consumer Credit Counseling Services in Waterbury, Torrington, and Danbury. Before retiring, she provided counseling for first-time homebuyers for Neighborhood Housing Services in Waterbury. JOYCE CONLAN – Watertown A retired teacher, she was born in Waterbury, attended Wilby High School and graduated from Slocum School. Joyce received her BS in Education from Southern Connecticut State University. Earning a Master's degree and Sixth Year Certificate she was certified as a reading consultant and spent most of her teaching career remediating, developing and teaching advanced reading/study skills to her enthusiastic students. Joyce began her career at Webster School in Waterbury, taught in a state and federally funded program at St. Thomas School in Waterbury, and spent the final twenty six years at Swift Junior High School in Watertown. She is a member of the International Reading Association and a lifetime member of the Association of Retired Teachers of Connecticut. Joyce and her husband Ned (also a retired teacher and OLLI member) have been married for forty five years, and have two daughters, Terri and Kristin along with two granddaughters, Hannah and Libby. Having traveled extensively throughout Europe and the U.S. the couple has also cruised the South Pacific, the Hawaiian Islands, Alaska and the Caribbean. Joyce has been a member of OLLI since its inaugural session. In addition to co-chairing the Travel and Events committee, she is also a member of the Hospitality and Membership Committees. She is excited to be an active member of OLLI, loves the classes and the many new friends she has met. CLAUDIA DEPALMA – Waterbury Claudia DePalma is a native of Waterbury and is a semi-retired Textbook Manager for the UConn Co-op Bookstore in Waterbury. She previously worked as the Co-op Store Manager for 28 years. Prior to her devoted position at the Co-op, Claudia spent 10 years as Secretary in the Engineering Department of The A. W. Haydon Company. This is where she met her husband of 42 years, Richard. After marriage, her commitment to motherhood became her first and foremost priority. She spent long hours teaching her two children the important values of life, such as morals, religion, independence and manners. She developed many enjoyable hobbies. Some of her favorite pastimes still today are cooking and baking, making homemade pasta and gardening. She delights in sharing and teaching these skills to the neighborhood children. Claudia also enjoys collecting post cards and cherishes her time with her two granddaughters – who were both lucky enough to acquire her striking red-hair. She is a proud and active member of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church. Some of her accomplishments include making an oriental wool rug and helping complete an addition to their home. She also enjoys walking and spoiling her family, including the two dogs. Claudia has become an active member of OLLI and currently is chair of the hospitality committee. LAURA DONORFIO – Watertown Laura Donorfio was born in Waterbury and raised in Watertown, Connecticut. She received an A.S. from Mattatuck Community College in business and a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in Family Studies and Aging. Before beginning her career at UConn in 2004, she worked for six years for The Hartford Financial Services Group and AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) as a Qualitative Research Director and Corporate Gerontology Liaison. Now an assistant professor in the School of Family Studies, Laura’s teaching and research interests fall into three areas: 1) informal family caregiving, 2) older driver self-regulation, and 3) teaching pedagogy, student engagement, and aging education. Laura recently won the “Distinguished Teacher Award” (2009), a national teaching award from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. This award recognizes individuals for having an outstanding teaching record, while exhibiting some type of innovation in gerontology education. Laura has been instrumental in developing a solid distance education (interactive television, iTV) program with the University’s Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL) to offer students at the regional campuses more adult development and aging courses. Laura looks forward to retirement, but for now she lives in Watertown with her 9 year old twin sons. She loves movies and a good laugh. ROBERT JOHN GRADY – Watertown Bob Grady was born in Waterbury, attended local schools and graduated from Sacred Heart High School, where he was co-captain of the Championship swimming team. He then spent four years in the U.S. Navy as an aviation electronic technician. Bob holds a BA in English and Psychology from UConn, a Master’s in Education from Central Connecticut State University, and a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies in Counseling from Fairfield University. He also attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He also received a Master Certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming from Eastern Institute in Princeton, New Jersey. Bob taught in Buck’s Hill School in Waterbury for three years, was part of an innovative teaching program at the sixth grade level in Watertown public schools, and then spent thirty-five years teaching at Watertown High School. He has been a member of curriculum committees and evaluation teams in education and has also been active in local politics, as well as participating in community projects. He has held offices in the local teachers’ associations and was President of the Watertown Education Association for the last seven years of his teaching career. Since retirement, Bob has journeyed to forty-seven of the contiguous states, Washington being the only exception. He has also traveled extensively throughout South East Asia, and visits Singapore where his daughter teaches at Nanyang University. Bob is editor of the OLLI Newsletter. KATHRYN HOULIHAN – SOUTHBURY Originally from Taunton, Massachusetts, Kathryn received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University. Although she has a background in marketing research and financial planning, she most recently held the position of Associate Director of Financial Aid at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, CT. Prior to that she held positions in financial aid administration at Fairfield University in Fairfield and Business Careers Institute in Waterbury, CT. Since her retirement in early 2007, she has become an active member of OLLI, serving as co-chair of the Membership Committee. In April, 2008, she was an OLLI at UConn representative at the national conference of Osher Institutes in Phoenix, AZ. Kathryn also volunteers as a facilitator in the family program at The Cove, an organization which helps children and teens to cope with bereavement issues. Currently she is co-facilitating a Trauma, Loss and Transition program for The Cove at a Bridgeport middle school. ALLYNE KADISH – Waterbury Allyne was active in the B’nai Birth Youth Organization, the B’nai Shalom Synagogue, and was treasurer for former Waterbury Mayor Bergin’s campaigns and for State Representative Jeff Berger’s campaigns. Allyne also worked in her husband’s CPA office for many years. Now deceased, Milton Kadish was the last treasurer of the City of Waterbury. The couple’s two children and their spouses are now retired from the education field. TOM KMETZO – Middlebury He has worked at Mystic Seaport Museum as a chantey singer, tall ship sail-setter and interpreter in the small boat shop. He has sung with the Yale Russian Chorus for 33 years with performances in Russian opera at Carnegie Hall and A Prairie Home Companion. He also sings with the Oblate Choir at the Abbey of Regina Laudis, and is an interpretive guide at Topsmead State Forest in Litchfield. JUDY KOLLIAS – Cheshire Judy has a BA and MA in Spanish and a Sixth Year degree. She taught Spanish language, literature and culture at Cheshire High School and Quinnipiac University. Judy has traveled extensively in Europe and the Spanish speaking world. She was a docent at the Yale Center for British Art for ten years where she gave tours in both English and Spanish. She is now a docent at the Mattatuck Museum. Judy is an English language conversation tutor at Literacy Volunteers of Greater Waterbury and President of the Board of Directors of the organization which strives to improve the English language skills of adult learners. Because of the professional leadership at OLLI and its outstanding course offerings, Judy has decided to become actively involved in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UConn, Waterbury. RICHARD KUPSTIS – Meriden A Waterbury native, Dick attended both public and parochial schools, graduating from Sacred Heart High School in 1958. TONY LOECHNER – Waterbury Originally from Wynnewood Pennsylvania, Tony is a graduate of Principia in St. Louis. After school he joined the Marines and served in Vietnam. He then settled in California, where his background was in small business operations, technology, computers and graphics. In 1981, a job offer brought him to Westport, Connecticut. Now, semi-retired, he and Cathy live in Waterbury where he is an active member of the Eastern Mountain Neighborhood Association and is interested in Waterbury’s history and future goals. MARY-LOUISE REIGNIER – Wolcott Mary Louise Reignier recently retired after 33 years as a teacher at Sacred Heart High in Waterbury. Her courses included Asian Studies and World History. She was involved as a co-admissions director, class advisor, student trip coordinator to destinations such as Ireland, China and Japan. ANN ROMPRE – Waterbury CONNIE TRIPODI – Waterbury Concetta Tripodi (Connie) was born in Caracas, Venezuela and came to the U.S. when she was ten. A graduated of Central Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences specializing in Medical Technology and a minor in Latin American Studies, she then completed medical training at St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury. An OLLI presenter since the inaugural session, Connie has taught Jewelry Archaeology and Conversational Italian for Travel. She lives in Waterbury with her husband and five children and travels to Italy annually. NANCY VIA – Prospect She has served as President of the Friends of the Prospect Public Library and most recently was elected President of the Prospect Historical Society. She serves on the Prospect Library Board of Directors. During the past two years she has been an active member of the OLLI Leadership Council where she has served as Chairperson of the Guidelines Committee, Chairperson of the Nominating Committee and Co-chairperson of the Membership Committee. Nancy is enthusiastic about OLLI and UConn and is particularly interested in partnership opportunities it affords. DELMA WAY – Watertown Delma was born on a ranch in Alpine,Texas in the area of what is now the Big Bend National Park of the southwest. As a youngster, her family moved to El Paso, where she attended public schools. After graduation from high school, she worked for the federal government at a military hospital for ten years, during which she worked for the chief of general surgery and was supervisor of the clerical staff in that service. She later worked with the director of medical education for interns and residents. Before leaving, she ran the Tumor Board Registry. After marrying a resident of Middlebury, they moved to the northeast and soon settled in Watertown. She stayed home for 16 years taking care of a young, growing family, during which she challenged herself to learn numerous skills of interest. This included organic gardening, food preservation, sewing for the home, chair-caning, rug-braiding, and various types of needlework. In her first position back to work, she worked with the director of admissions of a private school, followed by 15 years at a home health care agency, where she participated in a major merger as the corporate secretary and co-authored a weekly newsletter as communications liaison, then worked as an account manager at a digital printing firm. Finally, she retired from a television sports network where she worked with two coordinating producers. Delma is now enjoying the pleasures of retirement which is blessed by three grown children and seven grandchildren. In her leisure time, she volunteers at the Litchfield Jazz Festival, the Litchfield Road Race, and the Palace Theater, where she is a member of the Volunteer Leadership Advisory Board and Chairman of the Training and Recruitment Subcommittee. OLLI has become one of her major passions and she looks forward to continued participation in this unique venture.
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