War and … Love
For some of our ’40s alumni, World War II played a role in their coming together or served as a backdrop for their courtship:
Raymond (’47) and Selma Manheim (’47) Firestone
It was the summer of 1946. Veterans of WWII filled the halls, many completing educations interrupted by military service.
I was a senior registered for Business Law 101, a required course that I had never taken. There was one other woman besides me in the class, and the remainder of the students were mostly returning veterans. Even the instructor was an ex-Navy lieutenant. The first day, that instructor suggested we women drop out so he and the others could communicate more freely. The other gal never returned, but I persisted because I wanted to graduate on time. Stubborn me!
Ray was one of those veterans, also a senior, who hadn’t taken this course because he had been a night student before the war. The GI Bill afforded him the opportunity to complete his final year by day. We met, dated, and that was that. I was a woman who went to college for an education and a career, but I got the best bonus of my life—a wonderful husband.
Our wedding was in October 1947, and we were married for almost 55 years before he passed away in 2002. We have three wonderful children and five grandchildren.
It was the best course I ever took in my life.
Leo (’47) and Deborah Blousman (’45) Israel
My wife and I just celebrated our 60th anniversary. We met at City College Downtown. She belonged to House Plan “Churchill 46” and I belonged to “Lambert 44.” The two fraternities had a get-together and that’s where we met, in 1942. I went off to the US Army Air Corp in March 1943, while Deborah continued in an accelerated program and graduated with a BBA degree in 1945. While in uniform (as a sergeant) I came back on furlough, and we got married on Oct. 7, 1945. When I was discharged in 1946, I returned to City College to finish my BBA degree in 1947.
We went on to have four sons: Alfred, Steven, Michael, and David. Debbie went on to acquire a master’s degree at Hofstra and is retired from being a guidance counselor at Nassau County B.O.C.E.S. I got a master’s degree from Columbia and became a CPA. I am retired from my firm, Leo Israel and Co., which is now located in Valley Stream, N.Y. I was former Commissioner of Finance for the city of Glen Cove, N.Y. and was on various city boards: Zoning Board of Appeals, Board of Assessment Appeals, Urban Renewal Agency, and Industrial Development Agency.
Robert (’47) and Judith Shapiro (’49) Manowitz
Judith was a freshman at City College Downtown and Robert Manowitz a captain in the U.S. Air Corp. He returned to Baruch to complete his education to get a BBA degree while on terminal leave after being discharged from the service after WWII.
We sat next to each other in public speaking. He looked at me and said, “Sweet one, I am going to marry you some day.”
After a whirlwind courtship and meeting each other’s families, we were married on June 22, 1947, and are still going strong. We have two children and five grandchildren.
We currently live in Hunters Run in Boynton Beach, Florida, for eight months of the year and maintain a condo unit in Hauppauge, N.Y., for four months of the year. When I retired from my CPA practice in 1990, I turned my practice over to my son. To keep busy in Florida we play golf, tennis, and bridge. I consult for “score” one day a week and do tax consulting during the tax season. Time flies keeping busy.
