years, she was a tennis coach at the Horace Mann School, where she led the boys team to eight Mayor’s Cup titles. While at Horace Mann, Dottie spearheaded efforts to raise funds for orphaned children whose parents had died from AIDS. She also was extremely active in Democratic politics. Her brother, the late Congressman Allard K. Lowenstein ex ’45, was an internationally known civil rights activist, and Dottie was actively involved in many of his initiatives in this field. Dottie is survived by her husband, children, grandchildren, nephew Douglas Lowenstein ’69, brother Lawrence Lowenstein ex ’39, and his wife, Marie Kraeler Lowenstein ’42. Arthur Sarnoff ’49 died May 20, 2015 at his home in New York. A distinguished trustee, valued member of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, and leader of his Fieldston class, Arthur possessed an unwavering commitment to ECFS. His ECFS legacy includes daughters Elizabeth Sarnoff Cohen ’79 and Susan Sarnoff Bram ’81, sister Paula Sarnoff Oreck ’44, and five grandchildren. A graduate and trustee of Johns Hopkins University, Arthur served in the U.S. Army Security Agency in Tokyo and was awarded the Commendation Ribbon for Meritorious Achievement. He was the president of Bruno Appliance Corporation, which for many years was the country’s largest distributor of RCA and Whirlpool appliances. He is also survived by his wife, Joan. Edward M. Davidowitz ’50, retired justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, died October 10, 2014. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and began his career in law as an assistant district attorney under Frank Hogan. After a brief time in private practice, Ed returned to public service as a special assistant attorney general in the New York State Special Prosecutor’s Office. In 1985, he was appointed to the Bronx Supreme Court as an acting supreme court justice of the Court of
Claims and, ultimately, was appointed a justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. In retirement, Ed continued working in the Bronx Supreme Court as a judicial hearing officer. He also served as co-chair of the New York Tribal Courts Committee, whose mission is to foster an understanding and improve cooperation between the tribal and state justice systems. Ed’s passion for law and teaching led to his co-authoring a book on the practice of criminal law. FORMER FACULTY AND STAFF Marcelle Altieri, a French teacher at Fieldston from 1981 to 1995 and chair of the languages department for eight of those years, died in Massachusetts on September 2, 2014. Born in Lyon, she emigrated to the United States in 1947. Marcelle held degrees from the Ecole Normale d’Institutrices of Lyon, Hunter College, and New York University, where she obtained her Ph.D. Over the course of her career, Marcelle taught French at the Berkeley Institute in Brooklyn, Lehman College, New York University, the University of Bridgeport, the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and the University of Rhode Island, as well as at Fieldston. She also taught Italian and knew Spanish and Latin. She was active in scholarly organizations and community groups, including the American Geolinguistics Society, of which she was president from 1986 to 1987, and the Bronx Society of Science and Letters. An avid gardener and amateur botanist, Marcelle served as a docent and volunteer at the New York Botanical Garden for several years after her retirement. Judy Birnkrant passed away January 8, 2015, following a short battle with leukemia. She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth, and son, David, both alumni of the school, and her adored sheep dog, Paddington. Judy worked in almost every administrative department at ECFS between 1990—when she became an employee of the school after serving as a P&T volunteer—and her retirement in June 2008. After retirement, Judy remained actively involved in the community. Mary McCann, library assistant at Fieldston from 1963 until her retirement in 1991, died March 1, 2015.
31 ECF Reporter : Summer 2015
Howard Radest, former director of the Ethical Culture Schools, died October 11, 2014 at age 86. Howard served the Ethical Culture movement and the world of humanism in many ways through his leadership of numerous humanist organizations. He was the founding leader of the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, an executive director of the American Ethical Union, a president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, a founder and first dean of the Humanist Institute, a founder of the Jersey City Ethical Charter School and the first chairman of its board of trustees, the founder of a hospital ethics committee in South Carolina, and author of several books, including Toward Common Ground and a text on the educational philosophy of Felix Adler. A professor at Ramapo College in New Jersey, he founded the Moral Education Institute at Columbia University, where he received his doctorate in philosophy. Howard is survived by his wife, Rita; two sons, Robert and Michael; and several grandchildren.
ECFS REMEMBERS 1930s Julia Bach Schwarz ’31 Edith Karasick Bralove ’33 Florence Mayer Blaustein ’35 Jeanne Postley Bernstein ’37 Robert Seidman ’37 Joy Liebowitz Berdon ’39 1940s Martin J. Schwab ’40 Bruce Allen ’42 Sylvia Berger ’42 Richard Cohn ’42 Richard Siegel ’42 Dorothy Deutsch Rosenberg ’43 Benjamin Lenz ’45 Judy Simon Brown ’46 Rita Krasne Krosney ’46 Michael Roth ’49 1950s Madison Jones III ’51 Daniel L. Wachtel ’54 Robert Rosenblum ’55 Judy Bloch Ringel ’59 1960s Camille Hildebrand ’62 Annie Fox ’68 1970s Jane Queller ’73 Janice Bloch ’75