In College
Cornell Law School: Megan Castellano, High School North, Class of 2005, is on the spring dean’s list at Cornell, where she is pursuing a JD/LLM in international law. She is spending July in Paris, taking law courses at the Universite Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. In the fall, Megan will be joining the Cornell Law Review as associate editor.
Lynchburg College: Sarah Ashley Preno of West Windsor is on the spring dean’s list. She graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.
Mercer College: Waka Petrillo of Plainsboro was recently awarded a $2,500 scholarship from the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants, Mercer Chapter. The scholarship is part of the NJSCPA’s annual scholarship program, which awarded more than $420,000 this year to 89 students from across New Jersey. The scholarship was presented at the 49th Annual NJSCPA Scholarship awards ceremony in April.
Also, Nicholas D. Rodriguez of West Windsor, a business student at Mercer, was inducted into the honor society of the New Jersey Collegiate Business Administration Association at the Statehouse in Trenton.
Rider University: Dean’s list students include Plainsboro residents Rhodalynn Agyeman, a psychology major; Gisell Bernard, a business administration major; Dosha Brown, a liberal studies major; Doreen Chen, a biology major; Greg Chilakos, an accounting major; Robin Davis, a liberal studies major; Rodrigo DiLeo, a chemistry major; Valery Erlikhman, an actuarial science major; Neha Gandhi, a general liberal arts major; Nick Kang, an accounting major; Lauren Lopez, a liberal studies major; Kelly McCarthy, a psychology major; Megan Pisani, a secondary education major; Rheya Price, a marketing major; and Ashley Weitz, an elementary education major.
Also, West Windsor students on the dean’s list include Ronald Barrios, a management and leadership major; Tracey Belbina, a liberal studies major; Jesse de Agustin, a philosophy major; Susan Kirkpatrick, a liberal studies major; Michael Sciortino, a business administration major; Michael Sheffield, a communication major; David Tormey, a business administration major; Yumei Tsai, an accounting major; Kuljeet Grewal, a psychology major; Maura Nixon, an elementary education major; Vaidehi Trivedi, an accounting major; and Megan Wilityer, a psychology major.
Rutgers University: Arkadiy Makaron of Plainsboro is a recipient of the David M. Silverberg Scholarship offered by the Wakefern-ShopRite Scholarship program. The $2,000 award for undergraduate studies is named after a former president of Wakefern Food Corporation. Arkadiy, who is pursuing a degree in pharmacy, graduated from High School South.
Seton Hall University: Connie Kartoz of West Windsor is pursuing her doctorate in nursing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania nearly 20 years ago, she will receive free tuition through the New Jersey Nursing Initiative, a new $22 million program aimed at averting a critical nursing shortage in the state. She will also receive a $50,000 stipend. The catch is that she will instruct nursing students at a New Jersey college for at least three years after graduation.
Kartoz, 45, has three children. Through the years she has worked with private physicians and health clinics and taught part-time. Although she has thought about teaching full-time, a return to school was not feasible until the foundation award.
“To go back to school and take the income hit, it just wasn’t possible,” she explained. “I think for a lot of people that’s the case, and that’s why we have this nursing shortage.”
Survivor
Marie Repko, a Plainsboro resident, walked 3.1 miles in the Dr. Howard Mazer Memorial Strides for Stroke 5K that took place in Philadelphia on Sunday, June 14.
When she had a stroke in April, 2008, her husband, Stan Repko, and neighbors acted quickly to get her to the nearest hospital. She received treatment at the UMCP’s Stroke Center in Princeton, and made a full recovery.
TASK Board
Members Appointed
Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) appointed Sajid Syed and Donna Williams, both West Windsor residents, to its board of trustees.
Syed, a pharmacist with a graduate degree in pharmaceutical marketing from St. John’s University in New York, is president and CEO of Acro Pharmaceutical Services, a national specialty pharmacy that serves patients, physicians, and health plans. He also founded Sanovia Corporation and InfuRx.
Actively involved with the Greater Philadelphia Health Action, a federally qualified health care center for the indigents, he has done programs with the Urban League of Philadelphia. An avid squash player, Syed helped start and fund a squash program for Trenton area youngsters who would typically not have the opportunity to play the game.
Williams is the program director as well as a fourth degree black belt martial arts instructor at Everson’s Karate in Robbinsville. Committed to helping the less fortunate members of the community, she has used the school and its students to launch service projects that have benefited various nonprofits, including TASK.
A graduate of Brandywine College with a degree in business, she has been an active member of the Robbinsville-Hamilton Rotary Club since 2006. The club’s secretary for the past two years, Williams has received the President’s Citation Award, the Distinguished Service Award, the Paul Harris Award, and the Care and Share Award for her extensive work helping others.
Published
Kyla Hunter of West Windsor has her works published on the cover of August’s “Highlights for Children” magazine. Her drawing and description of an original superhero named Rachal the Rain-Forest Rescuer is in the “Your Superheroes” section.
Her description of her superhero: “She and her tiger stop people from cutting down trees where they are not supposed to. She also saves endangered animals. She has X-ray vision, ties up bad guys with vines, and uses superspeed.”
Kyla, 8, is a third grade student at Maurice Hawk School who enjoys playing the piano and reading. She hopes to become a scientist or inventor when she grows up. Her parents are Seth and Janet Hunter.
“Highlights” receives more than 35,000 submissions each year. The magazine selects work by all ages from all over the world.
Business News
Linda Principe of Linda Principe Interiors in Plainsboro has been elected to the national board of directors of the Window Coverings Association of America, a non-profit trade association dedicated to the retail window coverings industry. The three-year appointment became effective July 1. She is currently the president of the central New Jersey chapter.
Principe, who started her company in 1988, provides residential interior design services with a specialty in window treatments in the central New Jersey area. She is also an instructor for the “Window Treatments” class in the Interior Design certificate program at Mercer County Community College.
Mary Ann Pidgeon, an attorney with Pidgeon & Pidgeon in West Windsor, spoke at the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal Convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The BMM is a non-profit community organization encompassing all Marathi speaking association in North America. Pidgeon spoke to the group about the importance of having wills and estate planning. The seminar was organized by Avinash Deshpande of Capital Legacy in East Brunswick. More than 4,000 people of Indian and Asian descent attended the convention.
Births
CentraState Healthcare System announced the following births:
A son was born to Plainsboro residents Frankie and George Langer, June 5.
Deaths
Donald D. Iverson, 76, of Clearwater Beach, Florida, died June 28. He was a former West Windsor resident. Born in Indiana, he graduated from Stetson University after serving in the Navy during the Korean War.
Founder of Iverson Technologies Corporation, he used IBM technology to patent a way to prevent electromagnetic signals from being picked up from computers where they could be decoded and analyzed by foreign governments. He later produced removable disk drives that could be securely locked away. His next businesses included Gamer Corporation, focused on affordable footwear for athletes; and International Kids, a company that specialized in locating missing children.
Survivors include his children, Dean and Britt Iverson of Clearwater Beach, Florida; one stepson Josh Balthrope of Richmond, Virginia; one granddaughter, Dora Iverson of Richmond, Virginia; one sister, Betty Weston of Elburn, Illinois; and former wives, Diane Iversoin of Bonita Spring, Florida, and Shari Iverson of Richmond, Virginia. Donations may be made to Don Iverson Memorial, Box 66, Elburn, IL 60119.
Lawrence W. Archer Jr., 62, died on July 5. Survivors include his son Lawrence W. Archer of West Windsor. Donations may be made to the American Heart Association, Palm Beach County Chapter, West Palm Beach, FL.
Barbara L. Kellogg, 92, of Plainsboro died July 6 at the University Medical Center at Princeton. Born in Minneapolis, she is survived by her husband Leonard Schwartz; three sons, William H. Beim Jr. of Excelsior, Minnesota, Robert B. Beim of Atherton, California, and John J. Pierson Jr. of Wayzata, Minnesota; one daughter, Barbara B. Russell of Sturgis, Michigan; 14 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. Donations may be made to Plainsboro Rescue Squad, 641 Plainsboro Road, Plainsboro 08536.
Russell B. Ward, 59, of Robbinsville died July 6 at the University of Pennsylvania. Born in Princeton, he was a former Plainsboro resident. A plumber with the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 9 of Englishtown, after retirement he worked part-time with the security department at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton.
Survivors include his daughters, Mary McBride and Margaret Ward; his mother, Jean Ward; his sisters and brother-in-law, Rose Marie and Jack Bowker, and Doris Hannah; and his brothers and sisters-in-law, John Ward, William and Debra Ward, and Robert and Mary Ward.
Iris Gayle Jameson Baneth, 74, died July 7. Survivors include daughter and son-in-law, Jill and Matt Maley of West Windsor. Donations may be made to www.pathways.org.
Theodore C. Weeks Jr., 85, died July 10, in Columbus, North Carolina. He was a former Plainsboro resident. Active in scouting and community affairs, he served as assistant scoutmaster, as well as scouting board and committee chair posts in Plainsboro, where he was awarded the George Washington Council’s highest award, the Silver Beaver Award. He also served with the Plainsboro-area PTAs and West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education. He was a member of the New Jersey Archaeological Society and the Beta Theta Pi National Fraternity.
Born in Ashland, West Virginia, he received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from West Virginia University and joined Oak Ridge National Laboratories near Knoxville, Tennessee. He had a 40-year career in technical, supervisory, and administrative work in the nuclear field, spanning the operation of research and isotope production reactors as well as the later decommissioning and decontamination of commercial nuclear facilities. He was an active member of the American Nuclear Society, listed in the World Nuclear Directory’s “Who’s Who in Atoms,” and is credited with the development of several patented products used extensively in the medical field.
Survivors include one son, William Weeks of Brunswick, Georgia; two daughters, Jennifer Weeks of Atlanta, and Karen Lawrence of Richmond, Virginia; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Donations may be made to Hospice of the Carolina Foothills, 130 Forest Glen Drive, Columbus, NC 28722.
Ellen Hagen, 103, of Croton-on-Hudson, New York, died July 11. Survivors include grandson Steven Hagen of West Windsor.
Constantine N. Sgouros, 55, of West Windsor died July 12 in his home. Born in the village of Sgourades in Corfu, Greece, he lived in West Windsor for 14 years.
A graduate of the Athens Polytechnic in Greece, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin. An engineer for more than 25 years with AT&T, he served as an executive liaison to Merrill Lynch.
Survivors include his wife of 22 years, Dr. Stephanie Larouche Sgouros; daughters Angelica, 21, and Rebecca, 19; and his mother Angeliki Sgouros. Funeral services will be held in Greece, with a later memorial service in New York City.
Hugo J. Vervuurt, 81, of Lawrenceville died July 12 in St. Francis Medical Center. A former West Windsor resident, he was a member of the West Windsor Lions Club. Born in the South American country of Suriname, he was civil engineer for the City of New York, retiring in 1991.
Survivors include his daughter and son-in-law, Audrey and Edward Graham; his sister and brother-in-law, Ninon and Marty Lapidus; and his grandson, Ethan T. Graham. Donations may be made to the Greenwood House Home for the Jewish Aged, 53 Walter Street, Ewing 08628-3085.
Mary E. Curtis, 94, died July 13 at Merwick Care Center in Princeton. She was a former West Windsor resident. Born in Philadelphia, she was raised on a farm in Cherry Hill and moved to West Windsor in 1960. Active in the community, she volunteered with the June Fete and was a member of the Republican Club.
Survivors include two sons and daughters-in-law, Theodore T. and Melinda Curtis of Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Kevin A. and Barbara M. Curtis of Ringoes; two granddaughters, Golden LeBlanc and her husband Robert, and Anna Curtis; and two great-grandsons. Donations may be made to Princeton Hospice Memorial Fund, 208 Bunn Drive, Princeton 08540.
Laye Ikeda Nagahiro, 73, of Upper Deerfield Township, died July 14 at South Jersey Healthcare-Elmer, in Elmer. A Pearl Harbor survivor, she was interned at the Salinas Assembly Center in 1942. An instrumental part of the Seabrook Education and Cultural Center, she helped establish the exhibit at the Millville Airport Museum, which honors those Japanese Americans who served in the 442nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army during World War II.
Survivors include her daughter, Sherri L. Nagahiro of West Windsor. Donations may be made to the Seabrook Education and Cultural Center, Box 5041, Seabrook 08302; the Seabrook Chapter JACL, c/o Sharon Yoshida, 4 Mallard Lane, Bridgeton 08302; or to the Deerfield Presbyterian Church, Box 69, Deerfield Street, Deerfield 08313.
Jean M. Baracia, 71, of Brick, died July 18 at Kimball Medical Center in Lakewood. Survivors include a daughter, Denise Baracia of Plainsboro. Donations may be made to St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital.
