Abington Senior High to Induct New Hall of Famers

Abington Senior High School this week will induct eight new members to its Hall of Fame. The new inductees were selected by a committee comprising alumni and senior high school faculty. 

The inductees will be honored at a ceremony Thursday, Nov. 21 at the Huntingdon Valley Country Club.

They are: 

Elaine P. Whelan ‘61 (Education)  Elaine Whelan earned her undergraduate degree from Drexel University where she graduated summa cum laude and began her graduate education at the University of Pennsylvania.  Whelan was sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services to complete her graduate education at Johns Hopkins University in advanced statistics.  She also earned a certificate in data processing from the Institute for Certification of Computer Professionals.  Whelan served on Robert Ball’s staff at the Social Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, where she focused on the assignment of numbers to newborns and the introduction and development of part-time professions in federal government for women with small children.  She has been a regular columnist for three journals of dental technology and has authored or co-authored two books, one of which, My Mom’s Making History — The Story of Computers, Copyrights and Creativity, was selected for Read Across America Day in 2005.  She is the co-founder of Strohl Industries, the founder of Copyrights Promote Creativity Project and was president of Mainstreet Systems & Software.

Stacey Cartagenova ‘89 (Business)  Stacey Cartagenova holds a master’s of science in speech language pathology and was a practitioner for many years before she founded Therapy Source, Inc., a premier therapy staffing company and national provider of a hybrid therapy delivery model, in 2001. Since its inception, Therapy Source has grown substantially and expanded its operations to 34 states and the District of Columbia.  The company she founded has grown to more than 50 employees, working with over 1,300 therapists nationwide to ensure that children receive speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, behavioral health, psychological services, and other related services that contribute to students' growth, progress and ultimate success.  Among other awards, she has been honored by the National Association of Executive and Professional Women. 

Richard L. Cole, Jr.  ’61 (Service)  After graduating from Abington Senior High School in 1961, Richard received his undergraduate degree from Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. and earned his law degree from Villanova University. Cole served in Governor Dick Thornburg’s Administration as the Chief Counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, which included the State Board of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Bureau of Disability Determination. Cole was also the Vice President and General Counsel for United Hospitals, Inc. in Philadelphia.  He subsequently entered private practice where he devoted a considerable portion of his professional life to working with severely disabled individuals.  In addition to serving as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Able Trust, he is a member of the Sumter County Zoning Board and serves on the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and Transportation Disadvantaged Coordinating Boards for Sumter County. Cole also chairs the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee.  

Colonel John A. “Jack” Islin (USA ret.) ‘51 (Government)  Following graduation, Islin attended Penn State University, Ogontz Campus, and the University of Pennsylvania, where he was dean’s list and earned his undergraduate degree. Islin received a commission as an Infantry Second Lieutenant in the United States Army and attended Army Flight School and Helicopter School. Islin commanded assault helicopter units during two years in Vietnam where he earned 76 medals, seven for heroism and logged over 2,000 hours of combat flying.  After leaving the government, Jack established and directed the Helicopter Flight Test Center for Sikorsky, a division of United Technologies.  The effort to test the Blackhawk and Navy Sea Hawk helicopters resulted in earning the Kelly Johnson Award on display at the Smithsonian Institution. Islin also served as Group Senior Vice President for Citicorp where he was named one of the “25 Top Executives In the Industry.” 

Wayne Cunningham  ’50 (Athletics)   Wayne Cunningham earned a B.A. from Duke University where he earned All-South and All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in soccer. Cunningham returned to the Philadelphia area where he earned a M.Ed. and an Ed.D. in Health Education from Temple University.In 1969, Cunningham played shortstop on the World Fast-pitch Softball Championship team, Sal’s ISC.   He has been a soccer and wrestling official for 41 years.  Wayne has been involved as a leader and mentor in many areas of youth and scholastic athletics in the area.  Wayne coached the Del-Val/ Philadelphia 16-18 year old Girls’ Softball team to 7 consecutive gold medals in the Pennsylvania Keystone Games and has been head softball coach at Jersey City State College, Campbell University and William Tennent High School. Cunningham has also been head soccer coach at Kean College, Jersey City State College and Campbell University and taught “Principles of Coaching” at Montgomery County Community College for three years.  Wayne has received numerous honors in his field, including election to the Philadelphia Softball Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Philadelphia Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.

Margie Goldsmith ‘61 (Arts) Margie Goldsmith, winner of the prestigious SATW Gold Lowell Thomas Award and 26 other awards, has traveled to 122 countries and has written about them all. She is a contributor to Elite Traveler, Robb Report, Visa Black Card Mag, Business Jet Traveler, Hemispheres, American Way, Islands, travelandleisure.com, Affluent Traveler, and Huffington Post. Margie is a published novelist, triathlete and marathoner, speaks French and Spanish, and plays blues harmonica.

Lloyd C. Bobb ’57 (Science) Lloyd Bobb received his Ph.D. in physics in 1971 from Temple University where his thesis topic was inelastic light scattering (Raman scattering) from ferroelectric materials.  Prior to receiving his Ph.D., he worked for the Ford Scientific Laboratory doing research on thin layers of semiconductors and metals that would be used in the integrated circuit industry. Bobb then worked for the U.S. Army (Frankford Arsenal) performing research on materials that could be used to protect the eyes of the troops against lasers that were being introduced into the battlefield.  Lloyd also worked for the US Navy (Naval Air Development Center (NADC), the Naval Research Laboratory, and the Naval Air Warfare Center – Aircraft Division) on lasers, capillary waves, optical fiber sensors, optical excitation of atmospheric species like xenon for remote magnetic field detection, and numerous improvements to non-acoustic submarine detection and localization systems. After leaving the government, Bobb founded Applied Science Corporation, a scientific consulting business.  A current project is to perform magnetic detection and localization of submarines from disposable unmanned aerial vehicles. His current publication list has about 400 items including everything from peer-reviewed journal articles to government reports.  He holds approximately 20 US patents. Bobb has received numerous government awards, including several for outstanding independent research, the NADC scientific achievement award, and the meritorious civilian service award. 

Ken Montgomery ’60 (Posthumous-Athletics & Business) Ken Montgomery had a long and impressive career as both a community-based family businessman and as the owner, engineer and driver of a championship hot rod racing team.  Press clips, reports, commendations and numerous friends all attest to the fact that family came first for Montgomery, but his accomplishments both as the owner and operator of Montgomery’s Service Station in Jenkintown and as a hot rod owner and racer cannot fail to impress.  In fact, as mentioned above, Montgomery owned, drove and worked as the engineer of his race car, but he was also the engine builder, the team coordinator, the car builder, machinist and mechanic.  Montgomery’s Service Station was consistently considered one of “Philly’s Best” and was indeed a community mainstay.  Ken was inducted into the National Hot Rod Association Hall of Fame and into the Super Stock Hall of Fame.