From Max Pelisson , Class of 1953 : in honoring Joan Wollman you have to think about how well she has represented Fordham prep to our alumni and whoever she has come in contact with during her years at the school .
She is the embodiment of a class person , kind , gracious and helpful with integrity . She has been an outstanding relationship builder , and Fordham prep should be proud to have her .
i have enjoyed working with her over many years and am happy to share my comments about her hardworking , wonderful operating style . The bottom line , she is simply a “ good person .”
From Jim DiMarzo , Brian Heller , Lee Higdon , John Malone , Jerry O ’ Gorman , Andy Paterno , Bill Perry and Bob Zachariesiewicz , members of the Class of 1964 : What comes to mind when we think of Joan ? Selflessness . Dedication . Kindness . efficiency . Loyalty beyond words . She has been the backbone of development efforts at the prep for thirty-six years . She is tireless in her efforts to do the right thing for the right reason every time she ’ s called upon . The people who ’ ve had the pleasure of working with her know her as gracious , smart , patient and always on the mark . While we are very happy for her personally , we are very sad for the school ’ s loss . We shall always think of Joan as one of Fordham prep ’ s true unsung heroines — or , as we call her , the Queen of Development .
From Rev . Joseph P . Parkes , SJ , President of Fordham Prep 1996 – 2004 : i had the pleasure of working with Joan for eight years . no one loves the prep more than she , or knows the alumni better . She always lights up the room and has been the smiling face of the prep at events for 35 years . Her jokes are the best , and she will be missed .
From Rev . Kenneth J . Boller , SJ , President of Fordham Prep 2004 – 2013 : Joan has been a fixture at Fordham prep alumni and fundraising events for generations spanning the terms of four presidents . Her knowledge not only of the graduates but of their families and personal stories proved to be a bedrock of institutional memory for me as president . Joan could always be counted on to know who was married to whose sister or niece and help maintain the family aspect to our efforts . Knowing the donors as well as she has , she could say " so and so usually sends his gift at this time of the year , i ' ll call him up to remind him ." And the gift would come in .
Thanks , Joan , for many wonderful years of devoted service .
From Stephen Hammond , Class of 1958 : in the 10 + years my wife and i have known her , Joan has been first , a big help , then a life saver , next a standby and finally , it turned out that my wife and i have a new personal friend .
We first met Joan while attempting to figure out murky directions from my former employer in regard to the best method to help them with a corporate match to Fordham prep . i worked for my entire career for Texaco , inc ., in their corporate headquarters in new York City . i knew most of the people and the shortcuts involved in getting things done quickly .
During the ' 90 ' s , selling petroleum products became an extremely competitive business , resulting in a price driven market . The easiest and quickest fix was a reduction of oil companies , arranged through mergers . Texaco eventually merged with Chevron . During that process , the Texaco matching gift program went from first class corporate attention to no attention and after a couple of years , the process almost died . Fortunately , Chevron has a first rate retiree association who assisted . But they had 4 years of partially handled requests pending . Finally the process was farmed out to an outside administrator , who attempted to do it and eventually did it well . in the interim , instead of trying get help through Chevron , i contacted the prep , where i met Joan , who helped me iron out my issues .
every successive year , as new questions arose , i called Joan . " Joan , Steve . i hope you ' re well . HeLp !!!" She listened , she laughed and then said : " Let me see what i can do ." Sure enough , she called me back and said : " All done ." Bravo , Joan .
About 5 years ago i decided to include the prep in my will . i called Joan . She was able to put me on the right track , and i ' ve handled that .
Joan has been a sister , a helper and a wonderful friend . Yaaayyyyy !!! Joan .
From Larry Curran Class of 1977 , Director of Alumni Engagement :
When i started working at the prep in 1988 , Joan Wollman put me on probation . The prep didn ' t , Joan did . She expected me to live up to her high standards of working hard for the betterment of Fordham prep . Throughout our time together , she worked until not only was the job done , it was done correctly . Her dedication to the prep can never be questioned and could be seen in the long days and weekends that she worked . But she also likes to laugh ! She has a great spirit that was evident to anyone who met her . Thank you , Joan , for the advice , the guidance and most importantly , the friendship .
pS - i ' m still not sure Joan ever ended my probation ! Always remember you are loved , Joan .
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