Charles Mosback through his daughter’s eyes

I have received a lot of positive comments following my last column about Mosback Field (“Meet me at Mosback Field… Where?” Sept. 30-Oct.6), especially concerning the influence and efforts of Charles Mosback, the former principal of Oceanside High School. I would like to share a heartwarming message that I recently received:

Dear Mr. Blau,

I would like to thank you for the article about Mosback Field and my father, Charles Mosback. It would have pleased him greatly to know that the field continues to be the site of Sailor victories. My father was a very progressive educator and was devoted to Oceanside High School where he spent 32 years (1931-1963).

Most people in Oceanside today won't remember my father. So, I would like to tell you a little about who he was as an educator and as a person, from the perspective of both a daughter and a student, because I was a member of the OHS class of 1960. Charles (Charlie) Mosback played a pivotal role in the evolution of Oceanside High School in the mid-twentieth century, when the enrollment expanded from 500 to more than 2,000 and the educational programs grew proportionally. He oversaw the design and construction of the original building on the current campus of OHS. He was a strong advocate of academic excellence, adding advanced classes for the college bound and a full range of technical courses for those going directly to careers. Through his personal efforts many OHS students were encouraged to acquire college educations and assisted in obtaining financial aid by the Oceanside High School Scholarship Fund, which he initiated. He was also a strong believer in the importance of extra-curricular and athletic activities in the education experience. As athletic director he expanded the inter-scholastic sports teams and introduced intramural sports, involving almost the entire student body. During his years as principal, the number of school clubs and after-school activities grew exponentially.

In many ways Charlie Mosback was an educator ahead of his time. He viewed his role as not just that of professional educator, but also community leader. He believed OHS could achieve greatness only if it had the strong support and involvement of its community and he worked tirelessly to bring the school and community together. He was personally active in countless community organizations — Boy Scouts, Oceanside American Legion, Kiwanis Club, Oceanside community music associations, Nassau County Cancer and Tuberculosis Societies, Nassau County Executive Committee, New York State Athletic League — to name just a few. Always, his goal was to involve and invest community members in OHS and its success.

Using an approach that is common today, but was unknown in the 1940’s and 1950’s, each fall Charlie Mosback hosted two weekend retreats, one for faculty leaders and one for student leaders, at his family’s summer rental cottages in East Marion, near Orient Point on the North Fork of Long Island. These weekends were an opportunity for team building and setting goals for the year ahead.

Charles Mosback would certainly be most proud of the impact he had on students. Many of his former athletes stayed connected to him throughout his life and followed in his professional footsteps in athletics and school administration — Bill Helmcke, former principal of Oceanside Junior High School; Steve Poleshuk, former OHS principal; Richard McLean, former Assistant Superintendent of Lynbrook Schools — to mention just three. As his daughter, I had a very warming experience at the recent 50th reunion of the 1960 class. Many of my former classmates shared warm reminiscences and some amusing stories about my father. One man told me he had traveled to the reunion for the sole purpose of telling me what a difference it had made in his life when my father took the time to encourage a troubled teen to pursue a college education.

My father often said there was not another job he would prefer to that of principal of Oceanside High School and the community returned that devotion. On the occasion of his 25th year at OHS, a community committee planned a testimonial dinner that was attended by over 400 community members and former students. In 1973, following his death and ten years after he left Oceanside, Charles Mosback’s impact on OHS was still strongly enough felt that a group of citizens raised the funds for a monument and accomplished the naming of Mosback Field.

An editorial from The Oceanside Beacon, the community weekly newspaper of the day, on the occasion of Charles Mosback’s retirement in 1963 following a serious stroke, begins by asking: “How do you measure a man? ….accolades will be written and spoken recounting Charlie’s early days in Oceanside, how he sparked athletic activities, inspired love of country, communicated a desire for learning and through the years kept a perfect balance of all of these. Numberless clubs and organizations will praise him formally and in private reminiscence for his willing, selfless work. Above and beyond and part of all of these expressions, the true measure and essence of a fine man will be caught in a combined tone of voice, the warmth in friends’ and associates’ eyes as they ask eagerly, ‘How is Charlie..?’ Perhaps it is in such ways that you measure a man. Everyone likes Charles Mosback. They’re glad they know him. They respect all he has done. Charlie can be sure that the Board of Education, the school system, the community and every individual in it wish all the best to him….”

I would like to acknowledge my appreciation to the Oceanside Education Foundation for all its efforts in restoring and preserving the history of the Oceanside community.

My best,

Ruth Ann Mosback Bramson

There is little doubt that the residents of Oceanside and Island Park (let us not forget our Island Park neighbors with whom we shared the halls of our high school for many, many years) were extremely fortunate to have had Charles Mosback at the helm our high school for over twenty years. Forty-seven years after he last occupied the principal's office, Mosback’s legacy endures; many of his students have become accomplished community leaders. While Mosback would be thoroughly enjoying the high school football team’s season of domination, I believe he would be more proud in knowing that our students continue to be instilled in the importance of academics, community service, and extra-curricular and athletic activities – the key to a sound education and the foundation for success.

Seth J. Blau is a volunteer with the Oceanside Education Foundation (OEF), a non-profit organization with goal of helping students of the Oceanside School District obtain a sense of local history by discovering, preserving and displaying the history of our community. Anyone who wishes to share stories, memories and experiences involving life in Oceanside is welcome to contact OEF at 145 Merle Avenue, Oceanside, NY or oef@schoolhousegreen.org.