East Meadow alumni help repair a broken heart

Valentine’s Day was another big day in the uncertain life of Jeff Whitman. The East Meadow native had an appointment with a doctor in Pennsylvania on Feb. 14, one of many meetings that could determine his future as a candidate for a heart transplant.

Whitman, 44, has been heartbroken in more ways than one. He has faced a litany of health problems that stemmed from a congenital heart defect diagnosed at birth. But the past two years have been an emotional roller coaster as well as a physical one: Jeff’s wife, Cathy, died of colon cancer in June. Five months later, just after Thanksgiving, his mother died. He had already lost his father in 2009.

With his finances drained and no one home to pay the bills, Whitman was evicted from his house in Lancaster, Pa. His current home, a rehabilitation center in Yardley, Pa., is a six-hour drive from his closest relative, his sister.

But in September, Whitman decided to phone an old friend from East Meadow High School. “I was shocked,” said Denise Pascalis. “I told him I was coming down to see him.”

The two have a history that stretches back to the junior prom at EMHS in 1983. Whitman took Pascalis to the prom. Though their teen romance did not last past high school, the two remained friends. They reconnected in 2004 at their 20th class reunion, but then lost touch again — until Whitman made his call last fall.

Growing up in East Meadow, Whitman attended the old Newbridge Road School before it closed. He transferred to McVey and then graduated to the old McCleary Junior High School. He graduated from EMHS in 1984 and began a career in carpentry. When his parents retired and moved to Pennsylvania, Whitman said, he decided to attend Mercyhurst College in Erie, and study physical therapy. He ended up landing a job as a police officer for the Lancaster County Parks Department.