Thursday, October 1, 2026
For the first time since the pandemic, W.C. Mepham High School hosted its Who’s Who awards ceremony, celebrating honorees from the classes of 2020, 2022 and 2025, along with this year’s Meritorious Service Award recipients.
The Who’s Who award, established by the Mepham Alumni Board, recognizes individuals who have made a lasting impact in their professional and personal lives, but also within the greater community. Chairman Brian Levy noted that each honoree has “left Mepham better than they found it.”
Created in 1964 by the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District and reinstated in 1987, the Who’s Who Hall of Fame honors graduates who have made significant contributions to their communities and professions. As one of the oldest high schools in New York, Mepham recognizes alumni who exemplify excellence, leadership, and service.
This year’s Who’s Who honorees were Ingrid Lea Bloomfield (Class of 1984), Michael P. Frassetti (Class of 1966), Vincent R. “Bob” Ferrigno (Class of 1954), David Dachinger (Class of 1973) and Leslie Corwin (Class of 1965).
The event, held at Hofstra University on Oct. 26, was coordinated by Kevin Gallagher, president of the Mepham Alumni Association; Levy; Susan Hayes, Meritorious Service Award honoree and luncheon coordinator; and Mepham High School Principal Anthony DeMartinis.
Ingrid Lea Bloomfield: Class of 1984
Introduced by Levy, Bloomfield was honored for more than 30 years of nursing. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1989, noting, “Hard work has never been a stranger to me.”
She continued her education at Stony Brook University, earning a post-master’s certificate as a nurse practitioner in 1994 and, most recently, a Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2024. Bloomfield’s clinical career included positions at Winthrop University Hospital and North Shore Cardiology. She also served four years (1997–2001) in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, attaining the rank of captain.
After relocating to Georgia in 2019, she chose to “give back,” becoming an adjunct nursing instructor at the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University.
“Looking back over the past 40 years of my career, it has been a rewarding and challenging profession,” Bloomfield said.
Michael P. Frassetti: Class of 1966
Dave Krinskey, who sponsored Frassetti’s application, spoke on his behalf, as Frassetti was unable to attend.
Frassetti earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Long Island University and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1969 to 1973 as part of the Titan II missile crew in Arizona.
A musician and composer since his Mepham days, Frassetti went on to win an Emmy Award for music composed for a Phoenix-based ABC-TV program. He currently serves as composer-in-residence for the North Valley Chorale in Phoenix.
“His work has earned numerous awards for composition for guitar, voices and multiple idioms,” Krinskey said.
Vincent ‘Bob’ R. Ferrigno: Class of 1954
Sponsored by Mepham Alumni Board member Roy Probeyahn, Ferrigno was honored with the Who’s Who Award in 2022 and was represented in absentia.
After graduating from Mepham, Ferrigno attended Hofstra University, later building a successful career as a developer and serving as an embarkation logistics manager in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Probeyahn noted that Ferrigno’s philanthropy became a defining element of his legacy.
“Bob’s financial success enabled him to embark on a path of philosophy and caring that had an outsized impact on people inside and outside the Jacksonville, Florida, community,” he said.
Ferrigno also volunteered for more than 10 years at a Jacksonville homeless center.
Leslie Corwin: Class of 1965
Corwin, honored in 2020 and sponsored by Bob Fellows, spent five decades in the legal field. He served as managing partner of the New York office of Eisner LLP, which he helped launch, and currently sits on the board of the Peter C. Alderman Foundation.
At Mepham, he was student council president, speaker of the House of Representatives and editor of The Buccaneer. He went on to attend Brown University and Fordham University School of Law.
“I love my years at Mepham, and I love my profession more than words can adequately express,” Corwin said. “Thanks to the marvelous education I received at Mepham, I am truly blessed to have been able to do what I always wanted to do.”
David Dachinger: Class of 1973
Heather Castello, who sponsored Dachinger’s 2020 nomination, spoke on his behalf.
Dachinger graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1978 with a degree in composition. His music has been featured during the Super Bowl, NBA games, The Masters, U.S. Open Tennis, Kentucky Derby, college football broadcasts, and programs including “Dateline,” “Fox News,” “Biography” and “Jeopardy.”
“Today, David is a successful and highly respected composer with a goal to create music that reaches a person’s soul,” Castello said.
Dachinger is also a lieutenant with the Connecticut Fire Department and a best-selling author.
The Meritorious Service Award recognizes outstanding service to the Alumni Association and Mepham High School. Those honorees included Hayes, Mepham teacher and community leader Heather Maselli Castellano, Laura House Stein, who revitalized the Alumni Association, and Katherine Costello.
