By Nicole Falco
Wold died at the North Shore Extended Care Facility in Manhasset where he had lived for ten years following a stroke.
"A day will not go by that I won't cherish my memories [of
my father]. To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die," said
his youngest daughter, Melissa
Pappas, at a memorial service held
for her father on Nov. 18 at the
Unitarian Universalist Church in Manhasset.
Wold, a retired English and drama teacher at Memorial Junior High School, was born during the depression in Sioux City, Iowa. Wold was one of seven children and his family often struggled to make ends meet. It was as a child when Wold developed his love for show business.
A movie buff whose favorites included the Wizard of Oz, Wold could often be found tap dancing on street corners for coins in his hometown, according to his best friend of 51 years and former Memorial JHS teacher, Jack Frymire.
'Imagine yourself'
"You can imagine who you want to be and make yourself into that person," Frymire recalled Wold telling his students. "His students had a Wendell Wold fan club."
Wold lived by the advice he shared. At 18, Wold joined the army and served in W.W. II, stationed in England. He returned from the war and went on to graduate from St. Olaf College in Minnesota where he was a member of the famed St. Olaf traveling choir.
At 25, Wold moved to New York City and joined the American Savoyards, a Gilbert & Sullivan Company. Joan Brower was also a member of that company, as was Frymire and his wife, Virginia.
"We were both performers. We were young, we were in theater doing what we loved," Joan said. "While others in the company were economizing, we were dining in the finest restaurants...."
Wold and Joan soon married. Wold continued his career in "show biz," directing shows including "Pirates of Penzance" for the Junior League Organization. The JLO would travel throughout the northeast, gather the locals for auditions and then produce a play.
"Everybody was crazy about the New York director," Joan said.
His children, Eric, Andrea and Melissa soon followed. Wold decided to try his hand at teaching, a more stable job for a family man.
He received his Masters at New York University and teacher training at Columbia University. A short stint teaching in Brooklyn and Wold soon found himself at Valley Stream's Memorial JHS. There he taught English and directed school plays from 1964 until his retirement in 1991.
His favorites included "Fiorello" and "Our Town" according to his co-director, Rosemarie Paternostro, a retired social studies teacher at Memorial.
"Wendell's life was music. Every student who ever did a show with Wendell went away with a piece of Wendell," Paternostro said.
When Wold wasn't directing shows he was putting on shows for faculty, family and friends.
Richard Bocchieri, a guidance counselor at Memorial recalled Wold always putting on a skit, singing a song or reciting a poem at school parties. Steve Borman, a fellow English teacher, recalled Wold's ability to capture his students' attention by acting out the books they read in class. "Everyone appreciated his style," Borman said.
"Living with my father was like living in a musical. You never knew when he would burst into a song or a dance or play the piano," Pappas said. Frymire added, "He could walk into a room and immediately create a show."
Wold's stroke, one year after his retirement, left him without the ability to speak, but it could not rob him of his ability to sing. One week before his death Wold could be heard singing "God Bless America."
"He always saw the positive side of things even though he had his share of difficulties in life," said Patsy Ram-Kaplan, a friend and retired teacher.
Wold was preceded in death by his son, Eric, in 1987, and his daughter, Andrea Wold Izaguirre, in 1991. He is survived by his daughter, Melissa Pappas of Valley Stream, and wife, Joan, of Glen Oaks, Queens. Wold is also survived by his grandchildren, Dawn, 17, Peter, 15, and Andrew Pappas, 9, and Lenny, 19, and Gibran Izaguirre, 17.
