Hall of Fame Member Bios 1998

View: Alphabetical List - Members by Induction Class - Biographies

ED ESTLOW
Estlow utilized his speed and agility to star on two Colls High football squads. As a junior he was a halfback on the championship unit of 1936, and then earned All-Group honors as an end in his senior year. As a trackman, at the time of his graduation, he owned every hurdles record in school history. He also was leadoff runner on a superb relay team, anchored by the brilliant sprinter, Gordon Magee. This team finished second in the Championship of America Mile Relay at the Penn Relays.
He went to Denver University where he served for two years as team football captain. His greatest thrill was leading Denver to a monumental upset over state rival, Colorado. In college he continued his remarkable track career. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, however the coming of World War II shut down that opportunity. He earned a law degree but turned to the publishing world for his career. This career choice would eventually earn him the position of CEO of Scripps Howard, one of the world’s great publishing empires.

RICHARD “DUKE” ALEXANDER
Although known to many, there are others who may not realize that the great football coach, Skeets Irvine, was equally successful as a mentor of Collingswood High track and field squads. One of the greatest members of the spring squad was Duke Alexander. He held countless records in the high jump, the most prestigious being National Interscholastic Champion, an honor won at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
He also was a capable end on the 1937 and ’38 football squads. He attended West Nottingham Academy and then the University of Maryland where he continued his prowess as one of the nation’s top high jumpers.
In 1942, while serving with the U. S. Marine Corps, Alexander was killed in the early days of the titanic struggle for control of the strategically important island known as Guadalcanal. His football jersey, #1, is displayed in the Colls High trophy case. Alexander was granted the first retired number in Colls High history.

BETTY BROWN BLACK
Betty Brown graduated from Collingswood in 1940 in the midst of an era which produced fabulous Panther girls’ athletic teams. Few were more talented or more versatile. During her remarkable career, she performed with distinction in field hockey, basketball, swimming, tennis and lacrosse. She later attended Temple and continued her athletic success.
In her senior season, Betty was named All-South Jersey in field hockey and starred on a basketball squad which captured its third consecutive league title. She also was a top swimmer on a team which annexed three successive South Jersey crowns, as well as performing as a regular on the first doubles team in tennis and playing on the school’s first lacrosse team.
She has been selected to the Temple University Hall of Fame and has been recognized as one of the Philadelphia Area’s top officials.

MARIA TALARICO CHIELLI
Defense was the name of the game(s) for Maria Talarico Chielli, a standout Colls athlete of the early 1940’s. She was a two-year starter in both hockey and basketball and was a defensive stalwart in both sports.
She was co-captain and halfback of the Colls hockey teams that also featured Hall of Famers Charlotte Craig Bart and Betty Brown Black. Maria was known as a spirited player in both hockey and basketball, so it was no surprise she was voted “Peppiest” in her class.
After high school, Maria attended Camden Business College and played hockey for the Owlettes, a team comprised of mostly Temple graduates. She later instructed young children in all sports during a 29 year career as a teacher’s assistant.
Maria was always very close to her brother George, a 1994 Hall of Fame inductee. Those sibling bonds survived the fact that Maria married Jack Chielli, an All-State quarterback from Vineland who had quite a grid rivalry with brother George and his Colls High mates.

HUBIE WERNER
In the autumn of 1938, Collingswood gridiron fans began to sing the praises of a flashy sophomore halfback named Hubie Werner. Many predicted true greatness. They were right. When Werner graduated in 1941, he was recognized as one of the greatest backs to play during the long and fruitful career of Skeets Irvine.
A term of the age used to describe talented players was ‘triple threat’. Hubie defined the saying as he was a brilliant runner, passer and punted in the single-wing formation that was widely utilized at the time. He also backed up the line superbly. In 1940, he was named to the All-South Jersey B backfield and finished as the second leading scorer in the area. He was one of the few South Jersey players recognized by the prestigious Maxwell Club of Philadelphia.
He was a reserve on the first South Jersey Group 4 championship basketball team and earned a starting post as a senior. He was a startingfirst baseman in the spring. He enjoyed a fine career at Maryland and one of his fondest memories is the fact that several times, Skeets Irvine came to see him play.

DON DeMARTIN
Don DeMartin excelled in three sports in an era that was one of the most memorable in school history. In 1947, he lettered as a sophomore in football and then starred on the championship squads of the next two seasons.
As a junior, he was the most versatile player on the unbeaten, untied team, the final one coached by Skeets Irvine. As a senior, he was the leading scorer on a high-scoring unit that won the Group 4 crown. He was a starting guard for two years in basketball and a starting infielder for three years on some of Coach Bill Diemer’s greatest creations.
After graduation, he spent a year at Peddie School, quarterbacking the prep school to a perfect season. At Michigan State, he was a squad member on a national college championship team.

BARBARA GALLIMORE FISHER
Barbara Gallimore Fisher, class of 1951, enters the Collingswood High School Hall of Fame as one of the finest all-around female athletes in the school’s history. “Babs” served as team captain in two sports while earning 12 varsity letters – three each in field hockey, swimming, softball and basketball.
She not only played four sports, but was a standout in each one. As a quick, high-scoring left winger, she teamed with fellow Hall of Famer Ruth King Cline to lead the powerful ’50 CHS hockey team to the league title. She was the captain of the swim team, where she swam the butterfly and also placed second in the South Jersey diving championships.
While captaining the softball squad, she demonstrated her versatility by starting at shortstop, centerfield and first base. In basketball, she started all three years as a ballhandling point guard.
Upon graduation, Babs swam professionally at the Sportland Water Shows in Wildwood and played for the West Jersey Field Hockey Club, where she was named to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Team. She later turned her energies to coaching softball for the Lenape YAA and was a ski instructor for many years.

MARGARET “MAGGIE” FAULKNER
Maggie Faulkner was an outstanding Colls High athlete of the 1960’s. In fact, she was voted Best Female Athlete in her class in 1962, 1963 and 1964.
Maggie earned six varsity letters, three each in field hockey and basketball. She also played jayvee tennis for a year before becoming a key contributor to Collingswood High’s first lacrosse teams in 1963 and ’64.
One of many outstanding hockey players turned out by Hall of Fame Coach Bea Markwick, Maggie was a team sparkplug and leader of the 1963 hockey team that went undefeated and won the league championship. She brought the same talent, hustle and leadership to the basketball court during three years of varsity play.
It is Dr. Maggie Faulkner, by the way. After leaving Colls High, she played hockey and earned her bachelor’s degree from West Chester State College. Maggie then earned an M.A. from Trenton State College in 1970 and her Ed.D. from the University of Northern Colorado in 1978. After many years in athletic administration, she is today assistant vice-president for academic advisement and retention at Towson University in Maryland.

FRANK GOULBURN
Tests have determined that the Goulburn family has an unusual medical/genetic condition. Their blood runs blue and gold! That may explain why the Goulburns have produced four generations of Collingswood High athletes.
It all started with Katharine Goulburn, grandmother of this year’s inductee, whose legendary accomplishments made her a charter inductee into the Collingswood Hall of Fame. Frank’s father, Franklin, Jr., and uncle (Dr.) Bill, swam and played football for CHS. Frank’s son, Frank IV, wrestled for four years at CHS and son Andy is a current junior wrestler, while daughter Katharine is a freshman who plays hockey and lacrosse.
Frank earned three letters in wrestling and two each in football and track. In football, he was an All-Conference end and linebacker who also earned first team All-South Jersey honors. He was the Colls’ leading scorer and tackler in his senior year.
An outstanding wrestler for Coach Sam Coursen, he was a district champ and regional runnerup at 178 pounds in his senior year. Frank has given back much to his school and community. For many years he has been a leader in the youth wrestling program that has contributed greatly to the resurgence of the sport at the high school level.

LORI MATHER HAGEN
Collingswood High produced many outstanding female athletes during the decades of the 1970’s and ‘80’s. Lori Mather Hagen, voted “Most Athletic” in her 1977 senior class, was among the best of this elite group.
Lori earned two letters in field hockey and three each in basketball and lacrosse. She was a key performer on the hockey teams of 1975 and ’76, both of which were Colonial Conference champs and also Courier-Post Cup champions. Lori received second team All-Conference and All-South Jersey Group 3 honors
She was a star player in basketball and captained the 1977 team that won the South Jersey Group 3 championship by knocking off the first and second-ranked teams, Edgewood and Ocean City. A second team All-Conference selection as a junior, Lori was first team All-Conference as a senior and also was named as All-South Jersey Group 3 first teamer in both 1976 and ’77.
During Lori’s three years of varsity lacrosse action, the Colls were Delaware Valley League champs in 1975 and state champions in both 1976 and ’77. She won first team Delaware Valley League honors and was an All-South Jersey first team selection in both ’76 and ’77.
She went on to play collegiate sports at Douglass College and earned a B.S. in physical education and health. Lori says she became a phys. ed. teacher “because I wanted to teach the skills and values I learned from my coaches and teachers to my students.”

DICK AND JACK RIDINGER
The brothers Ridinger, Dick and Jack, will always be remembered for restoring glory to Collingswood High football during the decade of the 1960’s. Older brother Dick was already a highly-successful coach before taking over at Colls High in 1962. In 13 years at Paulsboro, Dick’s teams were a combined 80-27-9, won four Colonial Conference titles and never had a losing season.
Collingswood football was in a rare down cycle when Dick took over the reins and brought along brother Jack, who was coaching football at their mutual alma mater, Gettysburg College. Installing a precision offense and hard-hitting defense, Dick’s first Colls team produced a winning record and it was all uphill from there. In four years at the helm, Dick compiled a 25-10-1 mark. His last team (1965) produced an 8-1 mark and another Colonial title.
By then, Dick had moved into administration and would serve 20 years as assistant principal before retiring in 1984. He turned over the reins to brother Jack and all his younger brother did was produce the sixth undefeated grid team in the school’s history. That 1966 squad will go down as one of the greatest to ever play for the Blue and Gold.
Jack held the reins for four more years and stepped down after the 1970 season with a credible 31-14 record as head coach. He also assisted with the wrestling and track teams and retired in 1992 after 30 years at Colls High.
Both “Coach Dick” and “Coach Jack” were loved and respected by the young men they coached and held in the highest regard by their coaching and teaching peers.
It should be noted that induction into Halls of Fame is nothing new to the Ridinger family. Dick is already a member of the South Jersey Coaches Association, New Jersey Football Coaches Association, Paulsboro High School and Gloucester County Sports Halls of Fame. Jack has seen his son, John, Jr., inducted into the West Deptford High School Hall of Fame.

JOHN CURRERI
Curreri, often known as “Jake” during his high school days, has served for three decades as the team physician for Collingswood’s gridiron squads. He earned his medical degree at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy and soon after accepted the offer to join the Blue and Gold.
He was on familiar turf. As a Colls student, he was a hard running, hard hitting two-way performer for the minions of Coach Irvine. He was a reserve on the championship unit of 1942 and then spent two years as a regular. He also lettered for two years in track and field.
His most vivid memory of his scholastic football days was the early season clash with Vineland in his senior season. It was expected to be a battle with championship implications, but the Panthers rolled to a 32-0 conquest. The game ended with a stands clearing brawl that has become a part of South Jersey football lore.

GIRLS’ CHAMPIONSHIP SWIMMING TEAMS OF 1937-1944
Beginning in 1937 and continuing through 1944, the female swim teams of Collingswood established one of the greatest athletic dynasties in area history. For eight successive years, the girl swimmers and divers captured the South Jersey championship.
Every year saw individual records broken and many members of those squads have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Sixty-two different young women won letters during that incredible streak. A large number of them are present with us tonight.
The roster: (1937) Betty McPherson, Anna Malsberger, Louise Madera, Frances Mullin, Jeanne Rigley, Margaret Seaver. (1938) Janet Atkinson, Frances Conley, Dorothea Johansen, Norma Roberts, Zita Swiecicki, Margorie Tredick. (1939) Doris Logan, Dit Bailey, Ruth Longley, Elaine Mathis, Dorothy Riley, Blanche Sharpe, Ruth Vandever.
(1940) Alma Axner, Babe Foster, Virginia Mackrell, Marilyn Raisner, Eunice Williams. (1941) Rita Berrigan, Elizabeth Carroll, Betty Franks, Martha Ann Merchant, Lillian Miller, Dorothy Ohlemeyer, Grace Schuler, Betty Smith, Miriam Taylor, (1942) Eugenia Barnard, Marilyn Burr, Charlotte Craig, Grace Day, Dot Hirleman, Virginia Powers, Frances Shubert, Natalie Wood.
(1943) Lorraine Balliet, Ruth Elizabeth Barry, Gloria Beneventa, Phyllis Burr, Lois Burrough, Lorayne Fox, Margaret Gould, Florence Hall, Ella Millman, Barbara Stratton, Pat Wallace, Shirley Heisinger. (1944) Marion Field, Dot Gordon, Anita Ray, Eleanor Robie, Joanne Russell, Carolyn Saxton, Adelaide Smith, Jane Sprackland, Marion Stroehle.