Hall of Fame Member Bios 2006

View: Alphabetical List - Members by Induction Class - Biographies

1958 FIELD HOCKEY TEAM
While last year’s team honorees, the Golden Eleven, was completing an undefeated football season, the 1958 girls’ field hockey team was winning the New Jersey Scholastic Field Hockey League championship for the first time since 1950. The Colls ladies lost their season opener to arch-rival Gloucester, then roared through the rest of the schedule unbeaten to complete a 7-1-2 season. Included in the victory skein was a revenge victory over Gloucester.
Coach Bea Markwick’s team closed out the season with two convincing victories, 5-1 over Woodbury and 6-1 over Audubon. In their first meetings, Collingswood had squeezed out a one-goal win over Woodbury and was tied by Audubon, so there’s no question the Panthers got stronger as the season progressed.
The Colls had a nice mix of seniors, juniors and sophomores. The defense, which pitched three shutouts and allowed only one goal in five other games, was bulwarked by seniors Pat Jackson in goal and captain Joanne Van Istendal and Lynne Beach at the fullback posts. The forward line featured team high-scorer Eileen Gluyas and fellow seniors Sandy Williams and Eileen Elliott, along with junior Maryann Swetkoff and soph Mary Anne Mackara. Juniors Jeanne Clark, Sue Schuck, Barbara Keck and Theora Harrer, along with sophomores Gail Dougherty and Sandy Stasley held down the midfield and top reserve positions.
The late Bea Markwick was a charter member of this Hall of Fame, and Van Istendal, Swetkoff and Mackara are also individual Hall of Famers. However, teamwork was the hallmark of the ’58 championship squad.

ANNA MALSBERGER MARSHALL
Anna was a pillar of the powerful Collingswood athletic teams of the mid-1930s, earning three letters in both field hockey and basketball, two in swimming.
She is proud to have served as captain of the 1936 South Jersey championship field hockey team. Anna recalls the thrill of playing for a wonderful teacher and coach – Hazel Nickerson Gallagher.

FRED KANE
As a junior, Fred Kane of the class of 1928 was starting center on Collingswood’s first unbeaten squad.
In his senior year, Kane’s performance was so exceptional he was named All-State. Against Bridgeton he blocked four punts, accounting for a touchdown and safety. That 1927 squad captured the crown in Class A.

RALPH REINHARD
One of the greatest ends to play for Skeets Irvine was Ralph Reinhard ‘31, named All-South Jersey in 1929 and 1930. During his three years as a starter, the Colls lost only two games and captured two Class A titles.
Irvine was quoted as saying: “The only question I ever asked about Ralph was whether he was better on offense or defense.”

KEYES TOWNSEND
Keyes Townsend, class of 1958, was one of Collingswood’s all-time great milers and half-milers, as well as cross-country runners. He also wrestled for three years, earning two varsity letters as a 129-pounder.
Townsend, fellow distance star John Hanling and a few others asked athletic director Bill Diemer to allow them to have a cross-country team. Wrestling coach Sam Coursen agreed to serve as a non-paid coach. That self-formed team with a volunteer coach proceeded to win the Group 4 League championship and two years ago was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a team.
Keyes won many titles as a miler on the track and was an All-South Jersey selection in both track and cross-country. With eight varsity letters, he received the Gold Medal as the outstanding male athlete in the ’58 class. He is an orthodontist, served 20 years in the Air Force and still practices dentistry in Colorado.

CAROL HIGGINBOTHAM MOSSER
Carol Higginbotham was a standout and versatile athlete during the years 1959-62. She earned a total of seven letters in four sports – two each in hockey, basketball and softball and one in tennis.
Hockey was her first love and she was a bulwark of strength as a goalie, receiving team MVP honors in her junior year and captaining the Panther squad as a senior. One of her best memories is battling all-time great Lorraine Stiles of Gloucester and stoning several of her shots in her junior year.
At graduation Carol was presented with the coveted Gold Medal as the outstanding female athlete in the class of 1962.

CRAIG MILNES
Big Craig Milnes was an outstanding football and baseball player at Colls High in the mid-1960s and was also a solid contributor in basketball. He earned a total of six letters, two in each sport. He co-captained both the football and baseball teams.
Milnes was a bruising fullback and rugged defender (once blocking a kick for a touchdown) for two winning teams produced by Coach Dick Ridinger. He received first-team All-Colonial Conference honors in the gridiron sport and achieved the same recognition in the diamond sport. In baseball, he was the cleanup hitter and first baseman, but also stole home for the only run of the game in the semi-finals of the South Jersey Group 3 Tournament in his junior year.
Milnes also played football at West Chester State and has had a long teaching and coaching career at Pemberton High School, where he was head softball coach for 23 years and also coached football and girls’ basketball. In addition, he has been a powerful hitter on two national champion independent softball teams, one as recently as 2004.

CAROL FILIPPONE PIZARRO
Carol Filippone Pizarro, class of ’71, is one of the legions of Collingswood female athletes who considered it an honor to play for legendary Coach Bea Markwick. Now she joins her late mentor in the Athletic Hall of Fame.
Carol earned a total of nine varsity letters in her high school career, three each in hockey, basketball and lacrosse. The Colls won several championships in those sports during her playing days. She was co-captain of the lacrosse team and most valuable player of the field hockey squad.
She shares more than a first name and hockey-basketball background with sister inductee Carol Higginbotham Mosser. Both, like many other Colls High athletes, went on to earn bachelor’s degrees from Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey). Carol Pizarro also holds a master’s degree from Temple University.

ERICH EISENHART
“Ike” Eisenhart was a stalwart in football, wrestling and baseball for the class of 1973, earning three varsity letters in each sport. In football, he played fullback on offense, excelling as a blocker and ball-carrier, and on defense he was a hard-nosed defensive end.
In a big victory over Haddon Township during his senior season of 1972, Eisenhart scored the lone touchdown in the last quarter as the Colls prevailed, 7-0. He received first team All-Conference and All-Group 3 honors and was a second team All-South Jersey choice on defense.
Erich was a district champion at 168 pounds in wrestling and placed third in the regionals, also achieving All-Conference selection. During the spring seasons, he was a solid hitter and bulwark at third base for the Collingswood baseball teams.

RON ARON
Ron Aron, an Oaklyn product, is one of Colls High’s best baseball players of the past half-century. He was a top-notch pitcher who earned two letters and hurled the Panthers to the Colonial Conference championship in his senior year, 1982. It was Collingswood’s first baseball title in several years. For his efforts, Ron earned All-Conference, All-Group 3 and All-South Jersey honors. After his high school days, he also received All-American mention at the junior college level.
Aron was also a two-year letterman in basketball. A rugged forward, he was a second team All-Conference performer in his senior year. Today he is a well-respected community policing and DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) officer in neighboring Haddon Township.

PEGGY ENGELBERT RUST
Peggy Engelbert followed sister Cathy, already a Hall of Famer, as a top athlete in three sports during the early 1980s. She was a four-year letter-winner in gymnastics, qualified for the state sectionals in vaulting and earned a silver medal. She was captain and team MVP in gymnastics.
Peggy also won three varsity letters in both basketball and lacrosse. As in gymnastics, she captained and was team MVP in basketball. She was an important cog on a lacrosse team that won the state championship in sudden-death overtime, with sister Cathy scoring the memorable winning goal. Peggy was second team All-Sioux Division in lacrosse.
Her senior classmates voted her “Most Athletic” female for the class of 1983. This is a big year for the Rust family, as Peggy’s husband Rob was inducted into Paulsboro High’s Hall of Fame this past November.

MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD BERNARD BEALS, SR.
Bernard Beals, Sr. had his life cut short by a heart attack at the age of 52, but during his lifetime no one gave more to Collingswood High School and the Collingswood community than did he. He graduated from Colls High in 1932 and played with Jack Earle and company on some of Skeets Irvine’s greatest teams. Beals was not a star on that team, but he did have the thrill of running 70 yards for a touchdown against Haddon Heights. He played football and tennis for three years each and track for two years.
Beals attended Peirce Business College and became an IRS agent, and also served as a sergeant first class in the Army during World War II, but much of his adult life was devoted to serving Collingswood. The C.H.S. Alumni Association was an active and dynamic organization for many years and he was one of its leaders, serving several years as president. In that capacity, as well as a school board member, he was co-chairman of the committee that raised funds privately to commission the bust and dedicate the long-awaited “new” gym to the memory of Irvine.
Beals was an elected member of the Collingswood Board of Education for 19 years and was also a Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader in the community. His legacy of community service has been carried on by his son and namesake, Barney, a former school board member who is now chairman of the Collingswood High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee.

COACHING INDUCTEE
SANDRA POPE RITTER
Sandy Ritter retired following an emotional 2004 field hockey season in which her Panther team won the third state championship during her 22-year tenure as head coach. It was especially fulfilling for both Sandy and her players since she had missed much of the previous season while recovering from a serious illness.
Sandy joined the Collingswood High faculty in 1972 and her first head coaching job was basketball. For seven years the basketball teams of both genders were directed by Ritters. Her husband, Mark, whom she met and married at Colls High, was on his way to winning more games than any boys’ basketball coach in school history. Sandy also had success and one year both Ritters won league hoops championships. It should be noted that Sandy is now the third Ritter coach inducted in the Collingswood Hall of Fame, following Mark and his greatly-respected father, Astor.
Sandy also coached lacrosse at the junior high level, but field hockey was her first love. In 1982, she accepted an offer to become the legendary Bea Markwick’s assistant. The very next year, tragedy struck as Markwick was diagnosed with cancer. Sandy had to take over the reins under very trying circumstances, but she was more than up to the task. She guided Markwick’s last team to a South Jersey championship and, following the veteran coach’s death, won a conference championship in her first official year at the helm.
Ritter went on to surpass Markwick’s career victory total when she won her 304th game in 2003. Along the way, her Colls teams won 11 Colonial Conference crowns, five South Jersey championships and state championships in 1994, 2000 and 2004. More important is the relationship she has engendered with her players down through the years and the respect she gained from rival coaches and officials.

COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
FRANK F. LAW, JR.
Frank “Bud” Law has devoted his adult lifetime to serving the citizens of Collingswood, first as a member of the Board of Education for 21 years and as board president for 13 of those years. During that period he also served as president of the County Board for three years. He was elected a Borough Commissioner in 1980, serving as Commissioner and Director of Public Works for 13 years and then as Mayor from 1993-97.
Law has also served on the borough Library Board and is today the chief administrative officer for the Housing Authority. In addition, he has been a member of the Governor’s High School Requirement Committee, Our Lady of Lourdes Home Health Care Board and Institutional Review Committee, Collingswood Municipal Alliance, Transfiguration Parish Council and the Knights of Columbus.
Bud was a football standout at St. Joseph’s Prep School in Philadelphia and later played for Bainbridge Naval Training Station on one of the top service teams in the nation. He also attended Valley Forge Military Academy and graduated from Temple University after World War II. He was employed by Wyeth Laboratories for 38 years as district and territory sales manager.
Bud and his wife, Rita, are the parents of seven children. One is a graduate of Camden Catholic High School and the other six are Colls High grads. Several of their children distinguished themselves in athletics, as well.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
RALPH A. SKOWRON, M.D.
Dr. Ralph Skowron of the class of 1947 is this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient for a dedicated life of service to others through medicine and his military career as an aviator and flight surgeon. He has been a top achiever in both fields and attained the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force.
Following graduation from Colls High, he earned a B.S. degree from Villanova, attended Dickinson Law School and then entered Hahnemann Medical Center to obtain his M.D. degree in 1956. He went on to the U. of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Medicine for specialized studies in opthalmology and served residencies in that specialty at Philadelphia General Hospital and Temple University.
Meanwhile, he had become a private pilot and then enlisted in the Air Force as an officer. He furthered his studies and career in opthalmic pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Dr. Skowron has been a Class 1 FAA aviation medical examiner for almost 50 years and was an Air Force chief flight surgeon for almost 30 years. He served as the Delaware State Air Surgeon for several years and headed the entire Delaware Air National Guard as a Brigadier General for more than 12 years.
Now no more than semi-retired and living in New Hampshire, he still returns to this area to see former patients in nursing homes and military hospitals. He also continues his aviation medical examiner service, with occasional private flights which are less frequent than he might like. His family also considers him to be a world-class auction shopper.

Previous Lifetime Achievement Award Honorees
2002 – Bob Scarborough ’42 2003 – Doris E. Hand ’35
2004 – William K. Dickey ’39 2005 – Capt. Robert J. Bloxsom ’38