College Toasts 2015 Retirees with Fond Memories and Well Wishes at Farewell Program

More than 100 well-wishers gathered at the Sandra E. Klein Cube on May 5 to toast and honor 42 retiring faculty and staff members during the 2015 farewell program for retirees.

The audience—which included family, faculty, staff and Foundation board members—noshed on fresh fruit salad, brownies and cookies, and sipped iced tea and lemonade, as vice presidents Judith Gay, Jacob Eapen and Samuel Hirsch, and several staff directors shared stories and heartfelt memories about the many contributions the retirees have made to the College over the past decades.

This year’s retirees hail from a wide range of departments on the Main Campus and the West Regional Center, including Building Maintenance, Diagnostic Medical Imaging, Counseling, Academic Advising, English, Nursing, Biology, and the Controller’s Office. Several of this year’s retirees began their career at the College soon after the College opened its doors to Philadelphia students nearly 50 years ago. They included:

• Robert Rosenberg, associate professor of Psychology, who began working at the College in 1967. A senior member of the Psychology Department, Rosenberg is widely regarded by students over the years for being approachable and welcoming and was described by Dr. Judith Gay as “an extraordinary citizen of the College.” At the event, he told the audience, “I never intended to retire. I thought the retirement letter was sent by Publishers Clearinghouse. My wife forced me to sign it. The finest people I ever met so far in my lifetime were the ones I met here at Community College of Philadelphia.”
• Sonia Ochoch, associate professor of Psychology, who is retiring this year after 49 years of service to the College. Dr. Gay lauded Ochoch for being instrumental in developing the curriculum at the College from its early years, and for her pioneering role in teaching night and online classes in psychology. Said Ochoch, “The most interesting thing is I run into students everywhere. They say, ‘Dr. Ochroch, do you remember me?’”
• Bettie Davis, assistant professor of Marketing and Management, who retires in December after 48 years of service to the College. Davis is a member of the inaugural graduating class of 1967 at the College, where she earned an associate’s degree in Executive Secretary Science before earning a bachelor’s degree at Drexel University and a master’s degree at the University of Scranton. One of the last retirees honored at the celebration, Davis looked out at the packed crowd and said, “Comparing this year’s graduating class to my class, we had 167 students. Now we have 2,000. I’ve seen this place grow. It’s wonderful.”