2021 RETIREES

Thanks& A Fond Farewell

PDS RETIREES

Reaching back to Miss Fine’s School, Princeton Country Day School and PDS, only 11 employees have enjoyed a tenure of forty or more years at our School. Their numbers are small, but their influence on the trajectory and fortunes of our School is immense. Two retirees in June 2021 are among this rare group: Barbara Brent and Steve Storey, whose collective careers stretch more than 85 years. Joining them in June were five other retirees whose time at PDS ranged from eight to nearly 30 years: Jody Erdman ’72, Jerry Hirniak, Janet Mayo, Rose Price and Maureen Stellato.

Barbara Brent

barbara brent’s career for 20 years as assistant to the athletics office and for another 20 years as assistant to the middle School began in the fall of 1981. as head of School Paul Stellato noted, “barbara has been surrogate parent to thousands of middle schoolers; tutor and guide to hundreds of teachers; and unflagging support for a score of middle School heads. She has shepherded countless parents through the roughest years any parent will ever know, and she has done so without breaking a sweat or calling for reinforcements.”

Steve hancock, now head of School at the University School of milwaukee, remembers his arrival in 2008 and barbara’s invaluable assistance: “Thankfully, barbara was more than ready to train a new middle School head. barbara was my proofreader, deadline reminder, and chief encourager. She was also the one who suggested i begin writing the weekly “focus notes” for families. barbara was a trusted resource who could always read the situation and was never shy in sharing her opinion. i came to love these qualities about barbara.” in the athletics office from 1981-2001, barbara worked closely with former athletic Director Jan baker. “barbara was involved with all aspects of the physical education and interscholastic programs. her knowledge, organizational skills, attention to detail, sense of humor and unflappability were invaluable; barbara was the team’s cornerstone as the PDS athletic program expanded to 52 teams in 17 different varsity sports. We shared 20 years of State championships, blue & White Days, crises, and victories and they are all more memorable for having barbara at my side,” Jan stated. former colleague marie Shock is “excited to share more lunches, shopping and trips with barbara in retirement, but i know how much she’ll be missed at PDS. always ready with a smile and never shirking from a challenge, she has touched the lives of thousands of students and hundreds of teachers and coaches. Devoted to exercise, she can be found on the towpath in titusville running or biking. With the Delaware river nearby, her kayak is another favorite pastime shared with husband michael.”

Barbara Brent Barbara enjoying retirement, summer 2021

Jody Erdman

Jody erdman has been a skilled colleague at PDS for 19 years and Director of the School’s anne reid ’72 art Gallery for more than a decade. She is also a humble person who happens to be part of a family with an awe-inspiring history at our School. as Jody explains, “i am honored to have worked at a school where my family legacy extends for five generations. my great grandfather Dr. charles erdman was a trustee emeritus at miss fine’s School for over thirty years, my father and grandfather served on the board of Princeton country Day and my son Spencer mooney is a proud member of the class of 2013. i am very grateful that Spencer was able to receive the same high quality education that i received as a student at the school almost fifty years ago.” as Gallery Director, Jody has showcased art from around the world, including the work of imagine the Possibilities visiting artists, and from as nearby as our talented middle, lower, and Upper School students and faculty. mr. Stellato observes, “Jody has endowed the Gallery with her taste, wit, and kindness. her classmate, anne reid, would be pleased and proud of Jody’s stewardship.”

Jody Erdman

“Jody’s work at PDS has been a creative anchor for the community—and Jody made sure that the entire campus had access to the wonderful gallery space. Some of my fondest memories include seeing dance and music performances in the Gallery, in conjunction with an opening or showing. The hall leading to the gallery filled with students during Jody’s wonderful celebrations of creativity and joy,” states Director of Performing and Visual arts & Design Stan cahill.

Jody cherishes her experiences as curator of more than one hundred Gallery exhibitions, including seven Imagine the Possibilities guest artist exhibits (itP is made possible through the John D. Wallace, Jr. ’78 memorial Guest artist Series fund) in collaboration with itP Director bev. Gallagher. The 2011 exhibit of itP guest artist Steve Jenkins’ animal works was particularly stunning, thanks to Jody’s painstaking recreation of Steve’s studio with a large-scale installation including an artist’s work desk filled with everything Steve had in boulder, plus his reference images, pencil sketches, cutout paper animals, proofs and galleys for his books before they went to press and his finished books. She also curated the ten year retrospective of Imagine the Possibilities plus additional solo exhibitions with raúl colón, Paul Zelinsky, matthew cordell, David Wiesner and Grace lin, exquisite work from the collections of isabella de la houssaye and lynn and bob Johnson, the PDS 50th anniversary alumni exhibition, the 50th anniversary of the arts council of Princeton, mel leipzig, bill hardy, homefront and a live auction where the School auctioned twelve paintings by Peter lighte. Jody also championed architectural exhibits, including the 2012 exhibit of michael Graves’ renowned works, and the exhibit of the Princeton University campus building architectural models of ron mccoy.

Though retired from PDS, Jody will continue to serve on the Princeton Public art Selection committee, which makes public art recommendations to Princeton’s town council.

Jerry Hirniak

Jerry hirniak championed artistry at PDS through the fine arts studio program and the media arts studio program. arriving 29 years ago to subterranean studio facilities, Jerry ultimately designed breathtaking new studio spaces in the edward and marie matthews arts Wing, where, as former head of School carlton tucker puts it, “his seriousness of purpose and dedication to his teaching and to his students brought drawing, painting and filmmaking to the forefront of the PDS arts.” carlton continues, “Jerry lived and breathed art; it was his lifeblood. his infectious passion for the arts whether in the studios, the art Gallery, or in conversations with colleagues as department chair infused arts into the PDS culture and reinforced the School’s commitment to the arts. Jerry even had salon-like dinners in his studio for various friends and colleagues just to converse about ideas. Passionate, cerebral, dedicated, and innovative are just a few of the descriptors that sum up Jerry hirniak’s three decades of teaching at PDS! in the pantheon of legendary PDS teachers, Jerry nurtured thousands of students in his art and film studios and his advisory group. his leadership in the film studio spawned truly innovative and provocative student works.” as a multicultural person juggling his Ukrainian, canadian and american heritages, he was devoted to his family and traveled often to see his mother in montreal. he loved seeing both of his sons, Stefan ’03 and nick ’07, at PDS, and later, watching Stefan compete nationally as a swimmer for UVa and at the olympic training level. Jerry’s other passion was tennis, about which he has always been a keen competitor.

Jerry’s farewell studio exhibit, Traces, was an elegant testimony to the power of 30 years of impact centered not on himself but on the goal of empowering the artistic mindset of each student. as photography teacher and colleague Thatcher cook puts it: “Jerry’s lessons are complex, intellectual endeavors. The painstaking elegance of his curriculum evolved from year to year. inspiration often came from contemporary issues, but was always coupled with the resources of Jerry’s encyclopedic knowledge of art history. at first the student’s results often were not obvious, but, without exception, they resulted in works of grand curiosity and occasional genius. Jerry’s legacy of showing how marks on a page may amount to great creative feats will be missed. The continuous flow of change is an integral part of Jerry’s work as a teacher and artist—and how fitting it is that his shoes will be filled, and his legacy continued, by one of his former students.” Jerry Hirniak

Janet Mayo

after 22 years at PDS, as library assistant in the Upper School, and as receptionist, Janet mayo is ready for fulltime adventure outside of PDS. her colleague and friend Janet Dixon, middle School library assistant, notes that “Janet’s talent for making people feel welcome and her friendly personality made Janet Mayo her a most popular receptionist. to encapsulate her essence, i need to tell you what being a friend of Janet mayo for over 20 years has meant.

it has meant being friends with someone with the same first name, who also had an irish mother who was larger than life and greatly influenced us. it has meant discussing daily our children, their triumphs and their problems. She is over the moon proud of her daughters, melissa and amanda, and her son matt, who with his wife Sherri, gifted her with her two grandchildren, raegan and ryder… but it is the gift of listening that i will miss the most. We listen to each other. We hear the joys and love the celebrations, and we hear the fears, the frustrations, the pain.” countless students and colleagues have relied on her friendliness, her willingness to help, and the cheerful halloween, Thanksgiving, Winter holidays, St. Patrick’s Day and other seasonal decorations. as a faculty member notes, “Janet has had the unenviable task of keeping track of hundreds of kids whereabouts, and she has done so with grace. i will miss her wit, her family photographs, her Word of the Day and the way she calls out my name when i walk past her desk.” as a testimony to her impact, in 2018, graduating seniors lobbied to have her deliver the commencement address at their graduation. as Janet Dixon recounts, “When Janet delivered that address, you understood completely why it was so important to the seniors that she be their speaker. She listened. She listened to them. more importantly, as you listened to her speech, you realized she KneW them. She called out so many of the seniors with funny and poignant anecdotes. She got a standing ovation and many said it was the best commencement address ever given, because it was about the students, not about Janet mayo, but about her memories of them and her hopes for their futures.” as Janet herself puts it, the move to reception made her realize how much she loved interacting with the community. “my greatest achievement was being chosen by the class of 2018 to be their speaker. i started at the desk when they started as freshmen. We grew up together! PDS has been a part of my life for 22 years. as happy as i am to retire, i will miss it very much!”

Rose Price

rose arrived at PDS in December 2013 as the assistant to Summer Programs. as assistant head of School for finance and operations Dulany Gibson says, PDS quickly appreciated that “rose and Summer Programs Director Jamie bean were a terrific duo, ensuring that each year eight weeks of programs ran smoothly and campers had a fun and enriching experience. after a staffing reorganization, rose took on the task of organizing all aspects of Summer Programs—scheduling programs, contracting instructors, hiring counselors, helping families sign up their children, etc. —a gargantuan task!” it would take six to eight months to prepare; the summer then flashed by in eight short weeks, and during that time, rose was everywhere: attending to both camper and instructor needs, rescheduling campers, checking in on how programs were running, transporting campers across campus, locating missing supplies and making sure campus classrooms were put back together for the faculty’s return in late august. as Dulany explains, “rose has been instrumental in the success of seven Summer Program seasons, which would have been eight but for the coViD cancellation in 2020, when she provided invaluable support to the online Panthers Summer Sessions offered to PDS students.” her Summer Programs partner, Jamie bean, says, “our working relationship is built upon mutual trust and respect, not to mention plenty of shared laughs. for most of the year, Summer Programs operates in the shadows of PDS, and it requires the stewardship of someone like rose to ensure that we are ready to launch without a hitch on the monday following commencement. as i am only on campus during the summer itself, rose would call me often during the year with updates or to run ideas past me. on a brisk winter afternoon, these conversations were always an uplifting reminder of warmer days ahead. but more than that, they were opportunities to catch up with my friend, rose. She has left Summer Programs far better and stronger than she found it and we will miss her steady presence.”

Rose Price

Maureen Stellato

Special events manager maureen Stellato has been a valued member of the advancement team for several years, having begun her tenure not long after that of her husband, head of School Paul Stellato. as assistant head of School for advancement and Strategic Priorities Kathy Schulte explains, “maureen’s ability to be both the head of Maureen Stellato School’s wife and a colleague of our incredible team is one that i have always admired. We would often make sure we clarified those two roles by calling her ‘mrs. Stellato’ when she was serving as the head of School’s wife or ‘maureen’ when she was serving as a trusted colleague. maureen’s love of Princeton Day School and attention to detail were a powerful combination. These attributes made her incredibly successful in her job. no task was too small and maureen always knew how each small detail built upon itself and brought great pride to everyone who attended one of her many special events over the years.”

Happy retirement to all... and thank you for your many years of caring for the PDS community

Director of alumni Programs and Giving Kaylie Keesling states, “When alumni Weekend is upon us, she has been a master of details, ensuring that our guests feel welcome and that our School shines. With maureen’s support every table setting is perfect, the grass is free of dandelions and each event runs smoothly.”

Senior Development officer courtney hodock shares, “as our Special events manager, maureen kept us all on task. She paid attention to every little event detail from invitation to rSVPs to flowers. maureen is a team player who takes great pride in her work and always makes sure we are all able to host the best event possible. i started here in may of 2019 and maureen quickly became my personal PDS guide. She literally took me under her wing, gave me lessons on PDS history, and shared her insider perspective— all priceless information that would have taken me years to learn. i am so grateful for maureen’s guidance!” it is a comfort to colleagues to know that maureen will still be in residence at behr house. Kaylie is especially grateful and looks forward to continuing to connect: “She’s always first to check in or bring a meal or offer to plan an entire garden for you when you find yourself with a large yard and no idea what to do with it. maureen is such incredibly thoughtful and caring friend.”

Steve Storey

“in so many ways, Steve’s is a Princeton Day School life,” states mr. Stellato of Steve Storey’s four-and-a-half decades of service to PDS. “Steve’s father, carl, was the School’s business manager for many years; Steve grew up learning the family business. in 1976, right out of high school, Steve joined the crew and ran the print shop. he was apprenticed for several years to the trades—plumbing, electrical, pump technology; acquired a catalog of licenses and permits; and, in 1997, was appointed Director of maintenance, a position he held for a decade. When he stepped down, he played a role that others played for him earlier in his career: as a mentor and guide to new members of the crew, including an eight-month stint as Director in 2017.”

US Science faculty carlos cara is grateful to count Steve Storey as a longtime friend and colleague. “The first thing i would say about Steve is that he is incredibly intelligent. his attention is focused on a number of interests. Steve Storey as a bearded young man at PDS. and when he got his trade licenses, whether they were plumbing or boiler licenses, it was not just a license acquisition to do the work; he really became a specialist at the level reached by experts in other fields around this campus. his just happened to be mechanical expertise. The second thing about Steve is that he can read people really well. as Director of facilities, he needed that skill to coordinate all of the different turf areas, skills and interests of so many tradespeople. he always did a great job managing people and genuinely cared about each and every one of them.” The number of headmasters Steve served in his 45 years here is in double figures, which is one indicator of the scope of his service at PDS. as carlos explains, “Steve knew every inch of this place, having worked in so many capacities across every quirk and intricacy of the School. he was involved in every single construction project, which includes the transformation of the ‘Pizza hut’, which is what we called the middle School area, the construction of the lower School building, the Science Wing, the transformation of the area that is now the campus center, the creation of the matthews arts Wing, the reconstruction of Shepherd commons, all the way through to the athletic center.” for those lucky enough to know Steve, he is not only interested in but knowledgeable about just about everything and a great person to get to know. “he’s a gentle giant, he’s funny, and he’s a great storyteller and musician,” carlos continues. “both Steve and his father were passionate about the Pine barrens and one of Steve’s many ways to enjoy his weekend time was to take his truck out there and explore that unique landscape. he fostered my love of the Pine barrens. Steve embodies Princeton Day School on so many levels and represents a true lifetime of service to this School.” Steve Storey colleague chris Devlin says, “from my very first day at PDS 18 years ago, Steve has been a mentor and has taught me so many things. There isn’t a thing Steve wouldn’t do for anyone; he would go to any length to give you the support you need. as sad as i am to see Steve retire, i could not be more happy for him. Steve and his partner, trish, recently bought a lovely home together. he’s got lots to look forward to. he has done so much for so many, and it is now time for Steve to take care of Steve and enjoy life.”