Rohan Freeman
Dr. Shyamala Raman
Dr. Galo Rodriguez
Chaplain Aida Mansoor
Director of Field Education at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, working with students in the Peacebuilding and Chaplaincy Graduate Programs. Born in London to parents from Sri Lanka, she is active in the community and works with the Islamic Association of Greater Hartford and on the Community Service Committee of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut, where she was President from 2011-2015. A Community Chaplain in the Greater Hartford area committed to building bridges of understanding, Aida has been making presentations about Islam and the Muslim world since 1999. She is also a board member of the Connecticut Council for Interreligious Understanding, the Coalition for Elder Justice in Connecticut and the State of Connecticut's Commission Against Hate Crimes. Her awards include the Human Relations Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice, a Pubic Service Award from the Permanent Commission on the Status of Hartford Women (City of Hartford), and she was named one of 30 Women of Distinction in 2019 by Hartford Magazine. She holds an undergraduate degree with honors in biology and physiology from King's College (London), a master's degree in community health from California College of Health Sciences and a master's degree in Islamic studies and Christian Muslim relations from Hartford Seminary.
Marilda Gándara
Born in Cuba, former President of the philanthropic AETNA Foundation, 1998-2008. Ms. Gandara had a 30 career with Aetna — including Attorney Specializing in real estate and manager of a $5 billion real estate portfolio. She serves on the Executive Committee for the Veterans Day Parade, on the boards of CT Forum, Hartford Hospital, and Covenant Prep. She has been honored by many nonprofits, including Hispanics in Philanthropy, The Bushnell, Urban League of Greater Hartford, Metro Hartford Alliance and the CT Council for Philanthropy. She has a Law Degree from UCONN.Her mother and she fled Cuba to the US, when she was 10 years old.
Judith Altmann
Was born in Jasina Czechoslovakia, which was occupied by the Nazis in 1939. In 1944 she was arrested and transported to Auschwitz concentration camp with her niece where they were selected for work. From there she was sent to Essen and Gelsenkirchen Labor camps where she remained until March 1945. She survived the "death march" that ended in the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. Sick with typhus, Judy was barely alive when she was liberated by the British Army in 1945. Ms. Altmann was given the opportunity to go to Sweden. She lived in Swedenuntil1948atwhichtimesheimmigratedtothe United States. Judy, who has extensive experience speaking in schools, is a member of the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Speakers Bureau and is Vice President of the Holocaust Child Survivors of Connecticut.
Dr. Radenka Maric
Vice President for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VPRIE), is Interim President of the University of Connecticut, the state’s flagship public university. She also holds the rank of Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Chair Professor in Sustainable Energy in UConn’s Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering. She previously served as Executive Director of the UConn Technology Park and Innovation Partnership Building. Dr. Maric is a world leader in technologies for clean energy and sustainability. She brings her technical background in materials and energy to create, manage and lead innovative programs designed to commercialize new products and develop emerging markets. She was born and raised in the former Yugoslavia and earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Belgrade in Serbia, then earned her master’s and Ph.D. in materials science and energy at Kyoto University in Japan. She is a talented painter and pianist, an amateur chef, and speaks four languages fluently (Croatian, English, German, and Japanese). She holds the rank of Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019), the National Academy of Inventors (2019), and the International Association of Advanced Materials (2020).
Dr. Zulma R. Toro
In 2017, Dr. Zulma R. Toro became the 13th President of Central Connecticut State University and the first female and first Hispanic to hold the position in CCSU’s history. With a reputation as an extraordinary leader dedicated to making higher education more diverse and inclusive, Dr. Toro’s life has been one of overcoming obstacles and adversity to achieve excellence. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Dr. Toro chose an extraordinary educational path – she graduated from the University of Puerto in 1982 with a degree in industrial engineering, a traditionally male-dominated field. She earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan and Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining CCSU, she served as Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and previously held leadership positions with Wichita State University, the University of New Haven and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. Dr. Toro’s extensive array of publications have testified eloquently about the national imperative of preparing women for careers in engineering and STEM, and she has spoken passionately about the challenges and opportunities for women of color in realizing their full potential.
Dr. Henry C. Lee
One of the world’s foremost and most widely recognized and admired forensic scientists, Dr. Henry C. Lee has fundamentally changed the way modern-day criminal investigations are conducted. Born in China the 11th of 13 children in 1938 and raised in Taiwan, Dr. Lee, who holds master’s and Ph.D. degrees in biochemistry from New York University, has worked with law enforcement to help solve more than 8,000 cases. He has been a prominent player in many of the world’s most challenging and high-profile investigations and criminal trials, including the O.J. Simpson, William Kennedy Smith and “woodchipper” murder trials, the Jon Benet Ramsey case, the suicide of White House Counsel Vincent Foster and the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. A former Commissioner of Public Safety for the State of Connecticut and the State’s chief criminalist for more than 20 years, Dr. Lee founded the University of New Haven’s Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science. He has taught at more than a dozen universities, law schools and medical schools; authored hundreds of articles and co-authored more than 40 books; lectured extensively around the world; and is the holder of numerous awards and more than 20 honorary degrees.
Lucian Pawlak
For three decades, Lucian Pawlak has been one of Connecticut’s most respected and beloved community leaders, a tour de force “man of the people” whose dedication to his New Britain community and those who call it home has known no bounds. Born of Polish heritage in Belgium in 1947, Pawlak came to New Britain in 1956 and distinguished himself as a star athlete at New Britain High School. His role as a city leader began with his 1987 election as City Treasurer, but it was during Pawlak’s term as Mayor from 1995-2003 that he cemented his legacy. Pawlak’s passionate leadership was vital to the revitalization of the city’s “Little Poland” corridor; the battle to fund a new city water treatment plant; and a successful city-wide effort to eliminate blight and bring new life to troubled neighborhoods. Pawlak is a leading figure in the success of the popular Dozynki and Little Poland Festivals; a director of the New Britain Institute, Trinity-on-Main and the Polish American Council of Greater New Britain Charities; a member of the New Britain Sports Hall of Fame; and a recipient of countless community service and leadership accolades. In 1998, Pawlak received the Cavalier's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for his outstanding contributions to Polish/U.S. relations.
Rabbi Philip Lazowski
The remarkable journey of Rabbi Philip Lazowski from Holocaust survivor to spiritual leader has inspired countless congregants, families and communities for decades. Born in Poland in 1930, Lazowski was 11 in 1941 when the Nazis invaded his hometown, destroying his family’s home and possessions. For four years he survived in desperation, being saved by a stranger who claimed him as her son, narrowly escaping execution by being tossed by his mother from a second story window and living in the woods for two years. In 1947 Lazowski made his way to America to pursue a life dedicated to faith and to ensuring the horrors of the Holocaust are never forgotten. He attended Brooklyn College and Yeshiva University Rabbinical School and relocated to Hartford, where he married the daughter of the stranger who had saved him from certain death years earlier. Author of more than a dozen books, including his autobiography Faith and Destiny, Lazowski was Rabbi at Beth Sholom Synagogue in Hartford; is Rabbi Emeritus of Beth Hillel Synagogue in Bloomfield and Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford; was chaplain of the Hartford Police for 55 years; and remains Chaplain of the Connecticut State Senate.
Daisy Cocco De Filippis
For nearly four decades, educator, author, scholar and Dominican Republic native Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis has been a leader in the advancement of educational opportunities and a pioneer in the field of Dominican women studies. President of Naugatuck Valley Community College (NVCC) in Waterbury and Danbury since 2008, De Filippis has built a legacy of shared community vision, student-centeredness, collaboration and civic engagement, and under her guidance student retention has risen, enrollment has increased and graduation awards have more than doubled. In September 2016, NVCC was named one of the Top 25 community colleges nationwide in advancing opportunities for low-income students. Dr. De Filippis holds a Ph.D. in Spanish language and a M. Phil. in Spanish literature from the Graduate School and University Center of CUNY, an M.A. in Spanish literature and a B.A. in Spanish and English Literatures from Queens College, CUNY. In 2016, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in the Humanities by the University of Santo Domingo, the oldest university in the Americas, in recognition of her contributions to Dominican, Caribbean and Dominican Diaspora literature.
Adnan Durrani
One of the world’s leading entrepreneurs, Adnan Durrani is Chief Executive Officer of American Halal/Saffron Road Foods in Stamford and President of Condor Ventures, Inc., a strategic investor in natural food companies. Saffron Road is the first Halal product to be sold nationally by Whole Foods and is now sold in 15,000 food stores in the U.S. Mr. Durrani has been recognized as one of the entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who engineered "20 Ideas That Changed the Way the World Does Business." He founded Vermont Pure/Crystal Rock Water Co., the second-largest bottled water company in the Northeast, and was a financial partner of Stonyfield Farms, Inc., the leading organic yogurt brand. He was also a principal of Delicious Brands, Inc., which became the nation’s fifth largest cookie brand. A graduate of Columbia University, Mr. Durrani is Chairman Emeritus of Columbia’s Board of Visitors of the Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He is the former Director, Treasurer and Finance Chair of READ (Rural Education and Development Enterprise) Nepal, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded organization devoted to building libraries in rural communities in Nepal and India.
The Koh Family
Since moving to New Haven in 1961, the Koh Family has made monumental contributions in the fields of international relations, health and human rights. As South Korean natives, the late Kwang Lim Koh and his wife, 89-year-old Dr. Hesung Chun Koh, dedicated their lives to inspiring cross-cultural exchange, Kwang Lim as former South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. and Professor and Director of the Center for Area and Interdisciplinary Studies at CCSU, Hesung Chun as Co-Founder, Chair and President Emerita of East Rock Institute, the first U.S. institution dedicated to Korean Diaspora culture. Their six accomplished children include: Dr. Howard Kyongju Koh, the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Kennedy School, is a former Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services and Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health; Harold Hongju Koh, Sterling Professor of International Law and former Dean at Yale Law School, and former Legal Adviser and Assistant Secretary for Human Rights at the U.S. Dept. of State, is a leading expert in public and private international law, national security law and human rights; and Jean Kyongun Koh Peters, the Sol Goldman Clinical Professor of Law at Yale Law School and an expert in children, families and the law.
Dr. Stanislaw Milewski (Posthumous)
Born in Bagrowo, Poland in 1930, the late Dr. Stanislaw Milewski overcame wartime oppression as a child to become a leading ophthalmologist, mentor and humanitarian in the U.S. Deported with family to Russia in 1940, Dr. Milewski made his way to the U.S. in 1959, earning medical degrees and completing various internships, residencies and fellowships at esteemed medical centers including Leicester Royal Infirmary (England) and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary of Harvard Medical School among others. He established Retina Consultants, P.C., in Manchester in the 1970s, and was Chief of Ophthalmology at Manchester Memorial Hospital for 15 years, where he was the first to perform vitreoretinal surgery in the Hartford area. Dr. Milewski established the Milewski Polish Studies Lecture Endowment Fund at CCSU, the Milewski Scholarship Endowment Fund at the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York, and over the years donated nearly half a million dollars in ophthalmic equipment to various universities in Poland. Among his many awards were the Cavalier Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 1996 and the Outstanding Physician Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 from ECHN, Manchester Memorial Hospital and Rockville General Hospital.
Franciszek Herzog
(The Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame would like to thank Kamila Herzog and her granddaughter, Cassandra Skobrak, for their assistance in preparing the following story about 2017 IHHF Inductee Franciszek “Frank” Herzog.)
Franciszek Herzog unfortunately did not live long enough to appreciate the honor of being inducted into the Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame, but his life was never about recognition; he lived to help people, especially children.
Franek was born in Poland, the third son in a military family, and lived there until World War II. His father, also Franciszek and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Polish Army, was engaged in the war from the very beginning. Unfortunately, the Polish Army had to capitulate, at which time his father was captured by the Russians and taken to a POW camp with about 4,000 other officers. It was later discovered that there were three camps, and altogether about 15,000 officers, policemen and other government employees were murdered there in what became known as the Katyn Massacre.
Meanwhile, Franek, his mother, and his elder brothers Waclaw and Tadeusz were deported to Siberia. His mother died there due to a shortage of food and medication, leaving the boys orphaned.
After their mother's passing, the Herzog brothers learned that a Polish army was being formed in Southern Russia, along with Polish orphanages. The three brothers managed to make their way to Tashkent, in Southern Kazakhstan, where Waclaw joined the Navy. Tadeusz, 15 at the time, and Franek, 11, were taken into the orphanage and evacuated to India. The conditions of the camp were spartan; Americans would consider these conditions deplorable, but after what the Herzogs had been through it seemed liked heaven. Franek’s reminiscences of life in India were always fond ones, and it was during this time that he discovered Polish Scouting, which would become a lifelong passion.
In 1947, Franek was able to join his brothers in England, but he was unsure what to do next. Being 16, he had few choices for work. Fortunately, fate led him to a scouting instructor from India who helped him gain acceptance to a Polish High School, which was formed especially for displaced people. He finished high school and prepared to take English exams which would allow him to go to college.
The prospect of attending college was anything but simple; although education was free, he still needed somewhere to live and the ability to support himself. A grant gave him enough for the two years of college, and he secured lodging in a very small and basic room. After the war, in London, housing was very difficult to find; some parts were in ruins and a lot of food was still rationed. Franek managed to survive, though, grateful for what he had. After college, he began working as an electrical draftsman while continuing his education by taking evening classes. It was about this time that he met Kamila Mikucka and they were married in 1956. Their daughter, Ivona, was born in 1959, and they remained in London until 1962.
Franek’s involvement in Polish Scouting continued. In addition to managing his family, work and studies, he always found time for the scouts, attending weekly meetings with his troop and helping to run summer camps.
In 1962, after seeing an advertisement for a position with Northeast Utilities in Connecticut, Franek and his wife decided that they were ready for a new adventure. Franek submitted his resume, got an interview in London, and was offered a job as an electrical engineer. In a few months, the family moved to Connecticut. Shortly after, while attending the Pulaski Parade in Hartford, they were surprised to see a group of Polish Scouts marching in the parade. Franek instantly made some connections with the scouts, and a few months later started helping.
In 1974, Franek learned of a site in Palmer, Massachusetts, which would be perfect as a camp for the younger children. He made arrangements, recruited some help, and began running an annual two-week summer camp which continues to this day. Each year the group grew larger and with it, the demand for more help. Not many people volunteered to use a week or two of their vacation time working with the scouts, but for 37 years Franek organized the camp and did much of the work on his own. He always believed that scouting, no matter the nationality, was valuable in building character and solid citizens.
He also firmly believed that people should always know their roots, and was dedicated to learning all he could about his own. After discovering that his father and uncle were executed in a POW camp in Russia, it was Franek’s own extensive research that determined they were killed in the Katyn Massacre, a series of mass executions of Polish nationals conducted by Soviets. Although the mass graves were discovered in 1943, cover-ups refusing to implicate Russia stayed in place until 1952. At that time, the United States remained silent on the matter. Franek was unrelenting in his efforts to gain acknowledgement and an apology from the United States for its role in keeping word of Russian involvement suppressed.
For all his devotion to Poland, Franek was a fine American, happy in his adopted country. He was deeply proud of his family: his wife, Kamila, was always supportive in any way she could be and is a model of diligence, notably making their home in Hebron into a veritable Eden. His daughter Ivona is the wife of a Naval officer who worked his way up through the ranks after enlisting, serving his country for 39 years before retiring with the rank of Captain. Though this meant picking up and moving every few years to such places as Scotland, Hawaii and Guam, they embraced the chances to experience so many different surroundings and cultures. Two of his grandchildren also chose military routes. The oldest, Stephen, joined the Marines, doing two tours in Iraq as well as two years stationed in Okinawa. The youngest, Greg, also joined the Marines, going through Officer Candidate School, and is currently waiting to see what life will have in store for him. The middle grandchild, Cassie, recently completed her Master's degree in Library and Information Science. They are all exemplary citizens who learned much about Poland, Polish customs and life from their grandfather, whom they loved and respected.
Because of his background as an orphan, and being helped by so many people and organizations along the way to build character and become a good and productive citizen, Franek felt his duty was to give back and do the same for others in whatever ways he could. Together with his friends, he organized help for poor families in Eastern Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. He also organized help to Polish Scouting in Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. Helping others was always his focus, throughout his entire life.
Ann Horelik,, who was brought on by Franek in 1974 to help run his scout camp in Palmer, remembers Franek fondly.
“Frank loved children, and he loved everything to do with scouting,” she says. “He was a very caring, very loving man. He demanded respect, he got it, and the children loved him.
“I think because of his experience, having been an orphan himself, he understood how much children needed love, nurturing and guidance. And he devoted his life to providing it.”
Rabbi Henry Okolica
I’ll tell you a story that will blow your mind away.”
As Daniel Okolica prepares to tell a tale about his Dad, the late Rabbi Henry Okolica, one can sense the enormous love and respect he has for this diminutive giant of a man, or “Everyone’s Rabbi” as he was fondly called by legions of admirers. Daniel’s story captures the essence of his father, a man who embraced and inspired all of humanity regardless of faith, background or station in life.
“I was about 5 years old and we were living in Daytona Beach at the time,” says 72-year-old Daniel recalling his father, one of six 2017 inductees of Connecticut’s Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame. “A man was murdered in our community by his son, and the son was in prison. Remarkably my father took me with him to visit this man, this murderer, in the prison.
“There must have been 20, 30 convicts in a big pen. All the men were down to their underwear, there was no air conditioning. It was stifling. We saw one convict on the floor in a pool of urine,” he continues. “And my father finds this man, this son who killed his father, and speaks with him, counsels him, gives him support. Here I am, 5 years old at the time, witnessing this. Nowadays I’m sure no one would be allowed to bring a 5-year-old into such an environment.
“But this is just the way it was with my father,” Daniel concludes. “It did not make any difference to him who anyone was. You could be deranged. You could be a murderer. You could be the worst of the worst. To my father, you were simply a human being – and all that mattered to him was helping humanity.”
Rabbi Henry Okolica, who passed away in September at age 103 having spent a century doing God’s work, stated on more than one occasion that his mission in life to serve others was a calling, shaped by his good fortune in escaping Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. This coming week will mark the 79th anniversary of the infamous Nazi persecution campaign Kristallnacht, or “Night of Broken Glass,” an overnight campaign of tyranny against Jews which Okolica survived.
Rabbi Okolica’s flee from Germany was fraught with twists, turns and, ultimately, good fortune. Having managed to gain a visa to England, he was nevertheless detained at the Frankfort train station and spent the night in a Gestapo jail cell.
“He saw the beatings, heard all the screams, the blood-curdling cries,” says Daniel. “My mother’s father, who never made it out of Germany, mortgaged his home to the Gestapo to gain my father’s freedom.”
“God took care of me,” Rabbi Okolica would often say in later years. “I didn’t escape Germany to live my own life. I escaped because God commanded me to be his helper.”
Okolica arrived in New York City in 1940, and married his wife of more than 70 years, Lisbeth, the following year. He answered his calling in pulpits in New York, Washington and Florida before settling in New Britain in 1960, assuming leadership of Congregation Tephereth Israel on Winter Street.
Rabbi Okolica’s presence was felt in all walks of life within New Britain and beyond for the 50 years he was at the helm of the congregation. As if leading a synagogue of some 500 congregants in the then-bustling Hardware City wasn’t enough, he was omnipresent within numerous city and community organizations. He served as the Jewish chaplain at Central Connecticut State University, as well as for the City’s fire and police departments and numerous organizations, always offering a kind word, sage counsel or spiritual guidance.
The Rabbi and Lisbeth became renowned within the community and beyond for their Shabbat hospitality. The doors of their home would be open each Sunday to welcome friends and strangers from all walks of life and from near and far. The guests might include prominent community leaders or someone struggling to make ends meet – it did not matter to the Okolicas.
“It was a cavalcade of humanity,” Daniel recalls.
Shortly after relocating to New Britain, the Rabbi began visiting the Veteran’s Home and Hospital in Rocky Hill. Seeing the desperate help needed by so many veterans with alcohol and substance abuse issues, he waged a personal campaign to gain space at the facility to start a rehabilitation program, an effort that was not openly embraced by officials at the outset. The Rabbi was so devoted to the cause and helping veterans in need, he would often sleep at the facility overnight.
Today, the rehab program Rabbi Okolica fought so hard to establish has become the Connecticut VA’s Fellowship House, a fully staffed recovery support program that has helped thousands of veterans.
“He had a way of speaking to the hearts of all. Veterans felt he was someone who could hear them,” says former Connecticut Veterans Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwartz. “He was a pioneer. He got everybody thinking about how we could do this better.”
For nearly 40 years, Rabbi Okolica hosted the weekly “Jewish Faith” program locally produced by WVIT Channel 30. Former U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Johnson – who made her first public appearance on the show – recalled the Rabbi fondly in an interview with The Hartford Courant in 2003.
“Of all the religious leaders he was the most dogged about reaching across lines of faith to build a community,” she recalled. “Back when there were deep lines between Catholics and other Christians in New Britain, he was the one who knew that everyone had to come together. He was an activist and a unifier, profoundly accepting and loving.”
New Britain Herald Publisher Michael Schroeder, who came to New Britain in 2009, met the Rabbi through the Rotary Club and formed an immediate bond.
“I was taken by the wisdom he shared whenever he spoke. He brought a warmth to whatever room he was in, and I learned something important about life every time I heard him speak,” says Schroeder, a member of the Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame Planning Committee.
The close, personal bonds with those from all walks of life that Rabbi Okolica was able to create during his lifetime are perfectly captured within the Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame’s Class of 2017, through none other than fellow inductees Angelo Tomasso, Sr. and his son, Angelo, Jr. The Tomassos may have had far different backgrounds and lives than the Rabbi, but with their church, St. Ann’s, just a stone’s throw from the synagogue, they developed mutual admiration and a close friendship lasting many years.
“Our pastor held Rabbi Okolica in high regard, and when our church held a tribute for our pastor, the keynote speaker was the Rabbi,” said Angelo Tomasso, Jr.’s son, Michael Tomasso, in a 2011 interview with the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. “We would get a call from the Rabbi about a family in town in trouble and we would help them, together.”
While Rabbi Okolica’s passing just weeks ago has left a void in the community, his legacy of love for mankind is one that will live on, says Schroeder.
“It is safe to say that through his lifetime, Rabbi Okolica touched the lives of millions,” says Schroeder. “He was one of a kind, through the final days of his life.”
(Photos courtesy of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford.)
Bessy Reyna
Bessy Reyna was sitting in a taxi cab at JFK Airport in 1968, a young 20-something foreigner just arrived from Panama speaking thickly accented English. It was late, she was tired, a stranger in a foreign land thoroughly alone, and she needed somehow, someway to get to South Hadley, Mass., and Mount Holyoke College.
And she had $40 in her pocket.
It was at that moment that Bessy, a 2017 inductee of the Connecticut Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame, experienced – fortunately – the kindness of mankind. In a country that can sometimes seem cold and unwelcoming to foreigners, Bessy learned that day that perhaps, just perhaps, her adventure in a new world might turn out OK.
“How much would it cost to go to South Hadley, Massachusetts?’ Bessy asked the amused cabbie, a middle-aged Italian man. “Do you have $250?” he asked.
It took a moment before Bessy realized the man was kidding. In fact, Bessy had a ticket for a connecting flight, and the cabbie kindly escorted her to the proper terminal, carried her luggage, called the family in Holyoke that was going to pick Bessy up, and ensured that she was on her way safely.
When Bessy tried to give him the money she had, he refused and said, “If my daughter ever found herself in your situation, I would like to think that someone, somewhere would be willing to help.”
“This incredible man took care of me,” Bessy recalls in wonderment, nearly 50 years after the fact. “So today, when I do something for someone, I am paying him back. The kindness he showed to me was so extraordinary.”
This story was first told by Bessy, an award-winning, bilingual poet, activist, lecturer and journalist known for her strong voice on a wide range of social issues of the day including women’s rights and on behalf of the gay community, in the first column she ever wrote for The Hartford Courant. Bessy spent nearly a decade, from 2000 to 2009, as an opinion columnist for The Courant, and it was this column that intrigued Editorial Page Editor Carolyn Lumsden enough to hire her as a freelancer.
“It was such a wonderful piece of writing, such a touching story, we just had to bring her on board,” recalls Lumsden. “She knows how to write, to make abstract ideas concrete. Bessy really has a gift for drawing you into a story and sharing a larger moral message.”
Born in Cuba and raised in Panama, Bessy Reyna has lived a full life giving voice to those who have no voice. Driven to learn and explore the world beyond her home in Panama, Bessy was attending college in Panama when she learned of a scholarship opportunity in the United States. She applied and was accepted at Mount Holyoke College.
“I needed an intellectual challenge that I wasn’t getting in Panama, and this was my way out,” she says.
Bessy graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mount Holyoke in 1970, and went on to earn a master’s degree in child development (1972) and law degree (1982) from the University of Connecticut. She continued her pursuit of education in the United States for as long as she could via her student visa to avoid having to return to Panama.
“At that time in Panama there was a military regime and I felt I would be in danger if I returned,” she says. “A lot of my friends were being put in jail or exiled.”
Ultimately, Bessy determined she needed to stay in the U.S. permanently. Because she was born in Cuba she was able to obtain her green card through political asylum.
It was also around this time that Bessy openly embraced her identity as a gay woman, another factor in her wanting to remain in the U.S. She had met her future spouse, Susan Holmes, and did not wish to live a lie in a part of the world where, she says, homosexuality is not as readily accepted as it is in this country. Her choice would prove to benefit countless others.
“When I was writing for The Courant, I wrote a lot of pro-gay articles. As a grad student, I was one of the first students to openly speak to different classes,” Bessy says. “Back then, people were so frightened. There would always be one or two students coming up to me after I spoke, asking ‘can I talk to you?’ That, to me, meant a whole lot, that I could be a part of helping them feel better about themselves.”
Bessy played a leading role in the establishment of both the Rainbow Center and Women’s Center at the University of Connecticut more than 40 years ago, both of which continue today as vital resources and thriving components of the UConn experience.
Bessy is the author of two bilingual books of poetry and has been published in numerous magazines and journals. In 2014, she was the producer of a two-week poetry festival, "Hartford Loves Poetry," which brought poetry to every neighborhood in the city and culminated with a reading by immigrants of poems in over 20 different languages.
Bessy currently serves as arts editor for the Hispanic newspaper Identidad Latina, and is a contributor to www.CTLatinoNews.com. She is a frequent lecturer; has participated in international poetry festivals in Nicaragua, Cuba and the United States; and has taught writing workshops as far away as Guatemala. As a former Master Teaching Artist for the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, and the Partners in Education of the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Bessy has presented poetry workshops to children in urban schools in the Hartford area.
Bessy’s literary and arts awards and commendations are many, including the Connecticut Center for the Book Lifetime Achievement in Service to the Literary Community Award (2009); recognition from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (2009); the Inaugural Diversity Award presented by the Vice Provost for Multicultural and International Affairs at the University of Connecticut (2006); and the One Woman Makes A Difference Award from the Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund (2007).
In 2001, Bessy was named Latina Citizen of the Year by the State of Connecticut Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission and in 2012 she was one of 10 women honored by the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. In 2016, the San Juan Center in Hartford honored her with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Latino Arts in Connecticut, and she was one of 16 immigrants honored by the Immigrant and Refugee Association of Connecticut.
Bessy’s close friend, Dr. Estela Lopez, a fellow native of Cuba and retired provost of the State of Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education, admires her good friend for her lifetime of making a difference.
“I think you have to be a strong person to face all the things Bessy has faced, including being a gay woman, being a poet when it is hard to make a living out of poetry, coming to this country to find herself and then defending those who need to be defended because nobody else does it for them,” Dr. Lopez says. “Bessy is brave, someone who is always giving to those who do not have. It’s in her DNA.”
Angelo Tomasso, Sr.
Life was beautiful but challenging for Angelo Tomasso, Sr., as a youngster growing up in the Abruzzo Mountain village of Abbateggio, Italy, snow-capped peaks to the north, the Adriatic Sea to the east, Rome a distant two and a half hours to the west – and little more than stone beneath his feet in a mountainous region where making a living was difficult at best.
“It’s an absolutely beautiful place, but the land there is very hard to cultivate. It’s all rocks,” says his grandson, Michael Tomasso. “There are almost no trees, and the ones they have are protected because they are needed to hold up the sides of the mountain to prevent erosion.”
Given his roots, it’s no wonder that the resourceful Tomasso, a 2017 inductee of the Connecticut Immigrant Heritage Hall of Fame, found a way to turn stone into fortune – only doing so here in America. He arrived at age 17 in 1910, served his new country in World War I, and found work in the railroad industry – quickly moving up from day laborer to foreman – before managing to cobble enough resources together to start his own construction company, Angelo Tomasso, Inc., in New Britain in 1923.
He started his new company with exactly one piece of equipment – a steam shovel. And it was all he needed.
An industrious, driven and opportunistic man, Angelo Tomasso, Sr., was smart enough to know not to take opportunity for granted. His legendary stamina, work ethic and determination to succeed and provide for his family are captured by the tale of his winning one particular contract in his company’s earliest days.
As the story goes, Angelo got wind of a large contract being on the table to construct the foundation of a new Hartford County government building. The catch was, the contract would be awarded to the first contractor to arrive on site.
Angelo proceeded to get in his lone steam shovel and promptly drive all night from New Britain to Hartford to arrive on site along with the sunrise – ahead of every other contractor, of course. Angelo won the contract, and the seeds of the Tomasso legend were sown.
For all his industriousness, a large factor in Angelo Tomasso, Sr.’s success was the role his wife, Nazzarena, played. “My grandmother was very bright and a very strong person,” says Michael. “And she was a big part of my grandfather’s success.”
Michael is fond of telling a story that demonstrates both his grandfather’s resourcefulness and his grandmother’s role in the family’s success.
“They made a great team,” he says. “She went to high school and could read and write, while my grandfather could not. Here’s a man who learned English just by listening, and he certainly did not know how to do math – yet he had a great business mind.
“So, when he would bid on a job, he would excuse himself from the meeting to go to the bathroom – only what he did was find a phone to call my grandmother,” Michael laughs. “He’d give her the numbers, she would do the math, he’d go back to the meeting with the requisite answers and he’d make the deal. A handshake and off he went.”
Early business success notwithstanding, Tomasso faced near catastrophe like so many others during the Great Depression. “Fortunately, he had built up some reserves and he owned some land,” says Michael. “He had his quarry in New Britain at the time, he was able to hang onto that, but he went through hard times and nearly lost everything. People would wait in his driveway in the morning begging him for work.”
It was Angelo Tomasso, Sr., who excavated the foundations for the Fafnir Bearing Company in New Britain, one of the largest employers in the bustling Hardware City. It was Angelo Tomasso, Sr., who built most of the roads in New Britain. It was Angelo Tomasso, Sr., who built the first section of New York’s Taconic Parkway. It was Angelo Tomasso, Sr., who was responsible for the original construction of Brainard Airport in Hartford. And it was under the leadership of Angelo Tomasso, Sr., in 1950 that the company set a record by transporting 797 tons of blacktop 25 miles in one day to the Bradley Field Airport.
Successful businessman that he was, Angelo Tomasso had a soft side, as well, and it was his generosity toward others and concern for his community that began a long family and company tradition of supporting charitable causes in New Britain and beyond.
“He was an extremely generous man, always helping others, always giving something away,” says Michael. “One winter he came home in the middle of the night, and my grandmother asks, ‘Where’s your coat?’ So, he says, ‘I’m not cold.’ To which she replies, ‘Wait a minute, I want to know where your coat is.’
“So, he finally tells her, ‘There was a man who didn’t have a coat and he was freezing, so I gave it to him.’ Growing up, there were always stories like that about my grandfather.”
Angelo, Sr. was an influential leader within many ethnic organizations in the city, and was active politically, as well, in the Democratic party. He took great pride in his adopted hometown of New Britain and would regularly march in the city’s holiday parades. He even befriended Franklin D. Roosevelt when the future president was governor of New York.
The Tomasso family learned first-hand the dangers of the difficult, laborious business they had chosen when in 1949, at his new quarry in Plainville, Angelo was struck in the head by a large stone during a construction accident. While he recovered and continued to run the company with the help of his wife and four sons, Angelo, Jr., George, Victor and Bill, things were never quite the same. Angelo Tomasso, Sr., died three years later in 1952 at the age of 59.
Though they never had a chance to meet their grandfather, Michael and his five siblings, Nancy, Paul, James, William and Carolyn, are deeply appreciative of the enormous legacy their grandfather left and the influence he has had on their lives and the lives of so many others. Asked about where his grandfather’s commitment to helping others came from, Michael says it was all rooted in his deep appreciation for the opportunities America provided to him.
“He knew he was one of the fortunate ones to realize the American Dream,” says Michael. “He experienced extreme hardship, and knew that he was blessed to have made it here, found work and built a family. It engendered a tremendous empathy on his part for others who struggle, and he wanted to share his blessings with others.”