Community Heroes in Portraiture
I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing with six ‘Community Heroes’ for a portraiture project founded by my former professor, Janet Wentworth Erickson. These ‘heroes’ were nominated for their great contribution to the community.
We, as humans, are used to being recognized in a usual fashion. Being a photographer of the abstract, humans are a challenging subject to photograph. However, I aim to incorporate my vision and abstraction throughout my work regardless of the subject matter. Most of the time, we only experience a fraction of someone’s personality – what’s left behind is a sense of mystery and there is much more to explore. Below are some inspiring individuals who shake the world in the gentlest way.
David Morell – Good Citizen
Born and raised in our dear Oneonta, David Morell has contributed in various ways to our community. It stems from his positive and friendly nature. Not only is he a Physics professor at SUNY Oneonta, guiding fellow students by the laws of the universe, but he holds strong influences from his experience as an eagle scout, Boces Tehr, and troop leader. These positions in his life have taught him to give to the world, for that is the greatest way to receive. He feels that giving back to the community and to others is self-fulfilling and enriching; it is the best way to learn. His polite and positive attitude towards life fills the atmosphere with good vibes and is truly a product of an optimistic environment. Not only was his family a positive influence on his mindset, but his friends were too. He stated that it is important to surround yourself by heroes when you grow older. Growing up, his circle of friends highly impacted him; they are people he still tries to emulate to this day. And even though they live different lives and career paths, they still yearn to be similar to each other, for they will always guide and look up to one another. For Mr. Morell, positivity circles his entire life and it is vital to breathe different perspectives.
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Molly Swain – Good Citizen
Ms. Molly Swain, a loving, generous, and kind soul born and raised in Oneonta, radiates a sense of thoughtfulness that everyone in this world should experience as well as perform. Her love for the world emanates a sense of hope and willingness. She happened to grow up with a very loving family which made her want to spread love even more. Her husband, William A. Swain III (the apple of her eye), was a very strong influence in her life, as they were married for 61 years. They had four sons together and this family planted their lives across the world, living in England, East Africa, as well as Japan. This woman holds a certain power, the power of moving on. She made things happen throughout her life that most would never think possible. Ms. Swain feels that dreams do come true, as long as you keep your head high and push on. Her confidence and independency has made her the person she is today.
She came back to Oneonta after some time and brought back with her a sense of culture and knowledge. Her involvement in the community and outgoing nature is outstanding to this day, as she simply wanted to give back to the place she originally resided. She volunteered in Oneonta organizations such as the Oneonta Catskill Symphony Orchestra, Planned Parenthood, the Little Delaware Youth Ensemble, the Greater Oneonta Historical Society, NAMI, Glimmerglass Opera, the Oneonta School Board, and was employed as the Nutrition Coordinator for Otsego County Head Start, as the Stamford Central School’s cafeteria manager, as well as manager of the Oneonta Art Center. Opportunities, traveling, connecting with others, and experiencing different backgrounds, have all highly influenced Molly Swain to simply be an inspiring and strong asset to the community.
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Robert Turrell – Good Citizen
Born and raised in Oneonta, Robert Turrell is a kind gentleman who owns a massive antique store in Oneonta called Marketplace On Chestnut. He has traveled quite frequently throughout his life and began his journey to other locations in his early adolescent years with his family, driving across the country. After college he worked in various states and moved quite often; it has been very rewarding. He traveled throughout the United States, teaching people how to run a business. He was a sales manager for quite some time and moved back to Oneonta in order to start up a business. He and his wife bought the farm he grew up on, and feels that Oneonta is a great place to raise your kids. They bought the building of the antique store around 1986.
During his time here, he was involved with multiple organizations and worked on some of the committees of the downtown Main Street area along with economic development. He always had good relationships with people and wanted to be part of a successful community. He worked with past mayor Dick Miller as well as Peter Clark. He goes to Main St. Baptist Church and was involved with the missions group affiliated with the church. He has recently been working at a Bible camp in Alaska for the past few years. His dedicated personality makes him concerned for the future of Oneonta and is excited to experience the development and continuation of the current administration. Turrell’s father was an outstanding influence in his life along with his former high school basketball coach, Tony Drago. He was on the Oneonta High School basketball team in his younger years and got to know many people as a result. He claimed to have learned most of life’s lessons from being on the court: working hard, how to lose gracefully, and how to win gracefully. He believes that we have something special in Oneonta and that the bonds that are formed here are priceless. Robert Turrell is a simple and friendly man who enjoys the beauty and casualness of Oneonta during all of the seasons and feels that it does not compare. He shared that one should set their sights on family and friends more than material items, to value what is most important in your life, and to embrace everyday of your life.
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Howard Joseph – Medical
Dr. Howard Joseph is a retired podiatrist who has made more than a mild impact in our community. He had been a foot doctor for 50 years; his ability to help and heal people was extremely satisfying and expanded that into his life outside of his profession. Before he served in the army during World War II, he was an engineering student long enough to know he did not care for it. After coming back from the army, podiatry presented itself and went to a city college for his studies. Following that, he attended the New York State College of Podiatry in Manhattan, commuting from his home in the Bronx. He has been married to the love of his life for about 65 years both from the same hometown. They have traveled often throughout the years but find the friendly Oneonta community to be extremely appealing and continue to reside here. Joseph’s father was a great influence and strong on education which made him be a studious individual and hardworker.
He has contributed a great deal to the community; he was chairman of the Otsego County Mental Health Board when there was no mental health clinic at the time. He was also very involved with the ARC, which helps mentally disabled children. He served on the board of the American Red Cross, the Catskill Symphony Orchestra, the Executive Service Call, the Oneonta Jewish Community, and currently serves on the advisory committee of the Otsego County Office for the aging. He feels that Oneonta has a lot of potential and that having someone there to support you throughout your life, benefits you the most. Despite the amount of studying and absorbing he has done all his life, he is still enrolled in courses and continues to learn all he can.
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Joan Purtiz – Medical
Dr. Joan Puritz, a kind and open hearted veterinarian originally from Brooklyn, believes in the notion of paying it forward. She feels that we are all here to make the world a better place and is a strong advocate of volunteering. Puritz works with an organization called GOFFAR, Greater Oneonta Fund For Animal Responsibility, which is a clinic that gives out vouchers for low income individuals in order to lower the costs of spays and neuters. She also volunteers herself and her office for a spay and neuter clinic for cats, run solely by volunteers. It significantly lowers the cost for the low income citizen to have their cat spayed and neutered, along with vaccinations. She feels that people should still be allowed to have animals even if they don’t have much of an income. She contributes to the community by helping the animals in our area and feels strongly about decreasing animal overpopulation. She is also involved with assisting colonies of cats where they trap and neuter them as well as find places for them.
Purtiz is a strong, down-to-earth woman who deeply cares about animals and feels that everyone has to take responsibility for them. With that being said, she feels that if everyone did their part in the community, we would have a lot less problems. Although her parents both had careers in human medicine, she had a strong passion to go into the veterinary field, and worked hard to get to the place she is in now. She believes that one should lead by example and it is important to be culturally diverse, in order to realize that people of different backgrounds can be more than civil. She strives to be there for others and thinks that every person should help as much as they can in their own way.
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Tony Drago – Military
Tony Drago, a man of numerous accomplishments and leadership positions, is simply filled with profound experience in more than just the athletic field. He had dedicated his career as well as life to thousands of students at Oneonta High School throughout the years and has been an uplifting impact and role model for many. Prior to his achievements and outstanding contributions to the community, Drago served in World War II, and was in fact captured as a prisoner of war during the Battle of the Bulge. He began his streak of countless accomplishments, contributions, and impressions after he was discharged in 1945. He has been in Oneonta his whole life; he grew with the school but the school grew as well and there are many wonderful programs that he had the pleasure to be part of. He was an assistant basketball coach at Hartwick college as well as head baseball coach for three years. Following that, at Duke University, he was involved with the basketball program for four years and proceeded to teach at Oneonta High School as a Physical Education teacher for 27 years.
After he retired, he became heavily involved in the community, serving on various boards and committees. He felt that he has lived his life with a lot of great people, which he feels Oneonta houses. He was extremely active with the Girl’s and Boy’s club and was Director of the Boy’s Club for nearly 50 years. This was an organization that personally resonated with him; he had the chance to connect with students as they partake in athletic activities, in which he was able to contribute his true guidance. This man’s dedication and drive made him the person he is today. He was and is a mentor for many without even knowing it. He remains a positive influence and true leader to this day and feels that he has done his share, and he sure has. He claimed that one should do a little bit and do it well rather than do many things and do them halfway, and that it is not what you know, but rather whom you know.
“Zena’s open spirit and enthusiasm were contagious, and community members whom she photographed and interviewed responded in kind. Lifelong friendships were formed between her and her subjects as she produced ten black and white portrait photographs of half-faces, conveying the mystery of our hidden selves. These were accompanied by her writings on unique aspects of each person’s character and life history. Zena’s technical skills combined with her fine aesthetic sensibilities culminated a magnificent contribution to the Heroes Project, as well as to the college and local community. Brava Zena!”
– Janet Wentworth Erickson