My Dad turned 80 this year. Our family and friends celebrated.
One of his buddies has a local column and asked for a bio. It’s fun to see “Dad” from a whole new angle.
One September morning in 1941, 15-year-old Bill Fogelman could not get up or get out of bed.
After two weeks of isolation in Kings County Hospital, he was diagnosed with polio and transferred to the New York State Reconstruction Hospital in West Haverstraw, NY.
For eleven months he endured daily physical therapy, massages, swimming, and a modified Sister Kenny Treatment. In addition, he attended school, movies and parties on a gurney or in a wheelchair.
He learned to play the saxophone as a form of therapy to expand his lung capacity. The polio left him with atrophy of the lower left leg, scoliosis and lordosis of the spine.
Despite being told he would never walk, he was discharged in September 1942 and he did walk, with only a slight limp. He returned to high school as a junior and in addition to his studies, became a strong swimmer and a member of the school band.
During the summer of 1943 he worked 15-hour days as a bus boy in a Catskill Mountain hotel and partied the rest of the time, sleeping only Monday nights, when there were no hotel activities. He returned to the hotel during the summer of 1944 as a waiter.
In the fall of 1943, with the help of his guidance counselor, Sam Levenson (who later became a famous humorist), he scheduled his senior year classes in the morning and worked afternoons as a law clerk. He learned he did not want to become a lawyer.
In April 1944 he registered for the draft and immediately volunteered, but was rejected and issued a 4F card. He applied for and received a disability scholarship from the New York State Department of Vocational Education to attend Long Island Agriculture and Technical College (now Farmingdale State University).
The college had space for 300 students, but due to World War II there were only 17 students in his September 1944 freshman class. Those few students had plenty of work to do with classes and farm chores. Bill also took on two jobs at the
school earning 45 cents an hour for 15 hours of work each week - one as student mailman and the other as recreation room attendant.
In the summer of 1945 students were paid to work at the college farm.
With VJ Day and the end of the war, the college expanded the technical department to take advantage of the GI Bill. Suddenly there were 300 veterans enrolled. The athletic program was established and the students fielded a basketball team made up of 15 players 18 to 35-years-old. Bill became team manager; he was responsible for scheduling, traveling, equipment, laundry and refereeing during practices.
In May 1946 Bill graduated as valedictorian. His first job was on a new poultry farm in Durham, CT.
In November 1946, he traveled to Los Angeles and stayed
with relatives for 18 months. He worked as a plumber’s helper, bookkeeper, and day farm laborer. In his first car, a 1939 Plymouth coupe, he traveled up the California coast sightseeing and doing day farm work. He slept in his car weekday nights,
but on Friday nights he would check in to a hotel to clean up and rest.
He headed to San Francisco to hang out with the free spirits he met along the way. In the spring of 1948 he drove back east as a second driver to a man who had a new car, arriving in time to attend his sister’s wedding.
He found employment on farms in the Catskill Mountains of NY, including a stint as the farm manager at a tuberculosis sanitarium. As a year-round resident, he had passes to the entertainment at all the hotels; he worked days and partied all night.
On his one weekend off a month, he would go back to New York City. On one of those weekends he met his future wife, Ida Ferguson, at a dance.
He pursued her on his weekends off and asked her if she would come up during her vacation to one of the hotels. She agreed and came up to the Catskills in the summer of 1950.
Bill and Ida became engaged in the spring of 1951 and married on September 22, 1951. Bill left his Catskills job and took a manager’s job on a poultry farm in New Market, NJ.
On vacation during September 1952, Bill and Ida, now seven months pregnant, found and fell in love with a 13-acre chicken farm in Guilford, CT. Using some creative financing they purchased the farm in December 1952.
The farm operated full time for 10 years. To help with cash flow, Bill got a job as a machinist trainee, eventually becoming machine shop supervisor.
Bill and Ida were committed to their family and their community. In addition to parenting responsibilities, (which included driving to school activities, athletic events, Girl Scouts and religious school), they were involved in community service and a little stint in politics.
In 1979, they subdivided their 13-acre property, sold off lots and built the first solar house in Guilford.
In 1984, Bill was diagnosed with post polio syndrome by an orthopedic surgeon. The years of “doing it all” had started to take its toll. Bill had an open-heart triple bypass in 1987.
In 1988, Bill and Ida retired and moved to Florida. They traveled and took Elderhostel courses all over the country until Ida’s death in 1996.
Since moving to Barkley, Bill has been active in many condo projects, serving all four executive offices the Board from 1990 to 1995, including president. He is currently treasurer of the Barkley Men’s Club and was president of the Post-Polio Syndrome Support Group of Palm Beach County.
Despite being unable to walk, Bill is as active as ever, using an electric scooter, walker and specially equipped van. He continues to swim once or twice a day for exercise and to keep his body limber; he attends Palm Beach Community College to keep is mind limber.
He still likes to travel and has recently been to Hawaii, Alaska, Spain, and on a Mississippi River cruise. He has already signed up for the Barkley cruise in January.
He goes a little slower these days, with more effort and pain, but he’s always active. His family, neighbors and friends admire his upbeat spirit and determination.