Betty Ann Sammis
Hi one and all,
After Graduation, I went to work at the Bank of Huntington-Bookkeeping Department. I left the Bank the end of l957 and started my long time career as a Bookkeeper for a few local oil companies. Early in 1958 I bought myself a ’57 Ford gray convertible with red interior. Boy did I think I was the cats meow! Anyway, there was only one place that I trusted the mechanic to service my car & get gas, Oscar Olson’s Shell Station on the corner of Deport Road & New York Avenue in Huntington Station. The mechanic was Bill Michta. Bill wanted the mechanic he worked with to fix us up, however, he would not as I was dating the other mechanic’s brother-in-law. So we each went our separate ways. Not to be at this time!
I ended up marrying George Halligan and we had one daughter Jodi Ann (Class of ’81). George had been married before and had 2 daughters from that marriage. George was a Steam Fitter belonging to Local 638. The additions to the Long Island Lighting Company Plant in Northport and the one in Glen Head sure made life easy for us. Sadly, George passed away 4 days after his 50th birthday. It was a tough time for me as I was a lot younger than George. Being a widow at 37, with a 12-year-old girl, who found her father and called for the ambulance.
I was working at Nick Brothers Fuel Oil Company at the time. Back in 1969 Bill Michta joined our staff at Nick Brothers as an Oil Burner Technician. He and his family socialized with George, Jodi and I. A couple of years before George passed away Bill’s wife left him and his children. Several months after George passed away, Bill and I started dating which turned into a wonderful future for us both. To make a long story short, we married in May of ’77. We had a Church wedding, a family affair. Bill Jr. was his Dads best man, his 2 daughters were bridesmaids and my daughter was maid of honor. We joined not only each other, but also 2 families. Bill rented out his home in Huntington Station; we expanded my home on Cliftwood and all moved in together. God only knows how we made it, all teenagers 14, 16, 17 and 18. Both Bill and I continued to work, as teenagers’ needs were many.
All the girls’ married- Donna has a boy & a girl, Carol has 2 boys and Jodi has 2 girls and a boy. Bills’ girls live on Long Island, his son in Clermont, Florida. Bill Jr. works at Universal Studios and designs wedding cakes and Corporate Company affairs special cakes. His work is beautiful. He designed the Cinderella Coach for a special wedding at the Grand Hyatt. It took him 3 months and a lot of spun sugar. The rear of the coach was the actual cake.
Jodi lives in Vero Beach, Florida and her husband is self-employed as Simon & Simon Lawn and Landscaping. They live on 5 acres so when the adjoining 5 acres became available we bought it. We will be building upon retirement in the fall of 2003.
I have been working for Lanalysis, Inc. since 1994. It is a Computer Consulting firm specializing in networking and infrastructure for the Financial District in lower Manhattan.
We will be attending Bill’s South Huntington High School 50th Class reunion on October 19th this year. The years have certainly passed quickly.
I am one of the many Breast Cancer Survivors of Long Island (4 years now). I had another scare this past spring. After many tests, biopsies and more surgery for additional tissue samples, I received word on August 19th that all was benign. The problem was a lot of scare tissue and damage from the radiation. Waiting for results takes its toll on ones emotions. Love to hear from anyone who was or is faced with the problem.
We will see many of you at the Mini in Florida and look forward to seeing the rest of you in 2006.
Thanks Jane and Allen for a job well done. It is a lot of fun catching up on others whereabouts and life’s journeys. A special thanks to Sheila Ehlinger and Jack Downing for getting me motivated to dig up lots of old treasures, from the past years, to share with everyone.
Betty Ann