Dr. George John Candreva, Class of 1940

Dr. George John Candreva, Class of 1940

"His mission in life was service to mankind"

This page is about the life of  Dr. George John Candreva, Class of 1940.  He was born on February 22, 1923, in West Sayville.  At the time of his birth, his father, John, was 24 and his mother, Angelina (Luce) Candrea, was 17.  Both John and Angelina were born in Italy.

 

This is a “living” Memorium, meaning that you are encouraged to please send in photographs, remembrances, and other media (audio, video, documents, etc.,) to help honor Alton.

 

We start out with his senior photo (right) from Sayville High School.  George was raised on Rollstone Ave.  We don’t know the excact house number.

 

He played String Bass in the popular Sayville High School “Rhythm Orchestra” (below).

Following High School graduation, George is studying to be a teacher at Cortland.  While still in college, he makes a trip to Sayville and delivers a speech in the High School auditorium on the “teachers shortage” and announces he expects to be activated in the military.

George served in the United States Army during World War II.

 

Right:  George John Candreva’s World War II Registration

card.

George married Esther Briccetti, on April 9, 1944, in Yorktown Heights.  Esther was the daughter of Tito and Maria Briccetti and was born July 1, 1920, in Mt. Kisco, NY.

Here, from the Suffolk County News, we find a remarkable photo and caption regarding George on assignment in 1949, serving the American Consolute General in Pakistan.   George was the first director of the Education and Information service in Lahore, Pakistan.

As evidenced by this Suffolk county News article, Dr. Candreva’s educational efforts went beyond borders and were also embraced by his family.

On March 20,  1962, George and a colleage Arihar Becofsky, both of Yorktown Heights, N.Y. filed a patent for an education invention, #3,182,253,

 

The invention related to teaching systems, and more particularly to novel apparatus for teaching systems which incorporates coordinated sight, sound and response elements resulting in a much-improved teaching function.

 

Here is a partial description;

The teaching system of the instant invention incorporates the elements of the teaching machine for the Tesponse function, the visual aids and the audio aids into one integrated unit in order to optimize the teaching machine approach to obtain the maximum results through the use of such mechanical teaching aids.

The instant invention is comprised of a console having a telescoping table arrangement that is adapted to expand from the dimensions of the console into a large table which provides a large working area for the students who will be using the teaching system facilities. The Working surface member is placed upon the telescoping structure in order to accommodate the teaching systems to be placed upon the working surface.

Each individual teaching unit placed upon the working surface consists of a housing that contains a viewing Surface, a record-play back device, and a teaching or response unit.

 

The visual aid consists of a film strip projection means and associated viewing surface of sufficient size so as to be viewed by the single user of the response unit. This means brings to the student a visualization of the subject matter to be taught and lends support to and is supported by the other teaching aids.

For complete description click here

 

On August 24, 1973, while on vacation and playing volleyball with family on Fire Island, George collapsed and died quite unexpectedly. He was only 50 years old.  Here is his obituary.

Lou Grasso’s wonderful 1973 remembrance article details much of Dr. George John Candreva’s work and contributions.

A memorial note was published in the Suffolk County News, remembering Geoge a year after he had passed.  In 2008, his wife Esther passed away.

Esther Briccetti Candreva’s obituary;

 

Esther Candreva, a life-long resident of Yorktown Heights, died on Friday, December 19, 2008. She was 88. Ms. Candreva was born on July 1, 1920, in Mt. Kisco, NY, to Tito and Maria Briccetti. She was educated in the Yorktown schools and earned a BA in Phys. Ed. from the State University of NY at Cortland.

 

On April 9, 1944, she married George Candreva at St. Patrick’s Church in Yorktown Heights, NY. Dr. George Candreva, who predeceased his wife on August 24, 1973, was known in the community as an educator of distinction and original editor/publisher of the North County News/Yorktowner.

 

She is survived by her son George of Cortlandt Manor, NY, and daughter Julie of Sarasota, Fl. Calling hours are Friday, 2 – 4 and 7 – 9 pm at Clark Funeral Home in Yorktown Heights. The funeral mass is Saturday, at 10 am, at New St. Patrick’s Church in Yorktown Heights. Interment will follow at Amawalk Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Yorktown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, P.O. Box 141, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598.    Published in The Journal News on Dec. 24, 2008

The Candreva Environmental Foundation was created in 1974 in memory of Dr. George John Candreva, a class of 1940 Sayville High Alumnus,  Yorktown, NY educator, journalist and visionary environmentalist.

The foundation is a New York state based organization that provides seed money for local environmental education initiatives and projects that engage young people in environmental service.

As a minimally endowed not-for-profit that has impacted thousands of young people and teachers, the organization serves as an example of what can be replicated in any region.  Click this link, to see the amazing outreach and funded projects of the Candreva Environmental Foundation.

Sources and additional information;

The Suffolk County News   Newspapers are greatly struggling just to stay alive these days.  We urge you to support our hometown paper, which has always supported us and preserved our history, long before any of us were even born.

Dr. George John Candreva’s memorial page at findagrave.com

Sayville NY High School – Class of 1940 “virtual” cemetery

US Patent office filing by George Candreva

George J. Candreva on Ancestry.com

Link to George Candrev’s findagrave memorial page

 

Link to Class of 1940 virtual cemetery