Catherine Raddatz, November 12, 2021

Title

interviewee

Catherine Raddatz

interviewer

Sophia Hall

Date

2021-11-12

Subject

Cooperstown

Cooperstown Graduate Program

Cooperstown Graduate Association

Family

Alumni

9/11

Fundraising

Development

Art

Higher Education

Change

Community

Rotary

Lake & Valley Club

Description

Catherine Raddatz has been an important part of the Cooperstown community and a beloved staff member at GGP for several decades. Catherine Raddatz, called Cathy by many, was born Catherine Morell on March 2, 1950 in New Rochelle, NY. Cathy moved to Cooperstown with her husband and children in 1981. She worked several jobs in town before beginning to work at CGP in 1995, where she has been ever since.

Cathy has lived and worked in Cooperstown over a time of great change. She has seen both Cooperstown and the Cooperstown Graduate Program grow larger and transform. The village of Cooperstown has expanded in size, but it has also seen many businesses leave. During her tenure, the Cooperstown Graduate Program renovated its facility and added a Science Track option.

In her interview, Cathy talks about family, education, and jobs, as well as her experiences living in Cooperstown. It is most interesting to hear Cathy talk about the various students and alumni that she has worked with over the years.

I interviewed Cathy at her home in Cooperstown, NY, on the eve of her retirement from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. I enjoy a relaxed familiarity with Cathy as I have been working for her under a Cooperstown Graduate Association Alumni Office Support assistantship.

Cathy often takes time to gather her thoughts. I have eliminated any false starts for clarity and flow. Cathy also uses fillers I have eliminated many filler phrases, such as "you know," only keeping those that were necessary to convey the meaning of the sentence.

Transcription

CR = Catherine Raddatz
SH = Sophia Hall

[START OF TRACK 1, 0:00]

SH:
Alright, my name is Sophia Hall and I am interviewing Cathy Raddatz on November 12th, 2021 for the Cooperstown Graduate Program. We are at Cathy's house. So, where and when were you born?

CR:
I was born in New Rochelle, New York and I was born on March 2nd, 1950.

SH:
Can you speak to me about your family growing up?

CR:
Yes. I grew up, I was one of seven. I still remember my mother going to the hospital to have my baby brother Mark, he was the last one, and this image, I can't believe I still remember this image. She was like all dressed up as if she was going to a party. And then that night, oh no, she must've had the baby in the middle of the night and then I remember my father yelling up the stairs – we had a third floor – it's a boy! I remember being so disappointed because the boys won. There were now four boys and three girls. But it turns out he's such a sweetie and I'm so glad he came into this world, he just is wonderful.

SH:
So, what was it like growing up as one of seven?

CR:
Oh, it was fabulous. Sometimes I felt I didn't need to have any friends. I had three baby brothers, and I was in the middle, so it was like two families. There was an older family, the big kids, and the little kids. The little kids, my brothers were wild. I always said in my next life I want to come back as one of my brothers. But we just had a lot of fun, I remember. It was nice. At that time in life everybody had big families, so it was sort of the norm. In a way, you felt like your older siblings raised you, sort of, or we all raised each other.

SH:
Ok, so, can you speak to me about earning your undergraduate degree?

[TRACK 1, 2:40]

CR:
Yes, I was thinking about that. So my father was Italian and so, of course, you know, boys were entitled to a four-year degree. My father was, he more or less wanted us to prove ourselves, so he wanted us all to go to junior colleges, which is I guess maybe comparable, I don't even know if they have junior colleges anymore. But I talked him into letting me go to this four-year college, Rosemont College, which is next to Villanova. It was an all-girls college and it was in Pennsylvania. I remember the weather always seemed milder and so I was happy that I was able to go to a four-year college. And this year I believe it's my fiftieth anniversary, for my college graduation.

SH:
Do you think you'll go back?

CR:
I think so. My husband, Don's going to be celebrating – he was supposed to have it last year and he's celebrating his. But, we'll have to figure out the times and I definitely want to go back, so hopefully we have two different weekends so we both can go.

SH:
What did you study at Rosemont?

CR:
I studied American Studies which now is very popular, which was a new program at my college. And I know, Gretchen Sorin was an American Studies major too. But I loved it because you go through all the disciplines and try and take a period of time and study. I did it in art, history, English, so it was nice. Oh gosh, our supervisor was this tough woman, but I guess she really had a good heart. Sister Mary Dennis [laughs]. So, anyway.

SH:
Do you have any specific memories from your undergraduate career?

CR:
Oh, yeah. Well, I did my thesis on [former Governor] Al Smith and I was able to interview [his daughter], I was friends with his [great] grandson. So I was able to interview Al Smith's daughter and I have the tape somewhere and I have to find it. I have my thesis somewhere but this tape I'm thinking I should really save it because it's really special. I remember I interviewed her in her New York City apartment on 5th Avenue and we had Dubonnet, it was the first time I had Dubonnet. And then I went out to Southampton to her home, got a ticket on the way, and we finished up the interview, so I do hope I find it. I mean it's pretty special.

SH:
Alright, so sticking with education, can you tell me about your MBA?

CR:
I think of it, I was a little crazy. I had my last child when I was 31 and he was going to kindergarten, and I went off to graduate school. And the guy that headed up the program was fabulous. His name was Marty Schulman, and he was in the theatre business. His sister was sort of famous for, I guess they referred to her as a doctor for plays that weren't working, and she would go in there and help work it out, work a play. So I did it, I was trying to think, I think I started in maybe [19]87 and I finished I think in [19]91. So, I would just take a few courses each [semester]. And then in 1989 my husband and I went to New Zealand for three months with our children. So, yeah.

[TRACK 1, 7:30]

SH:
Can you tell me more about your children and what was it like raising children in Cooperstown?

CR:
It was great, especially when everyone would know if they've been bad. We came from Minnesota and my husband did medical school there and we came here in 1981 and I was pregnant with our last child. So it's a very welcoming community and, you know, it's nice that they all went through public school. I don't know if that happens a lot today. But they got their education and I think they were given a lot of opportunities. I think my oldest daughter though, she didn't really like it here, so we probably should have had her go somewhere else. But the last two really enjoyed it. And I remember my middle child, who recently got married, [Don and I] went away for the weekend. So anyway, she was returning all these bottles at the supermarket and so she ran into this woman [who] gets her nose into everybody's business. Gretchen foolishly said, oh my parents had a party. Well of course that's a red flag because she wasn't invited. So that night I think she called me and so, unbeknownst to us, Gretchen and George had quite the party here with all the soccer people. And oh, thank God, we didn't get caught or they didn't get thrown off the team.

[Laughter]

SH:
What was it like doing grad school and raising your kids at the same time?

CR:
Oh, it was tough. I mean I think of it now and I think I was crazy. I was crazy. So, because it was an hour and a half away and I drove, and so if I had classes during the day, that was okay. I remember this one time, George was only like 6 or 7. So anyway, he went to the gym after school, and he had this glass jar bottle. And the glass jar bottle broke and, on the way, it cut his muscle. I was driving home, and we didn't have cell phones then. So, I would [stop] on the way home and always make a phone call to see how everybody was. And then I found out he was going to the hospital to get a muscle stitched up and so, of course, you know you always have this guilt. I have a lot of guilt [Laughs].

SH:
Were you working at the same time as you were getting your MBA?

CR:
Was I? I can't remember. Was I? I mean, I was always working. I was working at the gallery, Gallery 53, maybe just part-time hours. I worked with Sydney Waller for probably about seven years or something.

[TRACK 1, 11:35]

SH:
Well, can you speak a little bit more about the move to Cooperstown?

CR:
Sure. So we came from Minnesota, and we only had one car. It was a Volkswagen Rabbit; I don't even know if you know what they are. Ok, so they were really tiny. We had two kids, and my husband, and I was pregnant. And I remember we stopped in Wisconsin to say goodbye to his grandparents and then I think I cried all the way over here. So anyway, you know, we had a little house on Elk Street, which was full of bats, full of bats, and we'd see them fly out at night and fly back in. But, it was close to the hospital, so it was nice. The car was packed to the gills, but we made it to Cooperstown.

SH:
What were your impressions of Cooperstown when you first arrived?

CR:
Physically, I thought it was pretty. I think I thought it was kind of claustrophobic, because it was a lot smaller then and it just seemed like everybody knew your business, which made me crazy, so that's why we moved up here. At least, I always feel like this is a sanctuary, so I really enjoy living up here.

SH:
How did Cooperstown compare to the places that you had lived before?

CR:
I hadn't really lived in many places. Remember I was only 31. I think when I lived in Minnesota, you know, you had to make an effort to make friends, but it was more diverse and you were able to do a lot more things. So I have one memory, it was the summer of [19]81, that was the summer we moved, and I remember taking my children to the Morris Fair. I had like a four-year-old and a two-year-old maybe and I was pregnant and I remember going and I remember this man wouldn't stop taking pictures of me. It was so creepy, and I think it was because I was pregnant. So anyway, that was my remembrance of Morris Fair. But, no, I felt like everybody was very friendly and they were all trying to be extremely helpful, so that was nice. Believe it or not, this community has gotten a lot bigger. You have to learn how to navigate your way.

[TRACK 1, 15:45]

SH:
Can you tell me about the jobs you held in the area before working at the Cooperstown Graduate Program?

CR:
[Walks away from microphone] Yeah, I'd be delighted to. So, when I moved here, we moved to this house and I wanted to buy my kids a swing set, I remember. It was Christmas season and I interviewed for this job with Hickory Farms. I think of it now and that was crazy. It was on Main Street and it was a pop-up store. It was a cheese store. So, we sold cheese. [Comes back closer to microphone] I remember the manager would come and she told me how I had to talk to this one employee because she smelled, so I had to bring that up in a tactful way. Here I was 32 and, you know, talking to this woman and that was very tough. Then I worked for the Freeman's Journal and that was fun. I did ads, I would go try and bring in revenue and sell ads. I remember I did this, I went to the Otesaga and I got an ad and so I brought it back and talked to the editor and we both decided it was a really small ad. We decided that I'd go back and ask for a bigger ad and this was, I can't remember that man's name, but I went in and did that and he had me escorted out of the hotel [laughs]. So that was interesting and then, I think, it was fun because this was in the day where you would actually paste ads on a paper and then they would print it. Today, they do it so much differently. I remember I was driving down Vickerman Hill, do you know where that is?

SH:
No.

CR:
So I was going to the Mohawk Valley, God knows why, I think to get some ads and so Vickerman Hill is very steep and I lost my brakes. So then, I decided to give up the Freeman's Journal, although I really liked it. And, then I worked at Moon Dreams, it was a self-help store, it had crystals, books. I always said if you have a problem, we have a book for you. So that was fun, the retail business. The lady I worked for, every day she would tell us how much the bags cost. They were really pretty bags, they were peach. So, to this day, I feel guilty taking a really nice bag from anyone because she would emphasize it all the time. And then my favorite, favorite job was, I've had so many. I was working at Gallery 53 and this was my friend Sydney Waller, we've been friends forever. She was the director and I was the assistant director. So that was fun, just the idea of meeting all these wonderful artists and she was so creative, and she was just fabulous. We had, you know Penny Marshall? Penny Marshall, she's a filmmaker, she recently died, and she did the baseball film about women. The Hall of Fame did a weekend with all the baseball women, and we did, this is how creative she was, she figured out how to do a session and all these women came and they all spoke about their careers and, it was just, that was really awesome. And she's cutting edge, she still today has this thing called Art Garage and it's out on Beaver Meadow Road and she just had this African artist. She just does great things and a lot of my artwork came from her. And then, what did I do? I worked for the Iroquois Indian Museum for a year and that's near Howes Cavern, do you know where that is? That's in Cobleskill.

SH:
Yeah.

CR:
I was the assistant director there, no, I was the business director. So that was interesting learning about Native American culture and everything. It's a great building. It was created like a longhouse and I think they won some architectural awards. I can't believe I've had all these jobs, and then I was director of Hyde Hall for a month and then I had an opportunity at Bassett Hospital, so that would be like three times the pay I was already making, so I took that, and then after that I started working at CGP.

SH:
How do you think working in so many different industries shaped your knowledge?

CR:
I learned a lot. I learned the most important thing is [laughs], my grandma always had this saying, it was "Know your place." It was really a good saying. One time, I worked in Bassett Hospital in development, and foolishly, my boss, I don't know whatever possessed me because I am not like this at all, we had a meeting. I think at Bassett Hospital all they do is have meetings, and she during the meeting was going on a rant of like poor me. I mean, you know. I don't know, I usually try and watch what I say. I said to her stop your whining in front of the rest of the staff, and it was like sort of downhill after that. I mean, I don't know what, something must have really irritated me because I don't do that kind of stuff.

[TRACK 1, 24:21]

SH:
How did you find out about the job at CGP?

CR:
Well, they just needed a part-time person so that's how I got in. Gretchen was very kind to let me know. I think I started in December, and I was just working part-time and I was working for, we had this Secretary Betty Haas, who is from Long Island who is just delightful. But she was like a staff sergeant. I was talking to an alum, Pieter Roos, he goes you mean "Sarge." I remember that Friday, you know it was part-time and I wanted to do something, maybe it was around Christmas, so I wasn't going to come in and she saw me at the post office, and she got really annoyed at me. That was [19]95, then in [19]96 the CGA [Cooperstown Graduate Association] board hired me, and I was just working part-time and then in June of 1997 I got an appointment at the college which was great. When you do look for a job really look at the benefits, for a college or anywhere.

SH:
What was CGP like when you first arrived?

CR:
Well, it was nice, the building was really dumpy. They had a trailer. Where would the trailer be? The trailer would be sort of near where the exhibition lab is and the trailer was full of mice, and interview weekend all the kids would have to clean that horrible trailer and clean everything. Where the faculty offices are it was just one big room and that is where most of the teaching was done, the physical layout, and they had views of the lake. It was cozy and then we had this delightful young man who unfortunately had a tragic death, Lanny [Langdon G.] Wright. We have the Lanny Wright travel fund and so he was a great cook, and he was fun. I used to have them over for I think Christmas, because it was just he and his wife. I should do something with his wife because she's all alone now. So, it was, you know, it was pretty close-knit, and we all worked together, trying not to get on each other's nerves. It was fun.

SH:
Did you have your own office at the time?

CR:
Yes, which was nice because it was smaller, like my office now is so big. I hired someone, and on Sunday she's coming over and I'm bringing a lot of my papers from my office here so we're gonna go through it and see if I can throw out a lot [laughs].

[TRACK 1, 28:22]

SH:
So, can you tell me a little about your experience working with the Cooperstown Graduate Association?

CR:
It's been really nice. I was thinking I should count how many directors [board presidents] I've worked for, probably at least 12 or 14. I probably had some favorite directors. It's so interesting now to see this director, Stacy Grady, she worked for me as a CGA assistant, so now here she is. I feel like it's like the teacher who is now teaching her students' children. So that's how I feel. They've done some amazing things. When Gretchen [Sorin] came, I remember the alumni association had hardly any money and now we're somewhat flush. That was with the help of Gretchen and all the different alumni people. So running an alumni association is sort of tough but thank goodness now we have Zoom, so people can get together and everything. Yeah, which is helpful.

[START OF TRACK 2, 0:00]

SH:
Can you speak on the experience a little bit of seeing students turn into alumni?

CR:
Oh, yeah. I think it's very exciting to see their successes. They're doing all these amazing things. They were students and all of sudden they've blossomed. Their careers are blossoming. I think of like Chris Taylor who you're going to hear today. He was always a fun student to be around and I think it was just so nice because we just adored his wife, and now he's like a big deal in Minnesota in diversity. He's just really made a name for himself, so that's exciting and it's nice because, you know, Gretchen is so proud of him. This woman who never really got her degree but her name is Lynette Diaz-Miller, she was going on to get her degree in teaching. She's been extremely generous to us all through the years and she went into the military and she's been in Afghanistan and, you know, I think she's had some PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], but I think the military gave her some stability which was nice.

[Comments about outside noise]

CR:
Watching Mary Kate Kenney who now is head of the [Cooperstown] food pantry. She's quite amazing and I think everybody realizes how amazing she is, so everybody's trying to take a piece of her. It's nice to see how people grow into different positions. It's always heartwarming to see. This mother just came to visit, and her daughter Ashley Domm worked for me and Ashley was like head of development at Georgetown [University]. She had a big job, and then she moved on to being the head of the big food pantry for Washington, DC. And then her mother told me she and her friend have started also a consulting business like writing grants, and this girl has a child and I'm thinking how is she doing everything. But, you know, she's gone on to do that. Oh, Kimberly Springle, she worked for me too, and she now is head of this organization in Washington DC. I think it was the oldest school, I don't know if it was for African Americans, but it's become a museum and she's also incorporated it into a bigger thing. We've had her come and speak at our alumni forum. You had your first alumni forum but just seeing what these people do. I always say that the museum field's a vocation and you're all there to try and help us understand some of the things that happen in this world so that we can sort of get a grip on it.

SH:
How have you fostered and maintained connections with alumni over the years?

CR:
Well, some I've become personal friends with. I think my favorite class is the Class of 1967, now how did that ever happen? Recently my daughter got married and the groom's parents both went to CGP, so that's kind of funny. You know probably by calling them or we used to have these wonderful conferences and sometimes no one would have a place to stay so they could stay at my house. In Cooperstown we have several alums like Liz [Elizabeth] Callahan who I personally think is quite amazing with what she does and how she's done it. I either call them or I don't know, I just really like them all, and I think I'm sort of in awe of them and what they do and what they've accomplished. I just think they're really special and I feel so fortunate that here I live in Cooperstown and I've probably got this plum job. I mean, this is like the best job.

[TRACK 2, 6:41]

SH:
So, can you tell me more about the planning conferences at CGP?

CR:
Sure, I even have a book in my office. but I remember the first conference I planned with Lanny. Gretchen needed a conference planned, so she put Lanny and I in charge of it. So we met at night and then we drew it up, we sketched it out.

[Comments about noise]

CR:
Then there was one on jazz, which was really good. It would be like a three-day conference. You would bring in these people, and it was also a way that alums could come and interact with everyone. We would have a dinner, we had a dinner at the Grange. We had this very famous guy, he agreed to come. He was head of the Smithsonian. I'll have to look up his name. He was staying at the Inn at Cooperstown and they didn't really have TV's so he came here afterwards to watch the baseball, to watch the World Series. So I gave him scotch and we just sat there and drank and then I brought him home. But he was so interesting because he lived in the same building as Babe Ruth in New York and Babe would come down and maybe they would meet in the elevator and Babe would say, how are you doing kid? So it's of interest to me because my family is buried next to the Babe's grave in Valhalla, so anytime we have a funeral they say you can't go to the grave until we're finished, so anyway that's kind of fun.

SH:
So with the conferences, what exactly would need to be planned?

CR:
Oh well we would start, I think we would start in the summer planning it. And then we would have to get speakers and then we had to plan the logistics of where people could stay and find places where we could have the conference. Most of them were done at NYSHA [the New York State Historical Association], or the Fenimore Art Museum. We would have to do a list of attendees and we would have to make packets for everyone and it was a big job, it was a big job. But, as I said, we have a whole book on the conferences, we have a whole book. It was very special and we really did some amazing great things.

[TRACK 2, 10:47]

SH:
So can you speak about the 50th anniversary of CGP and planning that?

CR:
Yeah, Gretchen had a wonderful group of students who worked on it and we were able to secure the Glimmerglass Festival site up there and we had our dinner [the first evening] at The Farmers' Museum and we had a great turnout for it. Oh gosh, we had a wonderful Saturday, we had a wonderful venue of different things that everyone could go to. We did behind-the-scenes tours of the opera. We had a puppet show. It involved all these wonderful age groups and it was memorable. One of our newsletters, we did a whole feature, just pictures of the event and then of course we had a fundraising component to it and we made our match, which was good, I think it was like $100,000 or something.

[TRACK 2, 12:25]

SH:
Can you tell me about your approach to fundraising at CGP?

CR:
I think it's a direct approach. Last year we started the Cooperstown Graduate Endowment Fund – and this is a fund which we hope to eventually, it would be nice to have a million dollars in it. This is a fund so that a director of the program could have some excess funds and do something that they would like to do with it. We started it last year, I think we had like $20,000 in it, and this year maybe we have hopefully about $80,000 in it. We just did our auction; I used a different platform because the other ones always cost so much money. I am still waiting to see if they [the platform] are going to take any money for [it], all I did was pay $120 and other ones my fees would be I thought astronomical. We made $4,500 and [we started last spring but it came together quickly]. We've done these auctions since 2010. What it does is is it gives additional money to the alumni association so when we need some extra funds they're able to help us with them.

[TRACK 2, 14:50]

SH:
How have you fostered connections between the graduate program and Cooperstown community members?

CR:
Well, we've tried to engage the community into the graduate program. I think the biggest resources are the students because the community sees what they do. We usually have two dinners a year, and because of COVID, we have one in the fall and we have one in the spring, and because of COVID we haven't had them but the one we have in the fall, we'd have a dinner for the alumni forum. Those people would come and then we would always ask community members to come. In the spring, we'd have the Bruce Buckley lecture. We have a folklorist who comes, a famous folklorist. We used to have a folklore program and Gretchen was very smart, we did this NEH [National Endowment for the Humanities] grant, and the folklore program ended in the early [19]80s and a number of graduates who were folklorists were annoyed, so Gretchen came up with this wonderful idea for the Bruce Buckley lecture because he was a folklorist. So every year, we bring in a prominent folklorist, and it's been a huge success. We've just had incredible people who have come over the years. This one alum, his name was Dick Chase, he was a writer for a Syracuse paper, and he was a journalist and then he applied to the program. For the Bruce Buckley lecture, they tell a story, and he told a story about his journalism career and how he was able to incorporate wonderful stories in his writing. It was nice because all his classmates came to the dinner and they were all thrilled. We have a lot of alums for the Bruce Buckley lecture so that's been fun to bring them back into town.

[TRACK 2, 17:40]

SH:
Can you tell me how has CGP changed over the years?

CR:
I'm not just doing this because she's my boss. I think Gretchen's leadership has helped us stay on top, and I thought it was quite brilliant that she did this science track. It wasn't an easy thing. She persevered and she worked on it for about four years. I just think it's been a great addition to the program. So, that's one of the major changes and then I just think she's very observant about our surroundings and who she can connect with. So, I think that helps the students and helps everyone.

[TRACK 2, 19:09]

SH:
What have been some of your greatest struggles working at CGP?

CR:
Probably not having enough help, you know. Over the years we have had, in the last five years we have lost two half-time persons and one full-time person, and so that's been difficult. It's always been a big concern for me because students can only do so much. Your studies come first, and we don't want to burden you with our angst and what we have to accomplish.

SH:
So, on the opposite side, what have been some of your greatest achievements working at CGP?

CR:
Let's see. Wow, that's a tough one. The friendships I've made, I feel like that's an achievement. Last year I just happened to be perusing this alumni page at the college and I saw they were having this match, of course they didn't tell us about it. So, if someone gave like $24 then this alum would give $100 to that $24. She had $100,000 to give. So anyway, we raised a considerable amount of money, and it all went into that new fund we're creating, the Cooperstown Endowment Fund. I think the conferences that we pulled off, I thought that was a great achievement. Trying to get us in the news. I can't really think of anything more. I'm sort of lost [laughs].

[TRACK 2, 22:40]

SH:
Can you tell me about how Cooperstown, like the town overall, has changed since you've arrived?

CR:
Main Street has died. Main Street used to be very sort of vital and vivacious. I feel that the village people we have to make very conscious effort to support these local businesses. I mean, of course, the liquor stores have been supported. You know, other things because it's just tough. I refuse to go and ask the merchants for gifts. I had the Cooperstown packet and I thought, these guys are all struggling. Thanks to Jimmy [Nunn] I was able to get a free bottle of booze. I think you guys with all your extra jobs you've sort of helped some of the businesses in town especially. I think you've been great ambassadors for us with some of the local people.

SH:
Can you talk about some of the ways you're involved in the Cooperstown community?

CR:
Yes, I was a former president of Rotary. That was during a very difficult time because my daughter was very ill and at one point I didn't even know if she was going to live. I'm on their foundation board. I work with the Lake and Valley Garden Club, I'm sort of head of their program committee even though I'm getting an F right now because I have to work on that. You know, create a program for next year. I work on various things, people call me up or ask me.

[TRACK 2, 25:03]

SH:
So you mentioned in your pre-interview that your brother passed away on 9/11, would you be able to speak about that?

CR:
Yeah, it was a very tough day. We had just come from, we used to do these formal orientations of the first years, and we had just come back from the Fenimore Art Museum. I can still remember it was like a little bit past 9:00 and I heard that the tower was hit, and it was my favorite brother George, although I try not to tell my other brothers, and we looked alike and, I don't know, I really feel like he was like my soul brother. He was extremely generous and kind. He was involved in the 1993 bombing and he was up on his floor, top floor, and he told everybody that they had to get out and he was a great jokester so no one believed them. So he finally convinced them and they went down and he said on the 70th floor the lady who would make his sandwiches every day was falling apart so he, I don't think he carried her but he helped her out. Then he said they were just going out and this big plate window broke and he said he brought them all to a bar and he went into the bathroom and he just cried. He called me up that night about 9 o'clock and he wanted to know if I knew anything. I mean, I hadn't even heard about it because I was writing a grant with my friend Sydney, and he goes well what should I do. I said you find the best shrink in town and start going twice a week, but he didn't do that. On the day of 9/11, he did call his wife, and he said Robbie, it's the big one, and it was so chaotic at our school. Oh, kids were just a mess and I remember sitting on the stairs with this Sharon Clothier who was just sobbing and sobbing, and I was thinking oh my God my brother is probably dead. I knew I couldn't call him because I knew he had talked to other people and then I was happy I had talked to him the day before. But with everything there was a moment of grace because my other brother, we had had an argument the April before, and I just thought I would probably never talk to him again, and so when the North Tower went down, he called and told me he was sorry. So I always think of that as a moment of grace. But I also had moments of kindness. I had to get a membership mailing out, and I probably wasn't as efficient and good as Melanie [Bruce] is, and so I saw this woman, Mikal Sky-Shrewsberry, her husband is an alumnus, Mark, he does fabulous woodworking tools, and she offered to help me and then Betty Haas she offered to help me too, so then I was able to get down to New York. But my husband, it happened on a Tuesday, and we didn't leave for New York until Thursday and then he told me that Wednesday night, he didn't tell me, he waited to tell all my siblings, he said George appeared to him at the end of the bed and said Don, take care of Cathy.

[START OF TRACK 3, 0:00]

CR:
Then we went, we were down in New York, and it was just like people, you know, were holding out for anything and people were hoping and praying that people were still alive. There were posters up everywhere. Finally, I haven't really told many people this, they wanted some closure so they called this man who my sister used to call up and he lived in Florida, his name was Glen, and he was going out the door, but he stopped and they asked if George was still alive and the guy, Glen, said no he isn't and his body parts are on Vesey Street and he wants you all to wear, I think red to the funeral. And he goes, I can tell you if it's true, go up into his closet, he said to go up into his closet and in his jacket, I think there'd be a bag of pot and there was. So one of his best friends died with him, Tommy Palazzo. I remember that Sunday morning, my days got so mixed up. Yeah, Sunday. So we went down to where she [Tommy's wife] was staying and said we've got to plan the funerals, they're dead. It was two separate funerals. There was something else but now I'm forgetting. I don't know, he just, he was very special and the New York Times did a great book on all the people who died, all the interviews. They have a great one about him [George], like when he went to the Giants game, they were friends with the Giants. He was in the box and he was introduced to Frank Gifford, who was a big Giants superstar, I think George asked him what he did and so Frank Gifford walked away from him and his friends go George, do you know who he is? And George goes I play sports, I don't follow sports. Anyway, it was just very traumatic, and it was traumatic afterwards because I came back here and I felt like I had no one to talk to. This one guy told me how he came in, he works for the Clarks, and he said Cathy, you've talked to me for an hour straight, and I was like oh, I'm so sorry. Anyway, I felt like Will [Walker] got it, he was one of the people who got it, so that was helpful. But it's nice because my sister-in-law has moved on, well not really, but she's been great. She works for SUNY Purchase and she went and got her counseling degree. She raised four kids, so that's amazing. I think of it in comparison when it was the 20th anniversary of World War II, the end of World War II, I mean I was 15 years old, and I was clueless. And so this year when it was the 20th anniversary, I thought god I hope, you know, people still remember. I mean you probably weren't born.

SH:
I was.

CR:
Oh you were? Okay, oh and you're from Long Island right?

SH:
Yes.

CR:
So you were really hit, I mean Long Island was really hit. Yeah.

[TRACK 3, 5:10]

SH:
So, just quickly, I just wanted to talk a little bit about what friendships have you fostered in Cooperstown?

CR:
In regards to work or in regards to?

SH:
Both.

CR:
Sometimes I feel like, my daughter will say stop that, I have no friends because I feel like all I do is work. I have some girlfriends and I try and stay up on that. I think I get so, after work you get so tired sometimes you don't keep up with it. One of my friends, she's so good to me, we're going to go watch, after I come to your event tonight, we're going to go see Wind in the Willows, it's the high school play. So my friends, you have those wonderful friends that you can pick up with right away, like Sydney Waller who runs Art Garage. So I have a lot of girlfriends, some of them are very understanding about my life, so we still stay in touch.

SH:
What are you looking forward to most in retiring?

CR:
Nervous that I don't want to. I've been thinking about this a lot because it's so much fun; during the day, I may talk to like four different alums, and I always promised myself that I would like to take a welding course and I want to take a painting class. I want to get better at my golf game, I want to read books, I want to read a book, and I want to practice cooking. I have a whole bag of cooking magazines, so I'm going to bring them all with me.

SH:
So, that was all the questions that I had, so do you have anything else that you would like to add?

CR:
Let's see, I did teach diving to the high school students for a while so that was fun. I had a diving coach when I was young and he won the 1960 Olympics and then he went on to teach at Princeton so yeah, so that was nice. You always like being around young people because young people keep you young or they keep you going, so that's what I love. I mean, I think this is very bittersweet about retiring and you know how some people are like counting the days and I'm not like that, you know, I've enjoyed what I've done, so anyway.

SH:
Thank you for your time.

CR:
Oh, you're more than welcome. I'm sorry you have to transcribe all this.

SH:
It's okay [laughs].

Coverage

Cooperstown, NY

1950-2021

Creator

Sophia Hall

Publisher

Cooperstown Graduate Program, State University of New York-College at Oneonta

Rights

Cooperstown Graduate Association, Cooperstown, NY

Format

audio/mpeg

35.7mB

37.5mB

11.5mB

image/jpeg

5.82mB

Language

en-US

Type

Sound

Image

Identifier

21-007

Abstract

Track 1, 02:40 - Education

Track 1, 07:30 - Children and MBA

Track 1, 11:35 - Moving to Cooperstown

Track 1, 15:45 - Jobs before CGP

Track 1, 24:21 - Beginning at CGP

Track 1, 28:22 - Cooperstown Graduate Association

Track 2, 6:41 - CGP Conferences

Track 2, 10:47 - 50th Anniversary of CGP

Track 2, 12:25 - Fundraising

Track 2, 15:53 - CGP and Community

Track 2, 22:40 - Cooperstown Community

Track 2, 25:03 - Passing of brother on 9/11

Track 3, 5:10 - Friendships and Retirement

Item

Catherine Raddatz, November 12, 2021