Another titan of educational leadership in Sachem has passed away. Robert Giambattista, longtime principal of Waverly Avenue Elementary School, died on May 11. He was 95.
A New Jersey native, he served in the Navy and Marines during World War II and fought in the Pacific Theater.
He moved to Long Island in 1951 and made an immediately impact in Sachem, which was just setting its foundation as a booming district that launched a few years later in 1955.
A big proponent of science, he infused unique programming into educational experiences for children. In the 1970s he managed to get a shoot from an elm tree planted at the White House by President John Quincy Adams in 1826. The shoot grew in a nursery in West Islip for seven years, was planted at Waverly and still stands almost 40 years later.
“My aim was to get a tree for the kids that would clue them in that, as part of learning about our country, they can study trees,” Giambattista told Newsday almost 20 years ago.
His obituary on a number of funeral sites says it best, “His tireless dedication to his students and the staff he served with was well known, but he was a very modest person who felt he was doing what was necessary to provide the best education possible for his students and the needed support for his staff without expecting any recognition for him. He was always proud and honored to be a member of the Sachem Central School District family.”
He is survived by his wife of almost 70 years, Betty Jane, and their four children Kathy, Robin, Scott and his wife, Amy, and his youngest Kerry; his grandchildren Kira and her fiancé, Dan; Brian and his wife, Amanda; Danny and Emily Rose; his first great grandchild, Stella Mae and his nieces and nephews and their families.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a donation to your children’s school library or to your public library for the purchase of a book for the reading enjoyment of the children or teens or adults of your community.
VISITATION AND SERVICES
*Visitation- Sunday May 16, 2021 from 2-4:30 & 7-9:30 p.m. at our West Sayville Funeral Home, 245 Main St.
*Funeral Mass- Tuesday May 18, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at St. James RC Church, Pennington, New Jersey; Interment- St. Mary’s Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey