Student Aid Fund-Walter Handelman

The Village of Great Neck Plaza recently announced the establishment of a scholarship, "In Memory of Walter Handelman, P.E.," for the Village's late beloved Village Engineer.  Mayor Jean Celender presented a check for $1,500 to Candy Gould, President of the Great Neck Student Aid Fund and Board of Directors member, Madge Kaplan.

In presenting the check, Mayor Celender stated, "Walter Handelman was an integral part of our village family.  As our Village Engineer for over 30 years, we in the village were devastated by his untimely death a year ago.  It is our intent and desire to establish this fund as an annual scholarship to keep Walter's memory alive and thriving by providing a deserved, talented high school student with an opportunity for higher education that may not otherwise have been available."

Present at the presentation ceremony was Walter's widow, Marlene Handelman.  Mayor Celender read a letter enumerating some of Walter's tremendous accomplishments and activities not only in the Great Neck community, a community which he was a long-time resident and loved, but throughout his illustrious professional engineering career in New York City and Nassau/Suffolk Counties.  The mayor added, "As part of the annual scholarship presentation, we would like the recipient to know about the life of a great man that this fund memorializes, with a copy of this letter." In addition to serving as Village Engineer, Walter Handelman was a retired engineer with the New York State Department of Transportation, and had a long professional engineering career as a Construction Inspector and Engineer-In-Charge on many of the region's major state highway projects, including Prospect Expressway, Major Deegan Expressway, Northern State Parkway, Long Island Expressway (during its original construction in the 1960's and later in the mid 1990's to 2003 during the expansion of the 4th lane (HOV) and bridge widening projects), and the LIE/Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway Interchange Improvement Project.  He was also Village Engineer and assisted several other Great Neck peninsula villages on roadway and traffic safety improvement projects.

The Village is pleased and honored to establish the scholarship "In Memory of Walter Handelman, P.E." with the Great Neck Student Aid Fund.  Walter was greatly admired by his friends and colleagues and one of his many talents was being a wonderful teacher.  He so enjoyed sharing his tremendous knowledge and experience in traffic engineering and construction to the people who worked side by side with him. "This scholarship is very befitting for Walter," reflected Mayor Celender, "in that the learning and imparting of knowledge will carry on for students fortunate to receive this scholarship in his memory."

Persons wishing to contribute to the Great Neck Student Aid Fund "In the Memory of Walter Handelman, P.E." or to support the fund's mission in general can make a tax-deductible contribution to Great Neck Student Aid Fund, Inc., P.O. Box 1067, Great Neck, NY  11023.  With your help, the Student Aid Fund can make a difference for a local high school student.  For further information, contact President Candy Gould at (516) 829-9437.