Stan Sakowitz – Our Self-Made Man
BY ALICE DRIER FOR THE FALL 2006 STAR
Everyone enjoys stories or movies about a person who rises from a difficult life to win the race, get the job, win the girl, bring the bad guy to justice, or in some fashion “beat the odds.” Dr. Stanley Sakowitz did just that.
Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the only child in his family, Stan’s early years were difficult and sad. Usually talkative Stan became silent about memories of his childhood. His mother was chronically ill, both mentally and physically, and she was unable to bring a sense of normality and security to her little boy. Stan was often shuttled off to aunts and a grandmother. He does recall some pleasant times interacting with cousins on those visits. Stan’s father, the provider and Orthodox shul-goer, was busy making ends meet for his family with his job in a local hardware store.
Young Stan attended Bridgeport public schools throughout his elementary and high school years. He also walked, starting around age five or six, the two and a half miles to his father’s synagogue, where he studied Hebrew and became a bar mitzvah.
In high school, Stan wrote for the newspaper, was editor-in-chief of the yearbook, sang tenor in the choir and played leads in school plays and musicals. Between his junior and senior years, Stan won a scholarship to the Westport Playhouse as a summer intern. This could have been the turning point in the life of a man who says, “If I’d stayed in my neighborhood, I’d probably be in jail or dead today.”
Stan loved his stint at the playhouse, made friends and promptly fell in love with theatre. Feeling the hopelessness of his life in Bridgeport and having graduated from high school at age seventeen, he ran away from home with twenty dollars in his pocket. After a day of hitchhiking, young Stan found himself in the theatre district of New York City and probably imagined his name in lights on Broadway. Stan found a roommate, a CCNY college student, and began a string of occupations common to aspiring theatre artists. He was a waiter and babysitter, and he worked at menial jobs in theatres. These part-time jobs allowed him the freedom to go to acting calls. When the lead singer/dancer in the chorus of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” became ill, Tammy Grimes, the star of the show, said, “I want that curly-haired strawberry blond over there.”
After one and a half years on the Broadway scene, Stan decided he really should go to college, but there was no money in the family to help him. He was willing to work summers but knew a scholarship was necessary. After applying to several schools, the best offer was a four-year full scholarship, including room and board, at the University of Vermont.
With determination and perseverance, Stan stuck to his first very unpleasant summer job. He was a degreaser in a factory that made parts for machinery and gears. It was “the dirtiest job,” said Stan, remembering his arrival the first day in a clean white shirt. The shirt changed to black after one ay in the factory. Working the next summer was much more pleasant, as Stan found a job in the pet department of Saks 5th Avenue, where he luckily made good commissions while successfully selling fancy accessories to doting pet owners. A strange, but true, next job was with Lau Fans, demonstrating fans to customers. This commission-paying stint also landed Stan a spot on the popular TV show of that time, “What’s My Line?” Since the panel that included Dorothy Kilgallen and Arlene Francis could not guess his line of work, Stan happily came away with the $50 prize.
At UVM, Stan majored in psychology and English, and, once more he was editor of the yearbook and took roles in dramas and musicals. This college student realized that to make money as a psychologist, he would have to pursue graduate degrees. At this time, Stan changed his mind about his major and learned he would have to take two summer courses, physics and organic chemistry, in order to attain his new goal – becoming a doctor. Upon graduation from college, Stan was accepted at New York Medical College, which is affiliated with Metropolitan Hospital. In medical school, his second and third year job was lab technician at Mt. Sinai, from 4 p.m. to 5 a.m., three nights a week.
“In 1959, a guy in med school gave me this girl’s phone number,” said Stan of his social life. He described his future wife as “this beautiful girl with a great personality, who was lots of fun.” Yep, that sounds like the Rhoda we all know. The new sweethearts enjoyed movies, Coney Island, dinners and just being with each other. Eventually, Rhoda’s parents invited Stan to visit them at their summer home in Bethlehem, NH. In the summer of 1960, while the couple stood in the backyard of the little Strawberry Hill house, Rhoda accepted Stan’s marriage proposal. They were married in 1961 in Brooklyn and spent their five-day honeymoon in Cape Cod. Rhoda drove, for Stan had never learned to drive a car. The newlyweds lived in Rhoda’s father’s apartment building while Stan completed his education. Soon, two important events in Stan’s life took place. He graduated from medical school and his father-in-law gave him his car and taught him to drive.
Internship was at Brookdale Medical Center, and Rhoda continued her work as an art teacher. In 1963, Stan was drafted into the Air force as a general medical officer with the rank of captain. He spent two years in the service at Hanscom Air Base, MA. Next came the first two years of medical residency, at Boston Medical Center, where Doctor Sakowitz’s specialties were adult allergies and pediatrics. His third and fourth years were at Children’s Medical Center, where he trained in pediatrics and pediatric allergies. Stan and Rhoda loved the Boston area, and in 1969, Stan joined a large allergy medical practice in Brookline, Massachusetts. Stan practiced medicine for 55 years.
From 1963 to 1968, Stan and Rhoda lived in an apartment in Waltham, near Boston. Nicole Robin Sakowitz was born to the overjoyed couple in 1966, and when Nicole was eighteen months old, Stan and Rhoda bought their first home in Wayland where they lived until 2020. This loving suburban family of three welcomed baby Craig Jonathan in 1971.
Stan had to “boil it down to a few,” when he began listing his interests. “There are so many, but musical theatre and collecting everything, are very important,” Stan said. His collections, for starters, include paintings, bronzes, antique toys and vintage memorabilia of all kinds.
Dr. Stan’s eyes lit up and sparkled when he mentioned his five beautiful grandchildren: Ari, Talia, and Elana Pikounis, and Zachary and Wyatt Sakowitz. The Sakowitz family includes Nicole’s husband, Bill, and Craig’s wife, Sharon. Stan added, “We must mention my four-legged grandchildren, Zorro” (Craig and Sharon’s dog) “and Journey,” Bill and Nicole’s pup.
In New Hampshire, he enjoyed the Colonial and Weathervane theatres, the North County Chamber Players, and his wonderful friends and neighbors, and added, “BHC is a very unifying part of our lives, too.” In Massachusetts, Stan subscribed to three professional theatre companies, two community theatres and the Boston Symphony. He also loved to walk and liked discovering new and different dining places.
We salute you, Stan, our self-made man!