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Ozro Richard Steigelman was born in York, PA, the third of
four children. At the age of six, he moved with his family to Georgetown, DE.
After his graduation from Georgetown High School in 1949, Oz secured an
appointment to the United States Military Academy from U.S. Senator John J.
Williams of Delaware, entering West Point on 5 Jul 1950 with the Class of 1954.
Although his family and friends called him “Dick,” he was “Oz” to
his classmates. As a cadet, Oz was an enthusiastic, forceful, and positive
leader, named to the rank of cadet lieutenant and executive officer of cadet
Company B-2. Oz was a member of the Pistol, Portuguese, and Ordnance clubs and
an outstanding intramural competitor and coach in boxing.
Upon graduation, Oz entered the Air Force, completed pilot
training, and was named to the 1st Air Transport Squadron. During this important
assignment, he was awarded the Soldiers Medal for rescuing a fellow pilot who
had crashed. Throughout his life, helping others was a mission that transcended
his careers in the military and education. His subsequent Air Force assignments
included flying missions in the Far East, earning a master’s degree in
engineering administration from the University of Michigan, and working in the
Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Leaving active duty in 1965, Oz pursued a career in teaching and
earned his wings with young people as he taught them to soar in their future
careers. As a long-time substitute teacher in Ocean View, DE, he began teaching
mathematics and experienced a relationship that would change his life. Although
they were at West Point together for 26 months (November 1951 to January 1954),
Oz, the cadet, and Sergeant Butler, the WAC hospital receptionist, never knew
each other. In 1965, Emmy Lee Butler and Oz met at Bethany Beach, DE. They were
married six months later. His marriage to Emmy Lee was something Oz cherished
and nurtured throughout his life. Sharing a love of teaching, Emmy Lee, who
taught special education students, and Oz spent fourteen years of their
education careers together at Hereford High School.
In 1966, Oz accepted a teaching position at Sparrows Point High
School in Baltimore County and earned a master’s degree in education at Johns
Hopkins University. In 1970, Oz and Emmy Lee moved north to begin fulfilling
careers at Hereford High, near their beautiful new home on a forested hill above
Gunpowder Falls in Monkton. Oz used aerial photographs to find the perfect
location for their home. For the next 23 years, he taught students, grades 9–12,
many of whom became graduates at West Point and other service academies. At his
retirement in 1993, he was the Mathematics Department Chair. Although he was
offered multiple promotions to administration positions, he refused them all,
preferring to teach at his beloved Hereford High School. Oz’s students loved him
as a person and as an engaging teacher who cared about them and always found a
way to motivate them to succeed in mathematics. He was the consummate teacher
for all students, regardless of their math ability.
At Oz’s memorial service, several former Hereford High students
spoke. The principal speaker commented that while we all were saddened by his
death, we were changed for the better by knowing him and the way he lived each
day fully and honestly. She remembered a test she had taken to determine her
future career. Although the test told her to pursue actuarial science, Mr.
Steigelman said emphatically that she needed to work with people, not computers
and numbers. She followed his advice, going to the seminary and into the
ministry. On that day of celebration of Oz’s life, she led the memorial service.
Another student recounted that her bad attitude and low self-esteem led to low
grades, especially in mathematics. One day, Mr. Steigelman stormed into her math
class and called for her and four other students to join him in another
classroom, where he implemented the “Steigelman method” to get them to learn. He
used strategies that were “hands-on tactics, games, embarrassment, positive
reinforcement and you name it.” The strategies worked. A week later, Mr.
Steigelman caught her cutting class outside of school. Instead of turning her in
to the assistant principal, he told her to get to class and said, “You’re
learning math.” She did. This student never cut class again and raised her math
grade from an E to an A. Eventually, she became a high school teacher, modeling
her style after what she learned from Oz, both in and out of the classroom.
During his years at Hereford High, Oz never forgot the studies
and discipline he experienced at West Point. Constantly looking for students
whom he believed would benefit from a military academy education, he counseled
and inspired many of his students to become cadets and midshipmen. His guidance
helped to direct the admission of at least 35 students to West Point, the Naval
Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Air Force Academy. In one family of
twelve children, he enabled seven to obtain appointments to service academies
with four attending West Point and three more the other service academies. His
influence on young people moved beyond Hereford High, as he encouraged many young
men and women in other high schools to aspire to a military academy education.
Oz’s former student and, now, minister commented near the end of
the memorial service that what made Oz so special was
that he believed in his
students. He praised them and challenged them to be better students and better
people. In Biblical terms, Oz lived his life as a servant, giving, sharing, and
caring about others. His family extended beyond blood to include students and
friends who prized his thoughtfulness, loyalty, and generosity. With his new
wings, he now soars on missions on God’s orders. Well done, Oz.
— Classmate John T. Miller ’54
and Dorothy Hardin, friend
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