Whittemore School 

Elizabeth Keenan, Nancy Brown, Patricia Chadbourne, Colleen Andrade,  Joe McCusker

Throughout my elementary school years and then my career I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with the best of the best!  First of all… Mrs. Betty Keenan… she was the secretary at Whittemore School when I was a student in the 50’s and 60’s.  She was the first face we saw in the office, gave us our “helper assignments “back in the day when we as students delivered messages to teachers, applied band-aids and knew everything! I particularly remember in the early 70’s she nurtured a group of novice educators, teaching us the ins and outs of the school and was there for us at every turn.  That group of teachers relied on her experience and additionally her wisdom in how and when to interact with our principal (guess who?).  

              Then came Nancy Brown…Nancy loved the Whittemore School and along with that was her love for and involvement with the veterans and veterans groups of Waltham.  Back in the day when the upper grades wrote their annual veteran essays, we all worked extra hard to ensure our essays were the best, as we knew Nancy would be reading them and we wanted to make her proud.  She was as equally proud of our annual Veterans Day assemblies and was instrumental in contacting the many organizations that she and her husband Brownie were involved with.

The next in line was Pat Chadbourne… again, she knew the school in and out.  She was a Whittemore parent, PTO President and then school secretary. She organized the office and kept us afloat even in the worst of times.  Pat instinctively knew how to keep bumblebees out of her office and in mine! The students and staff could depend on her for a kind word, a smile and a laugh, an understanding heart and maybe even a cookie! Following Pat was Colleen Andrade… of the four she was the most quiet and unassuming, yet she was organized, skilled and so very essential when we packed up and moved Whittemore during the renovations. She unpacked us and organized the office at “South” all the while making it seem like an easy task.  We seamlessly relocated and thanks to Colleen the staff and students were as comfortable as they could be under the circumstances. 

          I often think of my decades with these amazing women and know they played a vital role in my career and in the successful operation of Whittemore School.

As for our custodians, all of them, as far back as Sam Collura, were a vital part of our Whittemore family.  They made the building run smoothly and were often the unsung heroes. I have to give a special shout out to the Whittemore team under the direction of Joe McCusker. We could not have packed, cleaned, moved, unpacked and organized our temporary location without them.  They efficiently carried out their normal daily responsibilities at Whittemore and then went over to South to prepare the school for us.  It was amazing to watch the transformation under their direction.

Secretaries and custodial staff… we all know a school cannot efficiently operate without them and I was honored to have worked with the best!

Patricia Vasquezi  

(We have reached out to retired building administrators and hope to have additional tributes in future newsletters.)

She was an elegant and brilliant English teacher in her fifth year of teaching.  He was a wise-cracking, muscle bound ex G.I. in his first year.  Apparently, they barely knew each other beyond casual between-class chats in the hall.

Classes let out at noon on a Wednesday for Thanksgiving vacation.   By 5 P.M.the two had eloped and gotten married, returning to teach across the hall from each other as Mr. and Mrs. 

The consensus was that "it could never last"; different ethnicities, backgrounds, cultures, etc.  She was even an inch taller!

This Thanksgiving, Jean (Paquette) and Ira Steinberg observed their 58th wedding anniversary.  

                                                               (submitted by the groom!)

(You should have received the following in late October. Check your Spam or Junk folder.)

Make sure we, MTRS, have your current address!

1099-R forms to mail in January and important changes to the Benefit Verification process

At the end of January 2025, the MTRS will mail your 2024 1099-R tax form and, if applicable, a Benefit Verification Form (BVF).

Benefit Verification process discontinued for permanent Massachusetts residents

A recent regulatory change ends the requirement that Massachusetts retirement systems conduct a biennial Benefit Verification (BV) process, provided the system utilizes a third-party death match service. The MTRS utilizes such a service and also receives comprehensive vital statistics from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Thus, going forward, the MTRS will only send BVFs to benefit recipients whose permanent address is out of state.

Please note that if your permanent address is in MA, but you have an active temporary address during the mailing period (late January), you will receive your 1099-R at your active temporary address but will not receive a BVF; nor will you be required to complete one.

Benefit Verification process for benefit recipients residing outside Massachusetts

If you maintain a permanent residence outside of Massachusetts, you will receive your 2024 1099-R and 2025 BVF together in the same envelope and you must complete and return the BVF as instructed. 

Regardless of your state of residency, please make sure we have your current mailing address to avoid delays in receipt of these forms.

If you have recently moved—or will be moving to a new or temporary address in January 2025—please complete a Change of Address Form BEFORE December 9, 2024, to avoid delays in receiving your forms. Please include an email address on the form, if you have one. For your security, we cannot accept change of address requests via email or over the phone.

If you have any questions or need a copy of our Change of Address Form mailed to you, please contact us.  617-679-6877

Best Wishes for a Wonderful Holiday Season!