Post-Football: What Happened To Those Players?
The 1964 Football Dodgers were undefeated and became state champions because the players developed their inherent talents through hard work, team loyalty, and personal growth. Their parents, teachers, and coaches encouraged them to build character, an old-fashioned term that signifies reliability, courage, strength, persistence, and intelligent, sportsmanlike competition.
In essence, they became better men by being a part of the Madison football program during those years. The training provided by Dodger football, along with the incredible support from parents, teachers, neighbors, ministers, and a talented group of fellow students, helped these boys grow into the men they ultimately became.
This is evident in the post-graduation lives they led:
(in alphabetical order)
Ralph Artigliere
Ralph Artigliere graduated from West Point in 1969, where he played football and commissioned as an Armor officer. After serving in Germany, he volunteered for Flight School and deployed to Vietnam in 1972 as a helicopter pilot and Operations Officer in an Air Cavalry unit during the Easter Offensive. He left the Army as a Captain in 1974 and worked as a project manager at Ryder Systems before earning his law degree from the University of Florida in 1977. Ralph practiced civil trial law for 24 years, then served as a Circuit Judge in Florida’s Tenth Judicial Circuit, presiding over civil, criminal, and family cases. He became a judicial educator and legal author, continuing to teach and write after retiring from the bench in 2008.
Carl Caskey
Just before HS graduation, Carl was accepted to Rutgers where he was going to play baseball; but during the summer, he received an acceptance letter to Georgia Institute of Technology for a scholarship to the Naval ROTC Program. While at Georgia Tech, he married Linda Schlichting and had a baby daughter, Kimberley. He was commissioned an Ensign in the Navy on Christmas Eve 1969 and attended USN Supply School in Athens GA (where he bumped into Skip Ditman ‘62 MHS, and an All-American Center at the Naval Academy). Carl’s first tour was in USS Ticonderoga, which was the recovery ship for Apollo 16 and 17. On 16, Carl was assigned to support the Astronauts, Captain Young, Colonel Charlie Duke, and LCDR Ken Mattingly. He then served at the Naval Air Station Miramar as a Supply officer to Top Gun, next as a Department Head on a Destroyer during the fall of Saigon, and finally on a Congressionally mandated team inspecting all the ships of the Navy throughout the world. After the USN, he worked for defense contractors and executed his personal plan to “see the world.” Today he lives near his daughters and grandchildren (and ex-wife) in Sunny Sandy Eggo, CA and still goes to the gym several times per week.
Lou Corea
Upon High School graduation, he joined the United States Army and proudly served from 1965 to 1968. Part of Lou’s Army experience was that he was stationed in Germany. . He worked for the United States Postal Service in Berkeley Heights until retirement. Lou was a classic car guy who spent a great deal of time in this arena. He was married to Alice and had two children, Brian and Richard. Lou resided in a few places in Madison and ultimately moved to South Carolina and finally to Florida where he resided until his passing in 2021. A great guy with the best sense of humor.
Robert DeSombre
Robert served in the armed forces from August 1967 until August 1973 and was a veteran of the Vietnam War.
Rusty Engle
Enlisted in the US Army in April 1966. After completing basic training at Fort Dix, he received advanced training at Fort Benning, GA, prior to being sent overseas to Vietnam in November 1966. He attained the rank of Specialist 4 (SP4). Assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, Rusty was a radioman whose duty was to relay messages from the battlefield to a command post behind the lines. On June 26, 1967, the Rev. John W. Parks of the Madison Presbyterian Church and an Army Sergeant arrived at the Engle’s home to advise them that Rusty had been killed in action near the Cambodian border on June 22nd.
MHS Classmates created the Russell Engle Memorial Fund,an annual award is given to a senior boy “who embodies cooperation, good sportsmanship and team spirit” as shown by Rusty during his sports career at Madison High.
Rhys Foulkes
Robert Gero
A bricklayer with Masons Union Local 4, formerly Local 21 of Morristown and a Veteran of the United States Navy.
Rick Hadley
Doug Hale
Doug excelled at football and baseball while at Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y., where at one point he led the nation in home runs, and was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. After college graduation, he was employed by Merrill Lynch in Houston, Texas, and remained there for 42 years.
Dick Herbst
After graduating from Colgate, Dick married high-school classmate Cathy Fehon and went on to study finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He then joined Goldman Sachs, where he rose to the level of partner. In the early 1990s, he left Goldman to co-found, with other Goldman partners, his own firm, the Beacon Group. After selling the Beacon Group to Citibank at the turn of the century, Dick and his partner have run a small wealth-management advisory firm, Roundtable Invesment Partners. He and Cathy have two children and several grandchildren and live in the Morristown area.
Peter Jilleba
Peter played under Coach Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama and was selected to play for the South in the 1970 Senior Bowl. In 1998, Peter was awarded by the Morris County Chapter of the National Football Foundation, the Morris County High School Football Legend Award, and in 2000, he was recognized by the Star-Ledger newspaper as one of the all-time top 25 athletes from New Jersey. Later in life, Peter developed a love for the outdoors and a passion for trekking and mountain climbing, especially in the Asian Himalayan Mountains. Peter traveled and hiked in more than 30 countries during his lifetime. After college, Peter had a business career in the energy industry and as a home improvement entrepreneur.
Jack Mac Donald aka Jeff Andrews (beginning 1983)
Jack (now Jeff) had a wild and crazy beginning to his adult life, which is detailed in a memoir he wrote in 2009, Desperate Highway. The story follows Jack while he executed a surprising number of white-collar crimes over several years, ultimately getting caught and serving time in prison. The book reports on that journey and his subsequent decision to become a devout Christian, start a new life as Jeff Andrews and dedicate his life to legitimate businesses and a ministry to help other prison inmates straighten out their lives.
John Mantone
Known by all his friends as Moose. He was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War. Honorably discharged, he worked as a mail carrier for the Madison Post Office for 39 years. John also owned and operated a landscaping and lawn mower repair business.
Paul Natale
Graduated from Hofstra University and embarked upon a career in the office equipment industry. Moved to the Tampa Bay Area and collaborated with local entrepreneurs on two ventures. Still working full time.
Bill Notte
Carl Peterson
Carl graduated from Trenton State College in 1969. He became a Physical Education teacher/football coach at David Brearley High School in Kenilworth and then Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark. During his coaching career, his teams won 14 Conference Championships and 6 State Championships. After retiring from coaching, he was inducted into the New Jersey High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame at Rutgers University. He finished the last 10 years of his career as the Athletic Director at Arthur L. Johnson High School. In addition to coaching, Carl was a high school basketball referee for 40 years and is currently still umpiring high school softball around the state of New Jersey. Carl married his wife, Donna in 1985 and is the proud father of a son, Christopher and daughter, Jennifer.
Carl Pierce
After graduating from MHS, Carl attended Yale University, where he majored in History, ran cross-country and track, and built the academic foundation that led him to law school. At Yale he also began his lifelong partnership with fellow MHS graduate Peggy Sawin, who became a nurse and later a professor of Nursing. Following law school, Carl joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he taught for 42 years, retiring as the Separk Distinguished Professor. He specialized in contracts, business associations, and legal ethics, contributed to revisions of professional conduct rules, and directed the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. Peggy likewise served for 42 years on the nursing faculty at the University of Tennessee. Together they raised two daughters and now enjoy their grandchildren. Looking back, Carl credits MHS with sparking both his love of academics and athletics, preparing him for a rewarding career, a lasting marriage, and a full retirement.
Bob Stehlgens
[To be added later.]
