Past school board leader is mourned

Larry Pittinsky remembers his father as the man who was always there for him, no matter what he was doing.

“I was an Eagle Scout,” he said. “[My brother] Matthew was an Eagle Scout. My other brothers joined the Scouts. My father didn’t just drop us off, he’d come in. He volunteered to go on camping trips — a man who never camped in his life.”

Bernard Pittinsky, also known as Bernie or Bo, died Dec. 26 at age 84. The certified public accountant and retired finance director of Yeshiva University was also a longtime Baldwin resident and a past president of the Baldwin Board of Education.

In recognition of his contributions to Baldwin Schools, flags in the district were flown at half staff on Jan. 13.

That evening, school board Trustee Mary Jo O’Hagan praised Pittinsky’s work for the district. “Bernie was a finance guy, comptroller for a major university,” she said. “But voters who thought they were getting a fiscal conservative got a man who balanced fiscal responsibility with a deep respect for education. His was a firm and authoritative voice, and he was a strong leader for the district through some turbulent years when school closings triggered strong emotions among community members.”

B.A. Schoen, a former trustee, agreed with O’Hagan. “He was the kind of guy you had to listen to,” Schoen said of Pittinsky. “He spoke with authority, and you knew that he knew what he was talking about.”

Schoen recalled a time when the purchase of a pitching machine for soccer players was under discussion. Some members of the board questioned the need for the device — until Pittinsky spoke up.

“Bernie wasn’t a rah-rah person,” Schoen said, explaining that Pittinsky believed that sports, while important, were only one component of a well-rounded education. “But he said, ‘Well, they just had a great season. They deserve a pitching machine.’ That ended the discussion, and they got their machine.”

According to Larry Pittinsky, his father was born in Brooklyn, where he graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. Later he earned a degree from Baruch College, and was a veteran of the Korean War.

He and his wife, Janet, were married for more than 60 years, his son said. The family moved to Baldwin in 1967 from Queens.