MELVIN GELBER

 

 

Appointment to Naval Academy

Although not the headline appointment to the Naval Academy, as Charles E. Blackford III was another Hackensack young man mentioned in The Bergen Record December 18, 1941 article, Melvin Gelber is an alternate to the other headline appointment, Walter M. Schirra who became one of the original
7 Mercury Astronauts in 1959.  

Walter M. Schirra was born in Hackensack Hospital and grew up in Oradell, New Jersey.  The people in Oradell in 1930’s -1940’s had the option of sending their children to Hackensack High School or Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, and his parents chose to send Walter to Englewood High School. 

Click here to view Walter M. Schirra’s extensive resume on his life’s accomplishments

Melvin Gelber is mentioned in the article as having been a lifelong resident of Hackensack and a graduate from the local schools he was a sophomore at Notre Dame University at the time at the very young age of only 18 years old.

Written by:
Bob Meli
June 18, 2013