by Mel Rubenstein
Contributor
To do justice to Jeff Bastable’s story would take more space than what is normally allowed for this column. But, here we go.
Jeff Bastable was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. His family moved to Syracuse in 1948 where his father practiced orthopedic surgery and where Jeff attended Nottingham High School. He then went on to Williston Academy in Massachusetts.
Jeff attended Syracuse University where he served as head manager of the football team on scholarship. He went on and has served on the SU Varsity Club Board for over 25 years, three years as its president, and in 2007 was named a SU Letter Winner of Distinction award. Jeff graduated with a BA degree in geography.
In order to complete his required military obligation, Jeff wanted to serve the Coast Guard (where his grandfather had served as a surf man in World War I) but was disqualified for medical reasons. This saddened him because he was always very proud of his father and special uncle who served in World War II.
Jeff Bastable returned to Syracuse University, earned his master’s degree in chemistry through an NSF grant, and met his future wife, Susan. They were married in 1972 in Hendricks Chapel. During the prior three years, Jeff was teaching chemistry, algebra, and earth science at the Most Holy Rosary High School in Syracuse, while Susan was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing and working.
Bastable was quite surprised when he received a full scholarship from the U.S. Public Health Service to attend the Sloan Program in Health Services Management receiving an MBA at Cornell in what is now the Johnson School of Management. Sloan is a hospital and health management program that prepares students for leadership positions in the health care industry. After completing the program, Jeff served a required three-month residency at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City.
He completed that and more, and wound up working at MSKCC for 10 years. At just 27 years of age, he became administrative assistant of this world-famous cancer center shortly after the passage of the National Cancer Act in 1971.
Bastable went on to serve as the CEO of Westerly Hospital and Community Health of Westerly, R.I., executive vice president and COO of the PHP medical group practice and HMO, Senior VP-Excellus, and several other executive positions in major health care organizations. In 2009, he became the director of major and planned gifts for the American Cancer Society covering all of New York, above New York City, where he still serves today as a volunteer.
One day in 1977, Jeff received a phone call from his close friend, Marty Yenawine. Jeff knew that Marty had years of experience leading and growing both public and private corporations and non-profit organizations (United Way) as well as public health service companies, and served on the boards of countless civic and community organizations. Yenawine was a big advocate of the United Way and suggested to Jeff that he might like to get involved.
Well, that phone call was the beginning of Jeff’s volunteering for the United Way for the next 32 consecutive years where he became a member of the Board of Directors here in CNY for 15 years, chairing The Hamilton White Leadership Giving Program for four annual campaigns and chairing the Leadership Giving Council.
Through the years, Jeff Bastable has volunteered with many other organizations which he continues today. To name just a few: Lecturer SUNY Upstate Medical students, Lecturer Cornell Sloan Program, Loretto Foundation serving as its secretary, Boy Scouts of America, United States Selective Service Board, American Heart Association-Heart Ball Chair, and the Board of Advisors, College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University where he has served since 1998.
Probably Jeff Bastable’s most emotional involvement has been with Honor Flight Syracuse. To better explain this, the following is an excerpt of remarks he made at the Central New York Veterans Recognition Foundation Dinner on Nov. 8, 2017:
“Honor Flight Syracuse is one of 130 Honor Flight Hubs across the Nation that form the Honor Flight Network. Our mission is simple: To transport veterans to Washington, D.C., at no cost, to visit the memorials dedicated to their service and sacrifice.
“Co-founders Randy Flath, president, and John Paddock, vice president, launched Honor Flight Syracuse in 2012. One word describes HFS success – volunteers – from all areas; corporations, family, friends, and loved ones, all with passion for veterans service.
“We have successfully flown 682 veterans to Washington for their final mission. You can help us fulfill our mission. Do you have a family member, a friend, or a client, who is a veteran of World War II or the Korean War? Tell them about Honor Flight; help them fill out a simple application.
“Also, I want to mention the Flags of Our Heroes Program which honors deceased veterans. For those who have missed flying on an Honor Flight Mission, HFS takes a veteran’s photo on one of our missions to Washington, and afterwards presents the family with a professional certificate and picture of the veteran taken at the WWII and Korean memorials.”
These remarks were by Jeffrey Bastable, board member and director of philanthropy, Honor Flight Syracuse.
So, how did Jeff get involved with Honor Flight Syracuse? As the number of veterans who signed up to go on an Honor Flight mission grew, the need for nurses grew to accompany them. Paddock made some inquiries and served on the Advisory Council, LeMoyne College Nursing Program, founded in 2004 by its director, Dr. Susan Bastable. Susan’s national reputation in nursing education was well known as she has written three text books in nursing, allied health professionals and patient education.
Paddock and Jeff Bastable knew each other from their board membership on the Boy Scouts Longhouse Council of Syracuse. John went to Susan based on Jeff’s introduction and Susan said: “How can we at LeMoyne nursing help you?” Susan, after serving as a nurse and lead on HFS Mission 1, organized LeMoyne RN’s to serve future missions and designated faculty member Kara Keyes who became the lead for health and safety on the HFS board.
Then, it was through Susan’s praise of the HFS experience that Jeff became interested and became a board member of Honor Flight Syracuse over four years ago. This was emotionally meaningful for Jeff and Susan because both of their fathers had served in WWII, as well as other family members. And, more recently, both their son, daughter (nurse), and son-in law, have served as officers in the U.S. Navy.
The Bastables live in Fayetteville and enjoy volunteering, travel, gardening, their children and grandkids, visiting with friends, fishing and his book club. Their favorite place on earth is summer stays on Chappaquiddick Island, Mass., with their family. Much of their time the past eight years focused on aging parent care and support.
For information on volunteering and giving to Honor Flight Syracuse contact the following: honorflightsyracuse.org or call 855-433-5633.
To recommend someone with a stellar record of volunteering contact Mel Rubenstein at: [email protected] or 315-682-7162.
