Witmeyer, Stanley Herbert (American painter, born 1913)

Stanley Herbert Witmeyer was born in Palmyra, PA in 1913. One of eight children, Witmeyer started playing basketball at a nearby church in the afternoons. After graduating from a technical high school, he attended the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), then known as the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute (RAMI), where he earned his art degree. While at RAMI, Witmeyer played on the school's basketball team and served as the team's captain during his senior year. An all-star player, he was recruited to play basketball for the Eastman Kodak Company shortly after graduating in 1936. Witmeyer played on the Eastman Kodak Company's basketball team for half a season. He then left and began working toward his bachelor's degree at the New York State College for Teachers at Buffalo in Buffalo, NY. In 1940, he played professional basketball for the Rochester Seagrams, a predecessor of the Rochester Royals, a former NBA team. Witmeyer finished his degree and began working as the Art Director for the Cuba School District in Cuba, NY. When World War II broke out, Witmeyer was drafted into the U.S. Army. Initially he was assigned to an army basketball team that played for recruits, but as the war went on, he was transferred to a field mapping unit in Hawaii. When he was discharged from the army, Witmeyer attended Syracuse University where he earned his M.F.A. degree in 1947. Witmeyer returned to the Institute, now called the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), in 1946 as an instructor in the Applied Art Department. He was selected to serve as director of the program in 1952 and served in this position until he was named Associate Dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts in 1968. Witmeyer retired from the Institute in 1973. On May 4, 2010, Stanley and his friend Beatrice Anderson recorded a segment about his life for National Public Radio's oral history program, StoryCorps. To listen to their interview, click on the following link: http://interactive.wxxi.org/node/27913 Stanley Witmeyer died on October10, 2011 at the age of 98.

From the description of Stanley H. Witmeyer papers. 1960-1993. (RIT Library). WorldCat record id: 769817639

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