Home Education and Careers Salesianum School in Wilmington adds six to alumni hall of fame

Salesianum School in Wilmington adds six to alumni hall of fame

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A historical marker from the state archives tells the story of Salesianum becoming the first school in Delaware to integrate. Dialog photo/Mike Lang
 

WILMINGTONSalesianum School inducted six people into its Alumni Hall of Fame during a ceremony held Oct. 19 at the school. Five of the inductees are from this year, while the sixth was a member of the Class of 2023 but could not attend the ceremony last year.

All information was provided by Salesianum.

The inductees are:

Charles Raskob Robinson, a member of the Class of 1957. Robinson is an artist with a proclivity for marine subjects. In high school, he rowed 2,000 miles down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the Gulf of Mexico, and he ventured along 4,500 miles of the Amazon and its tributaries. He worked for 20 years on Wall Street while attending the Art Students League and Carnegie Hall Studios on his way to becoming a professional artist.

Robinson has exhibited in dozens of one-man shows and national contemporary marine art exhibitions in fine art museums across the country. He is a regular contributor to Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine. He is a fellow in the American Society of Marine Artists, the country’s largest not-for-profit educational organization dedicated to marine art and history.

David L. Sysko, Class of 1960. Sysko has made contributions in athletics, business and philanthropy that have left a mark on Delaware. At Salesianum, he earned first-team all-state honors in 1960 for a basketball team that went 21-2. He played three years at the University of Delaware, setting records for points in a game (45) and highest single-season scoring average (23.9 points per game) that stand more than six decades later.

Sysko was a partner and co-head of the private clients group for Kidder Peabody and Co., retiring in 1992. He then served as president of C.F. Kettering Co., a personal holding company from 1998-2018. He was the executive director of the Laffey-McHugh Foundation from 2000-18. He also co-founded Public Allies Delaware, a youth leadership development program, in 1994 with his daughter Suzanne and Tony Allen. In addition, Sysko founded a number of other community-service organizations.

E. James Burke, Class of 1967. Burke is the former chief justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court, retiring in 2018. He established the People’s Law School, providing Wyoming residents with a clearer understanding of the legal system. He was the initial chair of the Access to Justice Commission, which created the Wyoming Center for Legal Aid, ensuring that low-income individuals receive the legal assistance they need.

Burke has received numerous accolades for his work in law. And despite living for more than half a century in the mountain west, he has remained active with Salesianum.

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William H. Schieffer, Class of 1979. Schieffer served as a senior tax associate at Deloitte, Haskins and Sells before becoming a tax manager and partner at Wade and Santora. In 1991, he partnered with Rob and George Siegfried to found The Siegfried Group, where he is currently executive vice president. The Siegfried Group provides financial executives with leadership advice, talent delivery and financial advisory services.

Schieffer has contributed landmark gifts to every major capital campaign at Salesianum this century, and he has served as a trustee and longtime chair of the advancement committee.

Ralph “Jay” Harting III, Class of 1994. Harting was a goaltender on a state champion soccer team at Salesianum, and he was accepted into all four U.S. service academies, choosing to enroll at West Point. Assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Irwin, Calif., he was deployed to Iraq in January 2005.

On April 29 of that year, Capt. Harting was killed along with another soldier when an explosive device detonated in a truck they were inspecting at a checkpoint in Diyarah. He was 28 years old. He received many honors throughout his military career. Harting is survived by his widow, Jennifer, and their children, Adeline, Ralph and Warren, who was born two days after his father’s death.

Nicholas M. Marsini Jr., Class of 1973. Marsini was selected for the hall of fame in 2023 but could not attend. He spent 39 years with PNC Financial Corp., retiring in 2016, holding various positions including president of PNC Bank Delaware, executive vice president and chief financial officer of PNC global investment servicing, and director of finance for PNC Financial Corp.

He spent 18 years on Salesianum’s board of trustees, including six years as chair, the first layperson to hold that position. He also chaired the finance, executive and investment committees. He is also a trustee at the University of Delaware. Currently, Marsini is chair of the Christiana Care Health System board of directors, and he serves on the boards of several mutual funds.