At its annual luncheon on May 23, the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter honored 15 retirees (12 are pictured; Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer is fifth from left) who have been UFT members for 50 years and seven retirees (six are pictured) who have been UFT members for 60 years. 

Retiree David Shustak was the sole recipient of the 70-year service award. The 94-year-old began his career as a speech teacher in 1955 and joined the UFT in 1960, the year of its founding. In his acceptance speech, Shustak spoke with dry humor about the unexpected joys of a long career and a long retirement. He said he recently learned that the cast of a 1972 school production of “The Odd Couple” that he directed still gathers regularly for reunions. When those former students got in touch with him, one of them blurted out on the phone, “Mr. Shustak — you’re not dead?”