St. Saviour HS gets one of its biggest donations ever
PARK SLOPE — When Ellen Seagriff-Leiser was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, her husband, Charles Leiser, became her caretaker. The couple had always been close, but the devastating illness brought them even closer.
They started talking a lot about the past, including Ellen’s high school years at St. Saviour’s in Park Slope where she graduated in 1959.
Before Ellen passed away in 2022, she had asked her husband to make a donation to her alma mater.
“She had a lot of happy memories there. She said the girls were so nice and even though the nuns were very strict, they really looked out for the students,” Leiser explained.
Carol Timpone, principal of St. Saviour High School, was sitting in her office earlier this year when a call came in from Ellen’s brother, Steve Seagriff, who asked Timpone if he could bring his brother-in-law to the school to see the place Ellen spoke about so fondly.
Timpone granted the request and personally led the two men on a guided tour of the building.
“It was very touching. Charles walked into the building clutching his wife’s graduation picture. He had tears in his eyes,” Timpone recalled.
Leiser was so grateful for Timpone’s hospitality that a few weeks later, he donated $50,000 to the school.
The gift marked one of the largest donations from a single donor the all-girls school had ever received in its 106-year history.
Ellen Seagriff-Leiser was an avid bowler who won many trophies in competitions. Her husband still keeps her bowling ball and trophies in the house. (Photo: Paula Katinas)“It’s beyond generous,” Timpone said. “I guess it’s a testament to the connection that our students have to our school and how that connection remains even with the passage of the years.”
During the visit, Leiser told Timpone that his wife’s favorite subject was English and that in her spare time, she loved to bowl. Hearing this, Timpone decided to use a portion of the donation to establish a bowling club for her students and to name it in her honor.
Ellen was born in 1942 and grew up in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. She attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. At that time, Our Lady of Perpetual Help also sponsored a high school for girls in Sunset Park, but Seagriff-Leiser preferred to travel to Park Slope to attend St. Saviour.
“She had heard good things about it,” said Charles.
After her graduation, Ellen went to work for American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) in the payroll department. She met Charles on a blind date. “I was late,” he remembered. She forgave him. The couple was married in 1968.
They first attended Mary’s Nativity Church in Flushing and then Sacred Heart of Jesus when they moved to Bayside. Charles still worships at Sacred Heart.
Charles’ family owned a liquor store, Leiser’s Liquors, in Flushing, and Charles, who took over the running of the store, convinced his wife to quit her job at AT&T and join him.
They worked side by side in Leiser’s Liquors for many years.
The couple, who never had children, devoted themselves to work. “We were very close. Ellen did everything for me. After a long day at the liquor store, we would come home and she would cook dinner for me,” Charles Leiser said.