Remembering an old columnist

Bay Ridge and The Home Reporter have said good-bye to the paper’s long-time columnist, Walter Rebenstorf, who died on September 1.

Rebenstorf, who was in his eighties, wrote a domestic column for the paper for over 20 years, voicing his opinion on many things. He lived in Bay Ridge for more than 40 years.

“His column would be grumpy, but very well opinionated,” remembered Sara Otey, former editor of the newspaper.

Otey stated that it was a pleasure working with him. She described him as having “charm.”

“He was a neighborhood guy. He would always talk about his looks, and imitate Richard Nixon,” Otey continued.

In fact, one of his columns, dated back to May 6, 1994, was centered on his perceived resemblance to Nixon.

“Practically all my adult life, I have looked at the face of the late Richard Nixon, and with shifting emotions, felt that I was looking at my own reflection,” he stated.

He continued, “I was not alone in this observation. I went along with the game. On occasion, I would shake jowls and make a ‘V’ with both hands, and the people would break up. Great attention. Marvelous identification. And wonderful fun,” he said.

In his column he spoke of a “yellowed clipping of The Home Reporter and Sunset News,” from 1979 that he kept, which told “all about the resident of 88th Street who is a dead ringer for the President of the United States.”

He joked and added the following “The photo shows someone who appears to have been born minus three fingers, with a bad case of the mumps.”

Rebenstorf was a computer programmer for many years, “juggling numbers and producing reports for the business world,” according to his own columns. As he also told the world through the words he put down on paper, he was involved with a Local Area Network, LAN, which kept 300 people active at their personal computers.

Rebenstorf and his wife Jean had two children, a son, Glen, and a daughter, Crystal.