Rochester newspaper highlights college's 125th anniversary

     PITTSFORD — A tree will be planted in the yard of a Pittsford home in November to mark the 125th anniversary of Wagner College.

     Wagner, which moved to Staten Island in 1918 and is now a liberal arts college, started out in 1883 as a training ground for German-speaking Lutheran ministers on Oregon Street in Rochester.

     Wagner was founded by two ministers: George H. Gomph of Pittsford and Alexander Richter of Rochester. The pair met several times to plan the school under an apple tree in the yard of Gomph's home at 27 Lincoln Ave., which is now owned by Matthew and Kristin Lennarz, according to Lee Manchester, Wagner's director of media relations.

     The original tree is no longer in the yard, and college officials aren't sure what variety of apple tree it was. However, the college will mark the 125th anniversary by planting a northern spy apple tree, which experts said was a common variety back then, Manchester said.

 

     College officials are expecting about 50 participants at the Nov. 9 dedication, including the mayor of Pittsford, town representatives and Wagner President Richard Guarasci.

     Wagner moved to Staten Island because of encroaching industrial development at the Oregon Street site in the city. College officials also wanted to be closer to the German population they served, and at that time, many German-Americans lived in the New York City/New Jersey area near Staten Island, Manchester said.

     Gomph designed and built his 1883 Pittsford house in the shape of a cross. He was the pastor at St. Paul's Lutheran Church across the street for more than 50 years.

     Since buying the house at the corner of Washington Avenue in 2005, the Lennarzes have done extensive restoration. The home had been divided into two apartments, but they converted it back to a single-family home.

     They removed an exterior staircase that led to a second-floor entrance, took off the aluminum and restored the cedar clapboard siding. They kept much of the old wavy glass, doors and other hardware but updated the bathrooms and kitchen.

     "It certainly adds to the richness of the history of the house, and we're proud to have done all the renovations on it and brought it back to being historically accurate," said Matthew Lennarz, 46, who works at Xerox Corp., maintaining the company's consumer Web site. Kristin Lennarz, 39, is an account director for VML Advertising, based in New York City. They have two daughters, 7 and 5.

     "To be able to host part of the ceremony of Wagner College is also exciting," Matthew Lennarz said.