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Manny Ramirez, owner and pharmacist at Dichter Pharmacy on West 207th Street knows most of his customers by name. Pictured here, Father Arlen from Good Shepherd makes a quick purchase.
Story and photos by Gloria Pazmiño
While working as a shelf boy, Manny Ramirez, then just 14 years old, dusted medicine bottles and arranged products at Dichter Pharmacy on West 207th Street. He never imagined that, decades later, his life would bring him full circle, and that he would own the very same pharmacy where today he serves the community that watched him grow.
Just call him your neighborhood pharmacist.
Dichter Pharmacy still has that family drugstore feel. Among the pill bottles, medicine drawers, and everything from aspirin to lipstick, Ramirez stands behind the counter addressing his customers by name.
And they also greet Ramirez by first name.
There is a welcoming atmosphere in Dichter’s, distinct to chain stores where customers sometimes are numbers and purchases are just transactions. At Dichter, Ramirez likely remembers your prescription, your wife’s name, and has probably met some of your family. He’s Inwood born and bred.
Growing up on Academy Street and later on Park Terrace East, Ramirez began his education at the local Catholic elementary school, Good Shepherd School (GSS), where his mother worked as a secretary. It was during those years, from the first grade through his eighth grade graduation in 1982, that Ramirez believes provided the foundation for his success today.
“GSS laid the foundation and structure I would need later in life, through an education fortified in religion and faith,” said Ramirez, who grew up with two siblings in a Puerto Rican household where religion was important.
“My Catholicism has been an avenue for me to connect with many different types of people,” said Ramirez, who went on to study at the Bronx High School for Science and later, at the Albany College of Pharmacy.
During his tenure at Dichter Pharmacy, he moved up from stock boy to cashier. And when Ramirez turned sixteen, he decided to follow in the footsteps of George Leibman, the original owner of Dichter, who mentored and helped Ramirez through his teenage years. “During that time, it was difficult to find steady work. I decided to be a pharmacist because it gave me a sense of career security doing something I loved,” he said.
But even after completing his pharmacy degree, working behind the medicine counter at Dichter and later serving as a district manager for corporate pharmacies, Ramirez’s career brought him back to Inwood, and to the old Dichter Pharmacy, which he purchased after Leibman’s passing in 2007.
During this time, GSS has remained as the centerpiece of Ramirez’s sense of community.
Ramirez’s memories from the years spent alongside what he described as excellent teachers and classmates are now what motivate his efforts to increase GSS’ enrollment numbers, especially among Latino children.
Inspired by his own upbringing, Ramirez is hoping to help neighborhood families realize the advantages of a Catholic school education.
Earlier this year, when GSS was on the Archdiocese’s chopping block of schools slated for closure, Ramirez met with school and Archdiocese officials in an effort to save the 50 year-old institution.
After forming an executive committee and the group “Friends of Good Shepherd School,” of which he serves as vice president, the school has remained open, and will welcome new students in the fall.
But the fight is not over yet, and Ramirez is dedicated to reaching out to the Latino community order to increase enrollment numbers. As part of those efforts, a new Spanish-speaking principal, Melissa Diaz-Kwan, has been placed at GSS in hopes of reaching the Latino families.
“We want parents to know, and not be afraid that they will not be able to communicate or talk to other parents if their children attend this school. We are here to serve the entire neighborhood,” he said.
Ramirez points out that the Spanish-language Sunday Mass at Good Shepherd Church is very well attended, yet those same families are not enrolling their children in the school.
Although aware that this could be for socio-economic reasons, Ramirez is interested in ensuring that families know that GSS can be as welcoming to Latino families as the dual language public schools in the neighborhood.
“When I was a kid going to Good Shepherd, I was the only Latino. Sometimes that was difficult, but the times have changed and Latino families need to know of the advantages of Catholic School education,” he said.
Faith remains at the center of Ramirez’s life. He believes this was the greatest lesson he received at Good Shepherd. “Faith in schools is important because this is when our children start…forming their personalities,” he says.
“Having faith and the structure of something to believe in, it’s important.”
And if you should need to stop in at Dichter’s anytime soon, just call for Manny.
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