Judith Kertzner, Former Bayport-Blue Point Teacher, Dies At 94

Judith Kertzner, who worked with elementary school children with learning disabilities in the Bay Shore and Bayport-Blue Point School Districts, died on Tuesday. She was 94.

Kertzner was the beloved wife of the late Dr. Leonard Kertzner. She is survived by her children, Richard, Robert , Ronald and Daniel; and grandchildren, Alex, Peter, Michael and Elisa Kertzner.

A true "people person," Judith was an educator, political activist, artist, poet and a lover of nature. Born on July 8, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Emanuel J. Kass and Solomith V. Kass, she graduated from Brooklyn College.

She was one of the first women accepted at Oberlin's graduate department of zoology in the 1940's. After a year at Oberlin, she returned to New York and earned a masters in recreation from Teachers College at Columbia University.

In the early 1960s, she was active in the League of Women Voters. At age 50, she returned to higher education to receive her masters in education from Stony Brook. During the decade that followed, she was an inspirational teacher, who worked with elementary school children with learning disabilities at the Bay Shore and Bayport-Blue Point School Districts.

One of her students wrote an essay that won a national award for 'Children's Express' and an invitation for the student and Judith to attend President Jimmy Carter's inauguration.

Upon retiring as a teacher, she was a founding member of the Center for Life Long Learning at Stony Brook University in New York (now known as the Osher Lifelong Learning Society), where she served as President in the mid-1990's. She also served as a board member to the Islip Arts Council and the Music Lovers Club. The family will hold a Celebration of Life for Judith this summer, her favorite season. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the League of Woman Voters (www.lwv.org)