Richard L. Mandel, a progressive educator who led The Miquon School in Whitemarsh Township and Friends Select School in Center City, and lived in Mt. Airy for more than 50 years, died Oct. 5 of age-related ailments. He was 84 and surrounded by his family when he died.
“Richard Mandel embodied erudition and intellectual curiosity,” said Julia Finney, Miquon’s principal from 2006 to 2015. “As principal of The Miquon School, he brought sophistication and scholarship to progressive education and its value and primacy in teaching young children. He elevated Miquon to a national stage; shining a light on our teachers, the complex curricula they developed and the extraordinary learning experiences they co-created with students.”
“Richard also was full of play and humor, easily delighted and famously happy on our outdoor stage,” she added. “We are so very grateful to him for his leadership and legacy.”
At an Oct. 12 memorial service at Germantown Jewish Centre (GJC) in West Mt. Airy, one speaker after another paid tribute to Mandel’s kindness, thoughtfulness, compassion and love for his countless students, friends and family.
His best friend, Peter Kuriloff, a longtime Mt. Airy resident, spoke about him and his work at Miquon. “Our friendship lasted more than a half-century,” said Kuriloff, who often had to pause as he welled up with emotion. “We spoke about death and dying a lot, and we talked to each other about funerals. Sadly, I get to speak first [at Mandel’s funeral]. I fully expect his speech for me to be found when you go through his papers.
“Our years and years of talking about death and dying during breakfasts and lunches were therapeutic conversations. But our talks could not prevent death from overtaking us, as we hoped they would. And Richard would want us to remember his no-holds-barred sense of humor, his uncensored id and his joyful approach to life. Boy, was he funny! He became a terrific educator and loved to perform. He took a two-year sabbatical from Friends Central to act” on stage.
Mandel was born Jan. 28, 1942, in New York City to Lucille Bauer Mandel and Henry S. Mandel. He grew up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with his younger brother, Hank, and graduated from the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in 1960.
According to Dan Rottenberg, a Center City author of 13 non-fiction books and chief editor of seven publications, “When Richard and I were junior high school classmates at the Fieldston School in New York, he was the class clown. He did excellent imitations of Carl Reiner and Shelley Berman, not to mention many of our teachers. The teachers, who did not always appreciate his antics, were constantly tossing him out of class to stand alone in the hall. After one such ejection, Richard told me years later, he experienced an epiphany, asking himself, ‘What am I doing out here like a jerk?’”
At the University of Chicago, Mandel met Alice Kelcey Norman (both class of 1964), who would become his wife of more than 60 years. After attending Harvard Law School, Mandel began his career in Baltimore, working to reform public schools, efforts he would continue in Philadelphia. The couple moved to Mt. Airy, where they lived for more than 50 years.
From 1975 to 1984, Mandel served as principal of The Miquon School, where he became a prominent voice for progressive, child-centered education. From 1984 to 1991, he served as headmaster of Friends Select School.
He then took a two-year hiatus from education to pursue a lifelong interest in acting and focus on Jewish studies. A longtime member of Germantown Jewish Centre, Mandel became a bar mitzvah at age 53. (The usual age is 13.) He later founded and led the Men’s Torah Study Group for 24 years, preparing deeply for its discussions and creating a place for learning, friendship and connection. He also returned to education as a consultant to schools until his retirement. He enjoyed literature, musicals, movies and the outdoors.
At the memorial service, longtime friend Rick Bazelon spoke about Mandel’s creation of the men’s Torah study group at GJC. “He founded it,” Bazelon said. “He called it the Men of Mt. Airy, or MOM for short. He had a passion for learning, and he wanted to share that passion. As a Harvard Law School graduate, he could have had enormous success in a legal practice, but he set off in a different path to an ethical life that benefited so many people. We owe him a tremendous debt.”
Good friend Mark Fraga said that “Richard surrounded me with love and respect. Though his body has tired and left us, his spirit stays with me.” Mandel’s son, Greg, spoke about the many ways his father shaped him, and his granddaughter, Evelyn, spoke beautifully about their shared love of words and writing. His grandsons, Avery and Lucas, shared memories of their grandfather, lovingly known as “Bops.” His grandson, Isaac, paid tribute in the format of a Miquon diploma, a tradition for Miquon graduates and their families.
Mandel’s daughter-in-law, Alyson, told the Local last week, “I was also inspired by his marriage to Alice. They were married for more than 60 years, and their care for each other was evident. He was a huge supporter of her art career. I particularly remember how Richard could make Alice laugh, really giggle, more than anyone else.
“I know it couldn’t always have been true, but whatever I cooked for him, he insisted it was the best thing he had ever eaten,” she continued. “Richard also devoted much of his retirement to writing a memoir about his early adulthood and his parents’ difficult divorce. It remained unfinished at his death, but two weeks before he died, he handed it to his granddaughter, Evelyn, to edit into a version to share with family.”
Mandel is survived by his wife, Alice; his sons, Joshua (Amanda) and Gregory (Alyson); and his grandchildren, Evelyn, Isaac, Lucas and Avery. He also leaves extended family, lifelong friends and the many former students and educators whose lives he touched.
Memorial donations may be made to The Miquon School, 2025 Harts, Lane, Conshohocken, Pa., 19428.
Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.
