BERNARD DAVID "BERNIE" SECKLER

1925 - 2020

SECKLER, Bernard David "Bernie" Feb. 14, 1925 – Apr. 10, 2020, son of Samuel Seckler and Anna Wucher, died peacefully after a short bout of coronavirus complications in Newton, MA. Together, he and Evelyn (Jan. 11, 1926 – Apr. 13, 2020), his devoted wife of 67 years, raised their family largely in Great Neck, NY. He leaves behind daughter Judy (Peter Nomura); son Stephen (Jenny Gamson) and adored grandchildren Gilad, Ari, and Maya. Bernie's family of East European immigrants survived the Depression with their sights on accomplishment and stability. He and his three older siblings lived and worked shifts at their parents' Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 24-hour candy store. Armed with a Master's in mathematics from Columbia University and a PhD in mathematics from New York University, Bernie began his teaching career at Pratt Institute and spent his later years as a math professor at C.W. Post in Brookville, Long Island. He supplemented the family income for twenty-five years by translating Russian math textbooks into English after teaching himself to read Russian.For 20 years, he was a math reader at Recordings for the Blind and received an award for his service. He loved movies, animals, opera, fine art, good food, puns, baseball and playing and watching tennis. No Sunday was complete until he had finished a New York Times acrostic puzzle in pen in record time. He also spent many hours on his prized stamp collection, researching fine art on stamps at New York's largest libraries. A private burial and virtual memorial will be held Thursday. Please contact info@brezniakfd.com for more details. Donations in Bernie's memory may be made to: aspca.org; wiesenthal.com, or nypl.org