Harold Pockriss

Harold Pockriss, 95, of Freeport, NY, died on January 31, 2026.

Known by family and friends as Hal, he grew up in the shadow of Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. As a kid, he and his friends would flatten pennies on the trolley tracks, play stoop ball with a pink Spaldine and, on special occasions, eat black and white cookies. He attended Erasmus Hall High School and NYU.

He was drafted and served in a U.S. Army intelligence unit in Germany during the Korean War. After his military service, he earned a graduate degree from Indiana University via the GI Bill. He met his wife, Judith, through a mutual friend and they married in 1963.

He worked for decades in the New York City public schools, first as a junior high school English teacher and then a guidance counselor at Seward Park High School on the Lower East Side. Long after retiring, he would hear from appreciative students who said he'd changed the trajectory of their lives.

A voracious reader and writer of plays and essays, he maintained a life-long love of literature and history. Like Ahab, he became obsessed with Moby Dick and had the audacity to write a sequel.

In retirement, he joined Judith working at Old Bethpage Village, a restored 19th century Long Island town. She was the volunteer coordinator, he was a museum guide. They shared an appreciation for the simpler times the place represented, and he enjoyed donning his old-time costume and imparting what he'd learned to people from all over the world.

His last years were spent doting over his grandkids and gloating about their accomplishments. His happiest place was in the sweet air of the Catskill mountains, especially the small town of Bovina, NY, where he would put on a wide brimmed hat and go for long hikes, picking wild blackberries.

He is predeceased by his parents, Ethel and Joe Pockriss, and his older brother, Lee Pockriss. He is survived by his wife, Judith; sons Peter and Adam; daughters-in-law Jaye and Annie; and grandchildren Cole, Noah, Theo, Max, and Robin, to whom he was deeply devoted.

To make a donation to the Friends of Baldwin Public Library in Harold's name, please contact [email protected].