KEHLENBECK, William Harry Of Wellesley, and formerly of Needham, died of melanoma on May 11, 2019. He is survived by his wife Vickery Hall Kehlenbeck; his son Alex, daughter-in-law Kate Nielson, and grandchildren James, Nicholas and Adelaide Kehlenbeck, all of Seattle, WA; his son David and daughter-in-law Ginny of Richmond, VA; and brother John Kehlenbeck and sister Katherine Genaw and their families. Bill was born in Englewood, NJ on January 27, 1953. In 1975, he graduated from Princeton University, where he majored in Mathematics and sang with the Nassoons. He then moved to Massachusetts to teach at the Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, where he taught Mathematics and coached baseball until his death. Bill was also passionate about his music, which he shared by performing both with students and colleagues at Nobles, and with his group This Old Band. Friends are invited to gather for a musical Celebration of Bill's Life on Sunday, June 16, 2019, at Nobles. In lieu of flowers, donations in Bill's memory may be made either to Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, Massachusetts, or to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, to support melanoma research. For online guestbook, gfdoherty.com George F. Doherty & Sons Wellesley 781 235 4100

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Published by Boston Globe from May 15 to May 17, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for WILLIAM KEHLENBECK

5 Entries

Walter

April 20, 2022

I still remember the day I met Mr Kehlenbeck and he tutored me in mathematics. For the time I knew him, he was the best tutor I ever had. But he wasnt just a tutor, he was an amazing friend. We talked about life together and we kept in touch when i went to college. To say that i miss him is an understatement. Its been 3 years and I still miss his presence in my life. He will never be forgotten. May you rest in peace Mr Kehlenbeck.

Tom smart

November 16, 2021

Sorrry for late words but Vicky Alex David sorry

Jerrold Panich

June 17, 2019

Vickery- Lisa and I were away when Bill died. We were saddened to hear about his passing. Lisa and Jerry Panich

John Strang

May 22, 2019

Dear family and fellow friends;

I had the wonderful good fortune to be a student of Mr Kehlenbeck for my entire three years at Nobles 1976-79. He introduced me to functions, calculus, sets, infinite series, and so much more. I loved (love) mathematics, and am always grateful he was my teacher at that exciting time.

More than a great teacher though, he was a friend, a coach, a counselor, a role model, and a honorable man. When I think of Nobles, I think of him, and see that time as clearly as yesterday.

I am deeply sorry for his loss.

May 17, 2019

I knew from Bill's email this year that he was very sick, but I was still very sad when the news came through.

I have had some lovely correspondence with Bill over the years since I left the Nobles' faculty in 2001. He was such an enthusiastic man with a real passion for his subject, the people at Nobles, and, of course, his family.
I am so grateful for his support when I was teaching at Nobles. I shared an office with him (and Stacey Turner and Steve Toubman) upstairs in the Shattuck building. Any detail I needed to know about how things worked at Nobles was always answered by Bill very accurately and often in great detail.
It was also amazing to be able to 'talk mathematics' with Bill. He loves the subject as much as I do, maybe even more. Bill was a quick thinker would discuss and explore ideas out loud in real time. He had an amazing knack of narrowing in on the relevant point - and results seemed to appear like magic. We entertained each other by trying to find tricky problems for the other guy to solve. Bill relished those puzzles, and he was more adept at solving them than any other maths teacher I have worked with since.
We also shared a love of music and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting his Nobleonian practices and playing guitar with him on occasion.
He even took me to a Red Socks game - which was an education for a cricket fan.

I am so grateful to have known him and feel lucky that I was able to visit him at Nobles just a few years ago. I will miss him.

In New Zealand, there is a Maori proverb: Kua hinga te totara i te wao nui a Tane
The totara has fallen in the forest of Tane

My condolences to Vicky and the family, and the whole Nobles community.

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