Harvey Kudler

• Retired teacher

Harvey Kudler, a wordsmith and Jeopardy-tested trivia buff, taught English at JHS 185 in Flushing, Queens, for more than 28 years and was a basketball and track coach at the school.

Harvey, who retired in 1994, died in March 2017 at age 88. He lived in Fresh Meadows, Queens.

He taught 7th and 8th grade and was beloved by his students, said his son Howard, a social studies teacher who retired in 2015 from Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education HS in Jamaica, Queens. During Harvey’s final years at JHS 185, he was asked to develop and lead the school’s special reading enhancement program, which helped significantly increase the schoolwide reading level, his son said.

Harvey, who earned a Ph.D. in English literature from St. John’s University, did not start out as a teacher. He was a journalist and writer, contributing to Look magazine and McCall’s Magazine, where he shared an office with Joseph Heller, the author of “Catch-22.” When Heller gave Harvey an autographed copy of the book, he did not expect it to take off as it did, his son said. The book was made into a film and is considered by some to be one of the most significant novels of the 20th century.

When he lost his job in publishing, Harvey switched gears and became a teacher, earning only $3,200 a year early in his career. He marched with then-UFT Pres. Albert Shanker during the teachers’ strike that shut down city schools for 36 days in 1968.

“He was all for the union,” his son said. “The union gave him rights.”

Harvey was a basketball coach in the after-school program and later, the school’s track coach. He led the track team during several years of citywide competitions and championships. Outside of school, he was a dedicated Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader when his sons were Scouts.

Also in 1968, Harvey was a four-episode champion on the game show “Jeopardy,” hosted at the time by Art Fleming. His family got to attend the tapings, said his son, who was in junior high school at the time. “He made a whole $2,200 from ‘Jeopardy,’ ” his son said. “He knew a lot of stuff, a lot of trivial facts.”

Harvey was also a strong advocate for grandparents’ rights. He and his wife, Marcia, spoke on the topic at several hearings in Congress, Howard Kudler said.

Harvey is also survived by two other sons, Harold and Harley; 10 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

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