Harold Steindler
Hackensack High School
Yearbook Photo
1974

Harold Steindler had a presence in school, but I never had him as a teacher and everyone seemed to know him. In 1973 when I graduated, Harold Steindler did not seem that old, nor did one think he had been working in the school system for 24 years since 1950.

The following year in 1974, the yearbook was dedicated to him and it mentions that he received a Purple Heart and served in the Coast Guard in the South Pacific. I asked George Hedges how he felt about Harold Steindler because he had him as a teacher and this was part of his reply
June 18, 2018:

"Yes I remember him well. When I was a freshman, he taught a course called Nature Study. I had him for three periods each day after lunch 6, 7, and 8th five days a week. They were only five or six of us in the class, including Butch Bitetto. We would often go on class trips, as we have access to a Volkswagen bus. Other students were Able Savage, Alex Fenner, and
Betty Della Sala.

You probably also remember him sometimes. I talked with him after I graduated when I was going to join the service and be an Air Traffic Control Operator. Instead of encouraging me, he told me it was an extremely stressful job and didn’t recommend it. So instead of telling me what I wanted to hear, he guided me towards the proper decision.”

          George Hedges went on to be a very successful small business owner and from knowing George Hedges, I do not believe a job like Air Traffic Controller would have been very satisfying for him and Harold Steindler recognized that when George was young and wisely guided him away from such a job.

Written by:
Bob Meli
August 1, 2018

Background image of Hackensack High School obtained from:
https://www.hackensackschools.org/