Harvey Ancel

Harvey Ancel

1917 - 2012

Harvey Hillman Ancel began life on March 3, 1917, the youngest of five children born to Samuel and Rose Ancel, Jewish Lithuanian immigrants who had settled in Maywood, IL, a working-class suburb of Chicago, after his father fled from the Russian Army. His family was poor and his childhood difficult and painful. Yet from an early age, Harvey found a rich and fascinating world within the pages of books. If your reality was not as you wanted it, you could create another world to live in inside a good book.

Although he hated school, Harvey’s lifelong passion for reading was cemented as he devoured borrowed encyclopedias and books to teach himself with. He escaped the poverty and unhappiness around him through storytelling and the written word. He came to love learning, education, the arts and above all – books. To Harvey, reading and the arts, music and literature all celebrate life, as well as “give us our measure.”

Going to university was the culmination of Harvey’s desire to get the best education that was available to him, and in 1939, he graduated with a degree in Sociology from the University of Chicago. Soon after, during World War II, Harvey met Susan Tryon while stationed at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. They were taking the train from the base to Chicago for the weekend, Harvey to visit with family and Susan to catch up with friends. “Being the roguish young lieutenant that I was, I used some line on her to introduce myself and she use a line right back on me to reel me in,” he once mused.

Susan, a U.S. Army Captain and nurse, was scheduled to leave for the Pacific theater of war, and the couple was able to date for just three weeks before she deployed. But three weeks was enough to know. They continued to stay in touch while Susan was stationed in New Guinea, the Philippines and finally South Korea. During those times Harvey borrowed the Colonel’s secretary and dictated letters to Susan. He was mildly teased for such a misuse of Army personnel. The couple married on March 1, 1947, soon after Susan returned to the States.

After Harvey’s discharge, he accepted a civilian position at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver. He and Susan bought a house and settled down to start a family. While raising their two sons, Harvey received his Master’s degree in Public Personnel from the University of Colorado in 1952. Susan volunteered one a day a week at a school for children with cerebral palsy. “Looking back on those days, I realize we were both concerned with people who needed guidance and help,” concluded Harvey.

Guiding, educating and helping other people were the essence of Harvey Ancel.

At Harvey’s core beat the heart of a true humanitarian and philanthropist. He had an unending love affair with humanity and wanted to nourish and develop everyone who entered his orbit. He was devoted to and driven by the advancement of human welfare and social reforms. He was a progressive, a social liberal and an intellectual.

Above all, Harvey believed that education was the answer to virtually every problem in the world - for if people were truly educated and enlightened, there would be little room for poverty, poor health, racism, hatred and ignorance. To him, the key to understanding was knowledge. In the greatest sense, Harvey was an educator- who taught us all not only the importance of knowledge, but also what it means to be alive and to be a good human being.

The list of causes that have benefited from Harvey Ancel’s generosity and dedication is extensive. From counseling troubled youths, to supporting the arts, to helping handicapped individuals seek meaningful employment, Harvey never stopped giving to the community.

Harvey also managed to combine his philanthropy and kindness, his lifelong passion for reading and his love of children into his greatest legacy of all…

In the early 1990’s, Harvey began reading to second grade schoolchildren once a week at Littleton Public Schools, and off he went on establishing yet another charitable mission to undertake. The kids adored him, loved his books, his gathered facts and tales, and he loved them. Harvey said, “The pleasure I got out of reading, I am giving to these youngsters.” After Harvey’s first heart attack, he received so many dear get well cards and loving notes from the children and their teachers, it was clear he had deeply touched their lives. From 1993 to 2006, Harvey expanded his public school voluntarism to teaching children science, history and art and reading.

But Harvey’s generosity didn’t stop there. For 15 years, he also worked year-round locating new or gently used children’s books to donate to Denver-area disadvantaged schools and low-income households. He sent books across the country when schools and libraries were devastated by natural disasters, including those hit by Hurricane Katrina. Harvey believed that “children need books”… and wanted them to “know there are possibilities in this life” and “have another window opened for them.” His philosophy was that “the more words kids know, the further they will go.” He collected and donated more than 100,000 books for children.

In 2006, Harvey was featured in the Denver Post’s article, “The Joy of Giving”, for his extensive donations of children’s books. In 2010, Harvey was honored and named a Channel 7 Everyday Hero and a Channel 9 Who Care Award recipient in recognition and appreciation of his work distributing books to children who need them and for helping schools. In his nominating letter, a Littleton school official wrote, “Harvey is truly an unsung hero in the eyes of many children who have never owned their own book. He understands the value that reading can bring to change one’s life. His passion for reading can bring to change one’s life. His passion for reading and learning impact all who he comes in contact with.” A fifth grader added, “He is one of the nicest people I have ever met.”

Harvey touched the lives of others – and that’s what will make him live on forever. Whether by teaching or by just being with you, he touched your life, and you carried a piece of him on with you. You were transformed by him in some way.

Harvey was extremely magnetic and charismatic. People loved to be with him and near him. You wanted to engage with him, and he with you! You always knew you were in the quiet presence of a great man. His greatness laid in his compassion, his empathy, his huge heart and that magnificent and marvelous mind of his.

The legacy that Harvey leaves behind is an enormous one. Thousands of children have books to read and to cherish, thanks to him. Hundreds of young men and women have jobs and futures, thanks to him. Schools and the University of Chicago have books and scholarships, thanks to him. Susan, his wife and “darling” for 65 years, has emotional security and a constant companion who adored and worshiped her, thanks to him. His sons, Michael and Jay, have an exemplary role model of what it means to be a truly good, nurturing and generous man, and very big shoes to fill, thanks to him. His grandchildren, Andrew, Aaron and Hannah, know what real love and selfless devotion look and feel like, and an extraordinary legacy of kindness and giving to guide them through their lives, thanks to him. And we, his family, all had a very, very good friend, steadfast and true, in this world thanks to him.

We are all better, brighter, gentler and kinder people thanks to Harvey Ancel.

Harvey, you enchanted us and you taught us well.