KWARTLER, Richard of Chelmsford, MA. Passed away peacefully on April 10, 2018 at the age of 82. Beloved husband for 54 years to Sheila (Steckenberg) Kwartler. Devoted father of Bruce Kwartler and his wife Cecelia, and Douglas Kwartler and his partner Susan Levine. Cherished grandfather of David, Timothy, Hannah and Sadie Kwartler. Loving brother-in-law of Allan Steckenberg.
Richard grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His family loved hearing about his memories of Brooklyn, especially the time he jumped off the Coney Island Parachute ride with his mom. He was an Army veteran and wrote for the Army paper.
Richard graduated from Columbia Journalism School, and became a news reporter and writer. He received a medal there for Best Reporter in the class. He worked at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Newsday on Long Island. He helped start the Columbia Summer program, which helped minorities in the field of journalism. He founded Corrections Magazine and the Criminal Justice Institute. He was the Editor of the book Prisons in America, published by Random House in 1977. He founded and published The MBA Newsletter and Executive MBA Newsletter, which he worked on for over 10 years with his son Bruce in Floral Park, NY.
He raised his young family in Great Neck, NY. His sons have many pleasant memories, including the cool cars he owned (’60 Ford Falcon, ’69 Mercury Cougar and a ’72 Cadillac Eldorado) as well as watching him play basketball at Allenwood Park when he was in his late 30’s and early 40’s. He was also very good at table tennis and baseball. Although his sons teased him about singing, he actually had a good singing voice. He loved Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie and Peter, Paul, and Mary, which he would listen to on his 8-Track Player.
Despite his disdain for red tape and injustice, he was an incredibly funny man with a gifted sense of humor. He was also one of the bravest, facing each illness he had over his lifetime with tremendous courage. We will all miss him terribly.
Graveside services will be held at Independent Golden Crown Cemetery, 19 Washington Street, Woburn, MA on Friday, April 13th at 12 Noon.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18