Kenneth Oberholtzer; Innovator in Public Education
Kenneth E. Oberholtzer, former president of the American Assn. of School Administrators and nationally recognized for his modernization of public schools, has died. He was 89.
Oberholtzer, who was superintendent of schools in Long Beach from 1937 to 1947, died Friday in Walnut Creek, Calif.
Lauded for his work in updating the Denver public school system, Oberholtzer was featured on the cover of Time magazine on Feb. 20, 1950. Time described his teaching methods as somewhere between “fiery progressivism” and “suave conservatism.”
Born Dec. 22, 1903, in Carbon, Ind., Oberholtzer was educated at the University of Illinois and Columbia University.
He served as superintendent of three school systems in Texas before moving to Long Beach in 1937. During his tenure there, he took a leave of absence to serve in the Army as a lieutenant colonel during World War II.
In 1947, when Oberholtzer took over the Denver school system, he was the highest-paid public servant in Colorado, earning $13,000 a year. He retired in 1967 and had spent his retirement in Danville, Calif.
Oberholtzer is survived by his wife, Florence, and three sisters, Esther Fuller of Arroyo Grande, Calif., Helen Oberholtzer of Houston and Louise Walker of Stanford, Calif.
Services are scheduled for today at Oak Park Hills Chapel in Walnut Creek. Burial will be in Tulsa, Okla.
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