Former local college dean dies

Gary Moskowitz

John Samuel Kreider, a former Glendale Community College

administrator and public school teacher, died of pneumonia Saturday

at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

He was 98.

Kreider, who had lived in Glendale for nearly 50 years, had been

healthy and kept active by taking daily walks right up until his

death, said his wife, Elsa Kreider, on Tuesday. Kreider lived in

Sunland and Eagle Rock before moving to Glendale.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Kreider taught at La Crescenta Elementary

School, Roosevelt Junior High and Glendale High School. He served in

the Navy from 1942 to 1946, and started teaching American history and

political science at GCC in 1947.

Kreider taught at GCC until 1955, and that year he became the dean

of instruction for the college. Kreider retired from GCC in 1970, but

continued to teach adult education classes in contemporary world

problems, Elsa said.

“He led a very healthy, productive life, and always loved

teaching,” Elsa said Tuesday. “Teaching was his life. When he became

an administrator at the college, he enjoyed it, but always missed

teaching.”

College officials in 1992 named a 138-seat auditorium and lecture

hall inside the San Rafael Building as Kreider Hall in honor of

Kreider.

“He had such an influence over the college,” college President

John Davitt said Tuesday. “Being in charge of instruction for so

long, it seemed appropriate to honor him with that.

“John remained a strong supporter of the college, and he and Elsa

came to everything -- to our foundation events, fundraisers and

concerts,” Davitt said.

Kreider was a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church

of Glendale, the Masonic Lodge, the Glendale College Foundation, and

the Sierra Club, among other clubs.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the First United

Methodist Church of Glendale, 134 N. Kenwood St. The service is open

to the public.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to

the John and Elsa Kreider Scholarship Fund at GCC, 1500 N. Verdugo

Road, Glendale, CA 91208, or the Memorial Foundation of the First

United Methodist Church of Glendale, 134 N. Kenwood St., Glendale, CA

91206.

Kreider is survived by his wife, Elsa; daughters, Wendy Kreider

and Stephanie Williams; stepsons, Stephen and David Straub; nine

grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and

nephews.