Amherst – Kurt Maximilian Hertzfeld, a resident of Amherst, Massachusetts since 1968, died at the Fisher Home in Amherst on September 13, 2015. He was born October 9, 1918 in Grado, Italy (then Austria) where his father was stationed in the Austrian army, but was brought to Vienna when he was 10 days old. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Dorothy Wiesner Hertzfeld; five daughters: Elizabeth Hertzfeld, Anne Drapalski and her husband Henry, Susan Rice and her husband Norman, Nicole Wiesner Mobley and her husband Robert, Hillary Wiesner; and a daughter-in-law Patricia Hertzfeld the wife of his son Kurt M. Jr. who sadly died unexpectedly in 2002. He is also survived by eight grandchildren: Mary King, Elon Hertzfeld, Emily Rice Hashim, Adam Rice, Joseph Drapalski, Nora Drapalski, Tanner Hertzfeld Richards, and Zachary Hertzfeld Richards. Also five great grandchildren: Haley King, Hanna King, Barry Hertzfeld, Drew Hertzfeld and Benjamin Hashim. His first wife of 44 years, Nora Alfs Hertzfeld died in 1986. 

Kurt received a BA from Harvard College in 1941, Magna cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa and in 1942, an MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was elected a George F. Baker Scholar. He was drafted into the U.S. Army while still an Austrian citizen and received his Certificate of Naturalization on August 9, 1943. He served three years in the Army, appointed to rank of Captain in 1946, and received an Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces on the 15^th day of December, 1952.

After working at the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn and a small motor manufacturer in Rochester, NY, he was asked to join Boston University as Business Manager. In 1958 he was appointed Vice President and Treasurer of Boston University. In 1968 he accepted the appointment as Treasurer of Amherst College. He retired from Amherst College in 1983. He was also Chairman and CEO of two Manufacturing Companies, The Exolon Company of Tonawanda, NY and The Permattach Diamond Tool Company of Milford, NH.

He was active in professional and charitable organizations. For many years he was Secretary-Treasurer of the Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers and also served that organization as President. He was a longtime member of the Board of Trustees of the College Entrance Examination Board and the Educational Testing Service. In the local community he served as Chairman of the 1970 Community Chest Drive and was on the Boards of Hospice, the Cooley Dickinson Hospital, and the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

Kurt enjoyed keeping up with world and local news, reading magazine publications and history, and following the stock market. His family called him Mr. Fix It, and he liked carpentry and woodwork, flowers, gardening, yard work and pool cleaning, and birds and animals at his Sunset Avenue home. That was where he also housed and befriended graduate students of UMass and local colleges coming here from numerous countries. He taught some of them to drive, showed them how to open bank accounts, and he improved their English speech with a German accent. He was a man with boundless energy and many hobbies. He collected various clocks of all kinds and sizes. He had a large collection of three monkeys, over 100 “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and Speak No Evil” monkeys from all over the world.

Perhaps Kurt’s main hobby was collecting at flea markets and antique stores. He was an expert on silver and glass and had a large collection of glass goblets. He collected Wedgwood plates made in the 1930s with designs from various colleges and universities and enjoyed buying and selling them on eBay. He kept busy on his computer for e-mail, personal letters and research, and he enjoyed traveling the world for business and particularly for pleasure. He was a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst, having had his confirmation on March 22, 1942, at Christ Church Cambridge, certified by the Bishop of Massachusetts at that historic church on Harvard Square.

Kurt was a gentleman with old world style, born handsome, modest and proper, and he never approved of paper plates even at picnics. He was a tough businessman, respected for his honesty and fairness, willing to give advice and counsel to anyone who asked for it, and he always looked on the positive side of life with a beautiful smile that drew comments even to his last days in hospice.

In his own words, “America afforded me the opportunity of a good education, an interesting professional life, longtime friends, and above all the privilege and blessing of a great family. I tried to acknowledge this good fortune by being supportive of family and friends and serving the communities I lived in to the best of my ability. I sincerely hope that after my death my family and friends will say, ‘He succeeded.’”

Memorial donations may be made to Hospice of the Fisher Home 1165 N Pleasant St, Amherst, The Community Foundation of Western Mass P.O. Box 15769 Springfield, MA, 01115-576, or The Amherst Woman’s Club 35 Triangle St, Amherst.

A celebration of life will be held at 11am on Saturday, September 19, 2015 at Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst, with a reception to follow at Grace Church. Burial will be private.

Obituary and memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com