Joel's brother Gary (OHS '65) was kind enough to send in this loving narrative starting from 1955 when their family moved to Oceanside.

Joel's wife Iris has access to his Memory Page, so please feel free to leave your condolences. Scroll all the way down to post a comment.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY BROTHER JOEL

By Gary Kazin

Our family moved to a new subdivision in Oceanside in January 1955, chosen for its short walk to the LIRR station. Mom never drove, so we walked or rode our bikes everywhere, later graduating to public transit for longer trips. She took us to the city on the LIRR about once a month, which was a big deal for Joel, me, and our sister, who was less than a year old when we moved. Mom used a big carriage, so there was plenty of room for our sister along with everything we needed to take with us for the trip. We went to the Central Park Zoo, museums, and to Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas show, when it wasn’t quite the stand-alone extravaganza it is now. The first show on Saturday morning cost less than $1 and included a movie!

During the summers in the late 1950s, we’d all take the LIRR to Long Beach and walk to the pool. It was quite a long walk, but definitely worth the trip once we hit the water.

Another destination was Green Acres Mall. We took the LIRR to Valley Stream and walked the rest of the way. Some stores hadn’t been built, but there was plenty to do there. We got our eyeglasses at Cohen’s in the mall, having previously used their original store in the lower East Side on Delancey Street.

Joel was two years ahead of me in school. Although we were each focused on our classes, we found time to do some things together. During the summer of 1962, we went to see the Mets at the Polo Grounds (of course they lost!).

Joel’s guidance counselor, Mr. Bashner, didn't encourage him to apply to the science and engineering colleges he’d selected. We had a cousin who graduated from Cooper Union in 1961 and our mom (not trusting Mr. Bashner) encouraged him to apply, and of course, he was accepted. She never let Mr. Bashner hear the end of it! 

I also ended up at Cooper Union, and although we had different majors, we had some of the same professors who seemed not to compare us. We joined the same fraternity and played bridge together during lunch. A fraternity brother got him a blind date with Iris, who later became his loving wife.

Joel and Iris would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary next January, with a trip to Israel planned to celebrate it once the pandemic was over. Joel was a devoted father to his children, Eli and Marjorie, and both have wonderful stories of the many things he did for them.

Joel was active in Boy Scouts after moving to Pleasantville, New York, and was still an Assistant Scoutmaster long after his son Eli had "aged out" of the local troop. In October 2020 he hiked the Appalachian Trail on day trips from Cheshire, Massachusetts, near the Vermont state line, west most of the way to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His goal was to hike the entire trail, carefully entering each stretch into his logbook.

Joel will be greatly missed by all the many who loved him.

PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS:

CPA (Certified Public Accountant)
CISA (Certified Information Security Auditor )
CISM (Certified Information Security Manager)
CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)