Herbert Mandel, prolific artist, author and educator, died May 10, 2016 at Chandler Hall hospice following a brief illness. He was 90.
Herb was born on October 29, 1925 in Philadelphia, PA, third son of Wilhelm and Josefa (Kohler) Mandel, who emigrated from Germany with their two older sons, Wilhelm and Heinrich Mandel.
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Herb was a gifted artist and his talents opened many doors for him over the years.
He attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Barnes Foundation, and Temple University/Tyler School of Art. He was drafted into the Army Air Force and served during WWII and was assigned to special services as an artist.
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a master’s degree in education, which led him to teach commercial art at the newly opened Bucks County Vocational Technical School. Herb’s passion for education and strong belief in the vocational education system led him to move from the classroom to Supervisor of Instruction, where he remained until his retirement after 41 years of service.
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Highlights of his life included a road trip to Mexico with a college buddy during which he was pick-pocketed of his wallet and passport during a bullfight. He also attended a garden party at the home of artist Diego Rivera. Later in life, Herb toured Europe twice while in his 70s, and took his family on an epic trip to Germany in 2014, to visit the village where his father was born.
Over the past 50 years, Herb’s art was mainly focused on creating a collection of oil paintings, linoleum block prints and wood carvings depicting stories from the Bible. His work was included in many juried exhibitions over the years, and he produced a small collection of self-published books of his artwork and original verse.
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Herb met his future wife, Ann Mary Allen, while he was a ceramics instructor at the Philadelphia YMCA. They fell in love over their mutual appreciation of music, art and literature, married and moved to Levittown where they raised two daughters. They were married for 50 years until Ann’s death in 2004.
He is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law, Jean and Mark McBryar, of Levittown, and Carol and Jim Robidoux, of New Hampshire; five grandchildren: Aimee Robidoux, of Levittown; Neil Robidoux, of New York City; Heather McBryar, of Levittown; William Robidoux of New Hampshire and Julianna Robidoux of Oregon; nephews Chuck and Arn Everman, of New Jersey; Fred Kukral of Indiana; and a niece, Denise Buechele, of Arizona; cousins Norbert and Rainer Vögele and Karin Müller of Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Calling hours will take place on Friday May 13 at Beck Givnish Funeral Home, 7400 New Falls Road, Levittown, from 6-7-30 p.m. with a time of sharing and remembrance from 7:30-8 p.m.
