When Ephraim Frankel left Atlanta in 1990, it wasn’t because he wanted to. It was because he had to.
Atlanta held too many memories of his beloved first wife, Vivian, who had died two years earlier. She was not only the mother of his four children, but she taught first grade at Greenfield Hebrew Academy, where he was headmaster for more than 20 years.
“He wanted to make a fresh start,” said his son, Danny Frankel of Sandy Springs. “And to do that, he left Atlanta and moved to New Jersey.”
“But his heart really never left Atlanta,” added another son, David Frankel of Sandy Springs.
Ephraim Frankel died Nov. 6 at his home in Highland Park, N.J., after a period of declining health. He was 82. A memorial service was held Nov. 7, with burial in Bet Shemesh, Israel, next to his first wife. Goldstein Funeral Chapel, Edison, N.J., was in charge of arrangements.
Frankel was born in Cologne, Germany. His parents moved the family to Israel when he was a young boy, and then on to the U.S. in his teenage years. He went to high school in Baltimore and did his undergraduate studies at Yeshiva University in New York.
He moved to Boston, where he earned a master’s of education from Boston University in the mid-1950s. From there he went to Ottawa, Canada, where he lead a Jewish school until he was offered the head post at Greenfield in 1967, his sons said.
“He was a first-class educator,” said Henry Birnbrey, who was president of the academy when Frankel was hired. “He knew how to relate to people, and that was very important.”
Frankel was serious about education, and that was evident as he returned to school himself, this time for a doctorate from Georgia State University.
As a head of school, Frankel’s commitment to scholarship was admirable, said Jerry Blumenthal, a former president of the academy.
“He was able to educate and inspire teachers, parents and students,” Blumenthal said. “He brought exciting innovation to the programs, and he participated in everything, not as the headmaster, but as an integral part of the faculty.”
David Frankel said his father adored the people at Greenfield.
“You could just see how much he enjoyed the teachers and students,” he said of his father. “It was in the way he recalled events, it was even in his body language. You just knew it when you looked at and listened to him.”
Additional survivors include his second wife, Sandra Frankel of Highland Park, N.J.; a third son, Jay Frankel of Monsey, N.Y.; a daughter, Judy Schwarzberg of Highland Park; a sister, Shula Goldhabber of Jerusalem; and 15 grandchildren.
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