PORTLAND – Harriett Rena Sclar Kallich, 97, passed away peacefully on February 2, 2021, at The Cedars of Portland, Maine.

Harriett was born at the Jewish Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y. to Meyer Sclar and Sylvia (Rabinowitz) Sclar on July 13, 1923, and was a precocious child who graduated from Girls High School in Brooklyn at age 14 and then graduated from Hunter College in Manhattan at age 19 in 1942.

She married Martin Irving Kallich on July 11, 1943, recently discharged from the military. They moved to Baltimore as Martin finished his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University. As many academic nomads, they went from the City College of New York to Wayne State University in Detroit and then to South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D. With both of their children in tow (John Edward Kallich, b. 1947, and Joel David Kallich, b. 1954), they landed in 1958 at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., where they happily resided, taking frequent and long trips to England until Martin’s death in 2006.

Harriett Kallich was a lifelong and passionate educator and mentor of students at any level. She was patient, kind and challenged each student on their own terms to learn and grow. She received her Master’s in education from South Dakota State University, taught at several high schools in South Dakota, and then at DeKalb High School. She remembered each student’s name and their brother‘s and sister’s names, too, all of who passed through Mrs. Kallich’s required social studies class. A much-beloved and revered teacher in DeKalb, she led the Humanities Department and humanities curriculum development for the DeKalb County School District until her retirement in 1979.

Harriett was also an ardent advocate of civic engagement and was President of the DeKalb Park District Board of Commissioners, President of the League of Women Voters, and a member of the county Democratic Party Committee. She and Martin were actively involved in many progressive issues campaigning for civil, migrant, and reproductive rights and against antisemitism and racism. Harriett and Martin were devoted to each other and had a true partnership in their marriage. She deeply loved all of her family and frequently supported them in their educational endeavors.

Harriett was preceded in death by her brother, Frances Irwin Sclar. She is survived by her two sons, John and Joel; her grandchildren, Anne, Benjamin, Sandra, Mara; great-grandchild, Jake; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins who all fondly remember her wit, intelligence, and empathy.

A Zoom memorial service will be held on Sunday, Feb. 14, at 2:00 p.m. CST with Rabbi Julie Adler officiating, please contact joelkallich@gmail.com for details.

Final arrangements have been entrusted to the Finch Funeral Home 310 Oak St. DeKalb, Illinois, 60115 where you may offer your condolences or share your memories.

In place of flowers,

please consider donating in Harriett’s name to the charity of your choice

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