Dr. Sidney Kolpas, 1947-2022.
Sid's teaching career spanned over 40 years. He began in Burbank, CA at Luther Burbank Junior High and then Burroughs High School. He spent most of his time as a full professor at Glendale Community College. At the end of his career, after moving to PA to be close to his children and grandchildren, he received tenure at Delaware County Community College.
Sid's passion was teaching and he got tremendous satisfaction from it. He cared deeply about his students, often keeping in touch with them long after they left his classroom. He received numerous awards of excellence in teaching. And, he received an NSF grant with the purpose of supporting first generation and minority students in STEM fields.
Sid was a great father. He worked two jobs so that his wife could stay home after his daughters were born. He also taught 7 AM classes so that he could get off early in order to pick up his daughters from school. He loved family camping trips as well as reading, live theater, and going to movies. He hated eating turkey but loved chocolate. Sid had a passion for mathematics, history and computer science. He was always ahead of his time. For example, in the late 70's, he wrote a manual for teaching the BASIC programming language on the Radio Shack TRS-80 computer. He hooked up a teletype machine to his computer before printers were popular. He published over 100 articles and several books on mathematics history and education.
Sid passed away at the age of 74 after battling with the after effects of esophageal cancer surgery, Parsonage-Turner Syndrome, and Parkinson's disease. He leaves behind a wife, two daughters, four grandchildren and a brother. To honor his memory, please donate to your favorite charity in lieu of sending flowers. Arrangements made by Joseph Levine and Sons. www.levinefuneral.com