Bernard Tieger (1929–2014)
Bernard "Bernie" Tieger, 84, died on Monday, January 20, 2014. He was born on August 24, 1929 and raised in the Bronx during the Depression, to Jeanne (De Vorzon) and Henry Tieger.As a young man he worked for the New York Central Railroad and became active in the labor movement. He attended City College and NYU while driving a taxi to support his growing family. Strongly influenced by Granville Hicks' Small Town, Bernie became fascinated by the study of 'community', particularly in the context of rural village life. In 1967, when he was offered a position teaching sociology at Bard College, he readily moved his family to Tivoli. A few years later with colleagues Irma Brandeis and Frank Oja, he began a "University Without Walls" program that eventually became the Continuing Studies Program of Bard College. In this program, local adults were able to matriculate at Bard and earn a college degree.
Bernie was deeply committed to the Tivoli community, serving on many of its boards. In 1972, while on the Village Board, he spearheaded the three-day Tivoli Centennial, which later became the annual Tivoli Day. After he retired from Bard, he fulfilled his longstanding dream of opening a used bookshop, which operated for the next 20 years. During this time, he also served as the Village Historian, and in 2012 published the book TIVOLI The Making of a Community.
Bernie was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Richard Tieger. He leaves behind his wife of 30 years, Patricia "Trish" Laub Tieger '81, as well as five children and their families. His children include: Daniel Tieger '75 and his family; Kari Tieger Brennan (Ollie Brennan and their son Jon); Helene Tieger '85 (Paul Ciancanelli and their sons Shane, Zach, and Ian Skye); Rachel Tieger (Simon's Rock '83); and Toby Tieger.
Memorial Service to be determined by the family and will be announced.
In lieu of flowers the family has requested that donations be made to either the Tivoli Free Library at P.O. Box 400, Tivoli, NY 12583 or the Bard College Scholarship Fund in memory of Bernard Tieger. Please send donations to: Susan White, Bard College, P. O. Box 5000, Annandale on Hudson, NY, 12504 or online at annandaleonline.org/bardcollegefund.
REMEMBRANCES
Response from Stuart Levine, former professor and dean of the CollegeWhat attracts one to a place is often not necessarily that which ultimately may turn out to sustain one in such place. This among the persistent thoughts which come to mind since I learned of the death of Bernard (I loved to call him that although the more commonly held is "Bernie") Tieger. I also had the thought to address my sentiments to "The Community" rather than faculty and staff and even students--- this because insofar as I could discern a Community and even multiple Communities were what Bernard mostly cared about. His favored course to offer, and it became his teaching signature in our sociology program was "The Community". It is especially worthy of stating the description here in its entirety as it was exactly his signature and maybe his reason for being here and staying here and living here and as now comes to pass dying here.
Sociology 223 - Fall 1975
This course deals with small communities and their citizens, with the emphasis on rural localities. Readings and discussion focus on such questions as the viability of the village and small town, how prestige is assigned, how power is distributed and decisions are made within the community, rural folkways and lifestyle, and the characteristic differences between rural and urban behavior. Special attention will be given to the communities located in Dutchess County.
In fact, I never believed that the motivation to open and nurture a bookstore in Tivoli was either about making money or solely the love of books but because he believed that every town small or large should have a bookstore. In his note to our community President Botstein echoes that which we all know - this man served his community.
Bernard Tieger and I knew each other for more than 40 years and of late we did not see each other often or regularly. Indeed such visits were seldom. So my mind wanders backwards in time to periods in our lives when "stopping by" was a frequent occurrence. I find that as I write I am cognizant of my regard for Bard history and the place of all of us in that history. I believe we cannot know and appreciate that which we are and have become if we do not well recognize the turns of events and above all else the people who have contributed to our current form.
As I recall the late sixties were not an easy time in our institutional life. President Kline, whose stamina began to wane, drove long and hard in his Beetle to collect the funds to keep us going. Faculty meetings in Sottery Hall were filled with anxiety but still the cadre of long time faculty, much to many to name, continued to sustain and be sustained by an interesting body of late 60's students. Aspinwall offices were never quiet and the eloquence of mentors linger in my memory and seem as bright as ever it was. Names matter not much - voices and argument about what our students should study have to my mind still an infectious and continuing clarity.
Into this Bard came Bernard Tieger within the mix of the social studies division. He was a young and as I recall a very urban man with a sociological imagination - the title of the basic course in his area that he invented was actually titled as such - and the department was still combined with anthropology. Gerard DeGre had departed to teach in Canada and advance his career. The division chaired by Heinz Bertelsmann was looking to extend itself into more empirical work. Who was this man from New York City who I believe was still a graduate student at New York University and who had earned his bachelor's degree at the City College of New York. What was it that led to the finding of his place to be and for his years at Bard.
Bernard was a good humored individual and yet often exaggeratedly serious. I was part of many academic exercises in his overly large (another story for another time) Aspinwall office. One recalls that moderations and senior project reviews were never superficial. They blended in the care of faculty for the quality of student work and Bernard was never the "soft one" on the board. It always seemed to me that students respected what he had to say. I would not describe him as popular but from a student's perspective if you wanted or needed someone to be around when you were puzzled Professor Tieger fit the bill. He was a slow walking and talking individual with a quick mind and seemingly he never got tired. He could stay up all night with the best of them and at the time we had many such.
I served for many years as the divisional chair before moving on to the deanship. Professor Tieger seemed to me to have some discomfit with those who earned their days pay as administrators and while we remained friends when I "crossed over" he would remind me of the status differential from time to time and sometimes more often than that. Above all else Bernard was loyal to his place and ours and while he was a man of conviction he carried such forth in an openly spirited manner and with respect for the other.
As I have already said it has been some time since we shared much of daily life together. He was a devoted citizen of his community in Tivoli and I still live my life on campus engaged with the students of today. My feelings about him at his departure are very much ones of affection and respect. I did not have the sense when he retired that he had fulfilled all that he was capable of being but in the years since he showed us all that he was sustained as he was from his very beginning at Bard by what a community is and can be. The champion of a village is gone and the village is better for his having been there. The college has moved greatly onward. He did his part seriously and well and those who shared the years with him will regard him well.
Randy Faerber '73
I first met Bernie August 1959. He remained funny, witty, kind and with a fierce intelligence. He will be missed.
Alan Koehler '70
Bernie was the very best professor I had a Bard and influenced my future career in community development. So glad I stopped by his store years ago while attending a graduation at Bard to see him. He will be truly missed by all.
Sarah Lowe '86
I was a Bard student in the 80s, a sociology major... I really valued my relationship with [Prof. Tieger]. He was a terrific professor, but also just a caring individual. I saw him from time to time in Tivoli after he retired. He was unfailingly interested in what I had done with my life and always spoke so proudly of his family... He really cared about the whole student. And I really feel like I emerged a better person from knowing him.
Chris Pryslopski '97
It was the beginning of my sophomore year. It had taken the entirety of freshman year to realize that I would not be a creative writing major. While I loved stories, I was more interested in why we tell them and what they tell about us than I was in making them up myself. I had decided to re-brand myself as an Anthropology major, even though it could not be official until moderation. I was explaining this decision to my parents, along with my improved chances for gainful employment with such a degree, as we walked into Village Books for the first time. After overhearing just one rambling sentence, the man with bushy brows and piercing eyes who was sitting behind the counter interrupted, “Well, someone sounds like an Anthropology major. I was delighted to be recognized as such, then chagrined moments later to fail his pop quiz about major theorists in the field.
I became a regular at the bookstore, changed my major to Community, Regional, Environmental Studies, and interned the following summer for Hudson River Heritage with Bernie as my advisor. We had daily discussions about the work of Roland Warren, Erving Goffman, Arthur Vidich, Joseph Bensman, and others (the social scientists among you will realize he had turned me into a sociologist by then). Bernie was also gracious enough to hire me on at the bookstore (the internship was unpaid, and I needed money for groceries) and so helped to set the course that I am still on today as the editor of a journal dedicated to our region and the Program Director of The Hudson River Valley Institute. He also helped to inspire my community involvement and is partially to blame for the fact that I am on the Rosendale Town Council.
But back then, it was also Bernie who introduced me to everyone that I needed to know in Tivoli in order to complete my senior project about “the who and the how” of the village’s eventual renaissance in the 1990’s and the three decades of actors and attempts that came prior to its first Zagat-rated restaurant. It was Bernie, and professor Dick Wiles, who introduced me to visiting lecturers and allowed me to tag along to the bar afterward (I was 21) in order to debate the finer points of the talk we had just heard over a drink together (Scotch, an old fashioned, and stout respectively). These were some of the first times that I got to participate in such scholarly adult “rituals of interaction,” to borrow one of those sociological terms, and it was the hallmark of my Bard education: learning took no heed of whether or not you were in a classroom. Every moment is a learning opportunity as long as you are paying attention.
I am indebted to many professors and others at Bard for all that I learned there. But ultimately it has been Bernie who my friends and family know as my “mentor.” If he could seem gruff or terse, there was always the light of mischief in his eyes reassuring you to persist in whatever endeavor he was challenging. No question was ever offered as small talk, each one expressed his concern or propelled the discussion, the lesson, or the investigation that we were engaged in.
Looking back, I suspect that I have never been so clear-spoken before or sense that summer in Tivoli when it was common for Bernie to interrupt mid-sentence with his left hand raised as though to stop traffic “Wait, think about it, and start over. What is it you are trying to express?” Well, to put it simply, I am grateful to have met and studied with Bernie Tieger, grateful to him for the knowledge and example that he shared with his students and his community, and proud to say that he has inspired me to continue such work and habits. I mourn the visits and talks that I can no longer look forward to, but I do not miss him. He is still very much right here.
Post Date: 01-20-2014