![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/News-Obit-Wittenberg-196x300.jpg\")
Donald M. WittenbergCourtesy of the family<\/p>\n
Ellen Braunstein<\/p>\n
Donald M. Wittenberg
Courtesy of the family<\/p>\n
Donald M. Wittenberg, a longtime Philadelphia educator who spent more than four decades in the city\u2019s public schools and in retirement devoted many years to Holocaust education, died on March 5 of complications related to myasthenia gravis. He was 79.<\/p>\n
Family members said Wittenberg was guided throughout his life by a strong sense of fairness and a commitment to helping others.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust live your life as a good person and help others,\u201d his son, Steven Wittenberg, said of the values his father tried to model.<\/p>\n
Born in the Bronx in 1946, Wittenberg ultimately made Philadelphia his lifelong home.
His early childhood included significant challenges. At one point he spent time in foster care before later reuniting with his parents. Family members said he rarely spoke negatively about that period of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always felt very loved by his parents,\u201d said his wife, Bonnie Wittenberg.<\/p>\n
As a teenager, he moved to Philadelphia to live with relatives and enrolled at Olney High School. He graduated in 1964 and attended Temple University, where he earned both a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degree in education in 1969.<\/p>\n
Education became the defining work of his life.<\/p>\n
Over 42 years in the School District of Philadelphia, Wittenberg served in numerous roles. He taught fifth grade at Meade, McClure, Rowen and Leeds middle schools before moving into administration.<\/p>\n
He later served as auxiliary principal at Kenderton and Hanna elementary schools, principal at Pennell and Franklin elementary schools, and finished his career as an educational facilities planner in the district\u2019s central office. Family members said he was known for his ability to connect with students, teachers and parents alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved engaging with students,\u201d Bonnie Wittenberg said. \u201cHe wanted them to enjoy learning and to be enthusiastic and involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
As an administrator, fairness guided many of his decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always said there are three sides to every story \u2014 one person\u2019s side, the other person\u2019s side and the truth,\u201d said his son, Steven Wittenberg.<\/p>\n
That approach helped him earn respect even in schools facing difficult circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe connected with people of all walks of life,\u201d his son said. \u201cBlack, white, brown \u2014 it didn\u2019t matter. He built trust with communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wittenberg\u2019s interest in education extended beyond classroom instruction. He often searched basements and storage rooms for old photographs, documents and artifacts that had been forgotten or discarded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always tried to preserve the history of the schools,\u201d Steven Wittenberg said.<\/p>\n
Outside the school system, Wittenberg was active for decades in the B\u2019nai B\u2019rith Educators Unit, serving in leadership roles, including treasurer and president. Meetings for the organization were often held at the family home.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was very active for many years and held a number of leadership positions,\u201d Bonnie Wittenberg said.<\/p>\n
Judaism also played an increasingly important role in his life over time.<\/p>\n
Although he did not grow up in a particularly observant household, family members said he later deepened his Jewish practice. He taught himself Hebrew, regularly attended synagogue and, with his wife, maintained a kosher home for his two sons.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe grew in his faith stronger as the years went on,\u201d said his son Jan Wittenberg.<\/p>\n
In retirement, Wittenberg devoted much of his time to the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center in Elkins Park.<\/p>\n
For nearly 15 years he served as a curator, helping collect and document artifacts and assisting with museum displays.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would talk with donors and carefully gather the stories behind the artifacts,\u201d Bonnie Wittenberg said.<\/p>\n
As survivors grew older, he drove them to schools and introduced them to students who heard their stories.<\/p>\n
His involvement in Holocaust education was shaped in part by family history. Many relatives on his father\u2019s side were killed during the Holocaust, and his father had served in the U.S. Army during World War II.<\/p>\n
Genealogy became another lifelong passion.<\/p>\n
Wittenberg spent years researching family histories, tracing his own ancestry back to the 1700s, and his late wife\u2019s family, the Twerskys, back to the 1300s. He also helped others with their genealogical research and contributed information used in books about the Twersky rabbinic family.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved genealogy and helping people learn about their families,\u201d Bonnie Wittenberg said.<\/p>\n
Outside his professional and community work, Wittenberg had a wide range of interests.
He enjoyed gardening, reading and studying history. Music was especially important to him, particularly the recordings of Frank Sinatra, which were a constant presence in the family home.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe loved Frank Sinatra,\u201d Bonnie Wittenberg said. \u201cWe have books, recordings \u2014 so many things connected to Sinatra.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was also known for his humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the master of puns,\u201d his son said. \u201cThe cornier the joke, the happier he was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wittenberg was active in Democratic politics for many years, beginning in college. As a young man, he ran for Pennsylvania state representative and later volunteered at polling places and supported local candidates.<\/p>\n
Despite his many roles, family members described him as deeply modest and motivated primarily by a sense of responsibility to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe believed in giving back simply because it was the right thing to do,\u201d Steven Wittenberg said. \u201cJust live your life as a good person and help others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen Braunstein is a freelance writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ellen Braunstein Donald M. WittenbergCourtesy of the family Donald M. Wittenberg, a longtime Philadelphia educator who spent more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[77193,77194,2252,69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-172050","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-donald-m-wittenberg","9":"tag-news-obit","10":"tag-obituary","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","13":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}