Michael Kiehl

Michael Kiehl was born on November 20, 1945, in a displaced persons camp in Liegnitz, Germany, to Harry Kiehl and Lorrie (Sporn) Kiehl, who were Holocaust survivors. Tragically, his parents lost two sons and one daughter - Michael's older brothers and sister - who were murdered during the Holocaust. In 1950, Michael emigrated to the United States with his parents and surviving sister, Claire Kiehl Lefkowitz, who resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. Michael and his family resided in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where he attended Green Street Elementary School, H.F. Grebey Junior High School, and Hazleton Senior High School, from which he graduated in 1963. Michael was a Merit Scholarship Finalist during his senior year in high school and was known for his keen intellect and cutting wit. His interests were varied and included science and technology, but he also appreciated all types of music, was an accomplished guitarist, and loved to play basketball. Michael attended Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and graduated with a degree in psychology in 1967. That same year he moved to Kingston, New York and began his lifelong career with IBM. Mike was a proud IBMer with a career that spanned more than 30 years. Mike started when data was stored on punch cards for expensive mainframe computers bought by large companies. As technology changed, Mike helped shape IBM's system software to productively connect customer networks of PCs and mainframes. Mike started with IBM as a programming instructor in Kingston, moved to Tulsa, OK to be a customer facing Systems Engineer and then he moved to Austin, Texas, the home of IBM's office products. Mike was an executive in group headquarters in Somers, New York but by then, his family stayed in Austin, and he commuted for years. Mike enjoyed people, working with engineers, programmers, IBM executives, customer technicians, and customer executives. An Austin co worker from the early office products days admired Mike as "very technically astute and politically savvy; very well respected by all." It was in 1968, as he was starting his career as a programming instructor, that he met his future wife, Carol Smith. Carol was his student, and it was only after the programming class had completed that the young and very ethical couple began dating. In 1969, six months after their first date, Michael and Carol married and she and their five children began their cross country journey that landed them ultimately in Austin, Texas. During that time, Michael also obtained his MBA from the University of Texas while Carol left IBM to run the household and later, pursued a nursing career, where she excelled as a hospice nurse. Michael and Carol remained very happily married for 46 years until, sadly, Carol passed away in 2014. On October 31, 2016, Michael met Aileen Krassner. With a shared love of the arts, travel, good food, and living life, they married in 2018 and were happily married for six years. Michael loved to travel, cook, host family and friends, and always brought good stories, jokes, and joy to celebrations and gatherings. Michael was known for his wry humor and ability to make every occasion fun. He was a man of many hobbies including fresh and saltwater aquariums, stamp collecting, antiquing and clock collecting, golf, history, poker, travel and more. Michael loved his family including his five kids, Jennifer, Deborah, Sarah, David and Rachel and his eight grandchildren Luke, Elissa, Hannah, Livia, Marlow, Natalie, Carly and Casey. Michael took great joy in planning trips and cruises for the many Kiehl family members to see the world and enjoy special family time together. Michael is survived and missed by his wife Aileen Krassner. He is also survived and missed by his five children with Carol: Jennifer Bartkowski (Jason Dyke), Deborah Wahl, Sarah Carlson (Jaime), David Kiehl (Julie) and Rachel Waas (Matthew); Aileen's sons Lee Krassner (Tessa) and Ian Krassner; and his eight grandchildren Hannah Wahl, Luke Bartkowski, Elissa Bartkowski, Livia Wahl, Natalie Waas, Carly Waas, Marlow Kiehl, and Casey Krassner. He is also survived and missed by his sister Claire Lefkowitz and niece Tamy Adams (Bret) and nephew Scott Lefkowitz (Cara). In lieu of flowers, you can donate to the Carol Julia Kiehl Memorial Endowed Scholarship through the Austin Community College Foundation, 6101 Highland Campus Dr., Building 3000, Suite 4270, Austin, Texas 78752. Gifts can be made by mail or online at www.austincc.edu/foundation.

Michael Kiehl

November 20, 1945 - December 6, 2024