Eleanor Siegl, 79, Was School Founder

At The Little School in Bellevue, children knew her simply as "Eleanor."

Though she retired as director six years ago, Eleanor Siegl still stayed close to the school that she founded in 1959. She kept in touch with parents and teachers, offering friendly advice whenever needed. And she made sure she talked to the children.

"In all of her conversations with the children, she never talked down to them," said school director Paul Brahce. "She never talked to them with a pre-schooley kind of voice. She communicated with them and respected them and they knew that about her."

Mrs. Siegl died Sunday, Dec. 22, of complications from temporal arteritis, a blood-vessel disorder. She was 79.

Mrs. Siegl began The Little School in the basement of the University Unitarian Church when most schools didn't pay much attention to the emotional and social needs of children. She focused on preschoolers.

Mrs. Siegl had been frustrated teaching at a school where the classes were too large and the children's needs were ignored, said Pat Sterne, who coordinated the school's internship and teaching credential program.

"She had great clarity and tenacity about her philosophy," Sterne said. "There was always the current fad or trend in education, but she had enormous conviction and she stuck to it."

Mrs. Siegl wanted the classes tiny, the teachers attentive and the children exploring. Her philosophy was simple.

"She wanted to take children out from behind their desks, unfold their hands, open their minds and allow them to learn in their own way and in their own time," Brahce said.

Mrs. Siegl was one of the best things to happen to Seattle and education, said philanthropist and community activist Kay Bullitt, whose children attended the school.

"There were so few programs for small children and so few places for them to go," Bullitt said. "But she was wonderfully persistent."

For years, Mrs. Siegl went without a salary so the school could thrive. She attracted innovative teachers who shared her philosophy in early childhood support and word got around.

Though the school spent its first decade in the church, it flourished and eventually outgrew the basement. With the help of a generous, anonymous donation, Mrs. Siegl moved the school to Bellevue, where it further expanded.

Regal in her appearance, Mrs. Siegl easily held the attention of the children, Brahce said. Yet she also gave the children equal respect.

"If you were in a room with Eleanor, she would never become so focused with the adults that she would miss what the children were doing," Brahce said.

Born in Detroit, Mrs. Siegl met her husband, Henry, in their hometown. They married in 1937 and moved to New York where Henry was a concert violinist. In New York, Mrs. Siegl earned her bachelor's degree at Teacher's College at Columbia University.

After the couple settled in Seattle in 1957, Mrs. Siegl earned a master's degree at the University of Washington. She later received a doctorate from the Union Graduate Institute.

She is survived by her husband; her daughter, Mascha Kusher, her sons, Zev of Seattle and Simon of Washington, D.C.; four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. No service is scheduled. A memorial is planned in January.