Herbert Zvi Halbrecht, born June 22, 1927 to Samuel and Gertrude Halbrecht in New York City, died suddenly from a heart attack at his home at the Cedars, Chapel Hill, October 2, 2011.

Herb, as he was known, was raised without much in the way of material comforts, but with great and lasting values. He worked his way through school and after serving in the Navy during World War II, used the GI bill to attend college at City College of New York, and received an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1949. He was a pioneer in the field of executive search consultancy and built his business, Halbrecht Associates, into a premiere firm in the field, as an early specialist in what was then a new area of information technology. Throughout his career, he lived with his wife Gayla, first in Rockville, Maryland, and for more than twenty years in Westport, Connecticut, where he raised his two children, Beth and Ari. Upon retiring from his work and moving to North Carolina, he began a second career of sorts, nurturing his abiding interest in education, especially for underprivileged youth. Towards that end, he worked in schools in Bridgeport, Connecticut, mentoring promising youth and later in North Carolina. He volunteered as a reading assistant at Club Boulevard Elementary School in Durham and Rashkis Elementary School in Chapel Hill and the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School in Hollister, North Carolina. He brought student volunteers from Duke University to teach at the Saponi school especially in computers and technology. Herb was instrumental in having a major utility company appropriately wire the school enabling more computers to be brought there. Herb was also a man of great spirit who founded Kol Haskalah, a congregation of Humanistic Judaism, in the greater Triangle area. There is so much more to say, but would require volumes, not mere column inches. Herb will be missed terribly by his community, his friends, and especially his family.

He is survived by his loving wife, Gayla, to whom he was married just shy of 47 years. He is also survived by his two children, Beth Boyer and son-in-law, Brad; and grandchildren, Aliya, Josiah and Elias of Greenwich, CT and by Ari Halbrecht and daughter-in-law, Jill; and grandchildren, Maxwell and Samuel of Raleigh, NC.

Herb was a consummate philanthropist and contributions to a charity of your choice in his memory are welcome.

A memorial service will be held at the ballroom of the Cedars in Chapel Hill at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, October 4, 2011.

The family will receive friends following the service.

The Halbrecht family is under the care of Howerton & Bryan Funeral Home.

Online condolences may be submitted at www.howertonbryan.com select obituaries.