Maxim Icaak Kovel was born in Brooklyn, NY in November 1934. His father, Abraham, was a salesman and his mother, Anna, was a housewife. Both immigrated to the United States from Russia. Max went to Erasmus High School and graduated early at age 16. He then attended Brooklyn College (BC) for two years while awaiting an appointment to West Point. While at BC, he met a young man in its ROTC program who told Max that his younger sister had just started college and was looking to buy some history textbooks. The young man introduced Max to his sister, Bernice (Cohen), who not only bought the books but decided she liked Max and wanted to get to know him better. Bernice discovered that Max liked to bowl, so she arranged a bowling party. The rest, as they say, is history. Max and Bernice became inseparable and dated the entire four years Max was at West Point.

  At USMA, Max became a champion of his classmates for his dedication to helping them to succeed. Many credited him with their being able to get through Beast Barracks and survive the demanding and difficult academic year. He spent many evenings in “the sinks” tutoring his fellow cadets. He himself was successful too, graduating 12th in the class of 546.

  On June 8, 1957, two days after “Black ’57” graduated, Max married Bernice, the love of his life, and they began their lifelong adventure together. After attending the Engineer Officer Basic Course at Fort Belvoir, VA and the airborne course at Fort Benning, GA, Max was assigned to the 24th Engineer Battalion, 4th Armored Division in Germany, and the first two Kovel children, Jacob (1958) and Sarah (1960), were born. They moved back to the States, where Max attended North Carolina State and earned his master’s degree in nuclear physics and where Ruth (1963), their third child, was born. Max then went back to West Point, where he joined the faculty, teaching electrical engineering, and where their fourth child, Rachel (1964), was born. Upon completing the tour at USMA, the family moved back to Fort Belvoir, where Max attended the Engineer Officer Advanced Course (and was the honor graduate) and where their fifth child, Rebecca (1966), was born.

In 1967, Max took his family to Brooklyn so they could be near family while he deployed to Vietnam. He served successively as operations then executive officer for the 46th Engineer Battalion near Long Binh, where he was awarded the Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster (second award) and an Air Medal for outstanding service in connection with combat operations. When he returned to the States, the clan moved to Fort Leavenworth, KS, where Max attended the Army Command and General Staff College. From there, it was off to California, where Max began work on his Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis. With an interruption in 1972-73 to return to Vietnam to serve as an advisor to the Vietnamese Army during the North Vietnamese invasion of the south (receiving another Bronze Star and several Vietnamese awards), he completed his doctorate in applied physical sciences in 1973. In June of that year, Max moved the family to northern Virginia, where, over the next 13 years, he commanded an engineer battalion at Fort Belvoir, graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and worked in high level positions at the Defense Nuclear Agency (twice), the Pentagon, and the Defense Logistics Agency. Max and Bernice also played important roles in the Fort Belvoir Jewish congregation, with Max serving as a lay leader, Sunday School teacher and member of the Brotherhood, and Bernice serving both as a Sunday School teacher and as the first Jewish director of religious education for the Army.  

In 1986, after 29 years of service, Max retired from the Army as a colonel, having been awarded (in addition to his combat decorations) two Defense Superior Service Medals, the Legion of Merit and two Meritorious Service Medals, and he started his next chapter. He went to work for The Analytical Sciences Corporation (TASC) as a program manager and mentor for junior engineers. After 13 years with TASC, he retired again, only to be brought back into the workforce by Boeing. After several years, he “mostly” retired for the last time, though he did continue doing occasional consulting.

Throughout his career, Max was committed to his family. He and Bernice sent all five children to college: Jacob (USMA ’80), Sarah (USNA ’82), Ruth (University of Hartford-Hartford Art School ’84), Rachel (George Mason University ’86), and Rebecca (Rutgers ’89). They watched them graduate, marry, and prosper. Max was a devoted husband, father, and proud “Zeidi” (Yiddish for grandfather) to 10 grandchildren. He spent his last years caring for his beloved wife, Bernice, after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. One of his greatest joys was being the Class of ’57 scribe, which he did from graduation until his death on December 24, 2019. Many classmates wrote to the family in disbelief upon hearing of his passing. Almost everyone commented that Max was the force that held the class so close for so many years. His work collecting and sharing information on his classmates’ life events, accomplishments, marriages, births, and, sadly, deaths kept him busy. His work with Tom Kehoe on the 50th anniversary reunion and yearbook became legendary. He was awarded the class medal in 2012.

Our father truly embodied the USMA motto of “Duty, Honor, Country,” but he never forgot to include family, faith and love. He will be dearly missed.

— Sarah and Rachel Kovel 

Maxim Icaak Kovel was born in Brooklyn, NY in November 1934. His father, Abraham, was a salesman and his mother, Anna, was a housewife. Both immigrated to the United States from Russia. Max went to Erasmus High School and graduated early at age 16. He then attended Brooklyn College (BC) for two years while awaiting an appointment to West Point. While at BC, he met a young man in its ROTC program who told Max that his younger sister had just started college and was looking to buy some history textbooks. The young man introduced Max to his sister, Bernice (Cohen), who not only bought the books but decided she liked Max and wanted to get to know him better. Bernice discovered that Max liked to bowl, so she arranged a bowling party. The rest, as they say, is history. Max and Bernice became inseparable and dated the entire four years Max was at West Point.

At USMA, Max became a champion of his classmates for his dedication to helping them to succeed. Many credited him with their being able to get through Beast Barracks and survive the demanding and difficult academic year. He spent many evenings in “the sinks” tutoring his fellow cadets. He himself was successful too, graduating 12th in the class of 546.

On June 8, 1957, two days after “Black ’57” graduated, Max married Bernice, the love of his life, and they began their lifelong adventure together. After attending the Engineer Officer Basic Course at Fort Belvoir, VA and the airborne course at Fort Benning, GA, Max was assigned to the 24th Engineer Battalion, 4th Armored Division in Germany, and the first two Kovel children, Jacob (1958) and Sarah (1960), were born. They moved back to the States, where Max attended North Carolina State and earned his master’s degree in nuclear physics and where Ruth (1963), their third child, was born. Max then went back to West Point, where he joined the faculty, teaching electrical engineering, and where their fourth child, Rachel (1964), was born. Upon completing the tour at USMA, the family moved back to Fort Belvoir, where Max attended the Engineer Officer Advanced Course (and was the honor graduate) and where their fifth child, Rebecca (1966), was born.

In 1967, Max took his family to Brooklyn so they could be near family while he deployed to Vietnam. He served successively as operations then executive officer for the 46th Engineer Battalion near Long Binh, where he was awarded the Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster (second award) and an Air Medal for outstanding service in connection with combat operations. When he returned to the States, the clan moved to Fort Leavenworth, KS, where Max attended the Army Command and General Staff College. From there, it was off to California, where Max began work on his Ph.D. at the University of California, Davis. With an interruption in 1972-73 to return to Vietnam to serve as an advisor to the Vietnamese Army during the North Vietnamese invasion of the south (receiving another Bronze Star and several Vietnamese awards), he completed his doctorate in applied physical sciences in 1973. In June of that year, Max moved the family to northern Virginia, where, over the next 13 years, he commanded an engineer battalion at Fort Belvoir, graduated from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and worked in high level positions at the Defense Nuclear Agency (twice), the Pentagon, and the Defense Logistics Agency. Max and Bernice also played important roles in the Fort Belvoir Jewish congregation, with Max serving as a lay leader, Sunday School teacher and member of the Brotherhood, and Bernice serving both as a Sunday School teacher and as the first Jewish director of religious education for the Army.  

In 1986, after 29 years of service, Max retired from the Army as a colonel, having been awarded (in addition to his combat decorations) two Defense Superior Service Medals, the Legion of Merit and two Meritorious Service Medals, and he started his next chapter. He went to work for The Analytical Sciences Corporation (TASC) as a program manager and mentor for junior engineers. After 13 years with TASC, he retired again, only to be brought back into the workforce by Boeing. After several years, he “mostly” retired for the last time, though he did continue doing occasional consulting.

Throughout his career, Max was committed to his family. He and Bernice sent all five children to college: Jacob (USMA ’80), Sarah (USNA ’82), Ruth (University of Hartford-Hartford Art School ’84), Rachel (George Mason University ’86), and Rebecca (Rutgers ’89). They watched them graduate, marry, and prosper. Max was a devoted husband, father, and proud “Zeidi” (Yiddish for grandfather) to 10 grandchildren. He spent his last years caring for his beloved wife, Bernice, after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. One of his greatest joys was being the Class of ’57 scribe, which he did from graduation until his death on December 24, 2019. Many classmates wrote to the family in disbelief upon hearing of his passing. Almost everyone commented that Max was the force that held the class so close for so many years. His work collecting and sharing information on his classmates’ life events, accomplishments, marriages, births, and, sadly, deaths kept him busy. His work with Tom Kehoe on the 50th anniversary reunion and yearbook became legendary. He was awarded the class medal in 2012.

Our father truly embodied the USMA motto of “Duty, Honor, Country,” but he never forgot to include family, faith and love. He will be dearly missed.

— Sarah and Rachel Kovel