Fred Goldhaber, Harvey Milk School Teacher, Dies at 63

Fred Goldhaber, the Harvey Milk School teacher known to generations of LGBT students in New York City as "Mr. G.," died Monday at the age of 63.

The cause of death was liver cancer, according to an obituary in The New York Times.

Goldhaber, a Brooklyn native, volunteered to become the first teacher at the Harvey Milk School when it opened as a haven in 1985 after being established by what is now the Hetrick-Martin Institute with support from the city's Board of Education. Back then, the incoming class of 22 students gathered at a church in Greenwich Village before the school moved to its current location of 2 Astor Place, reports the Times.

A member of the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, Goldhaber was known to teach students through song. In return, according to his obituary, the students, many of them fleeing extreme violence and rejection from their families, idolized him.

Goldhaber, who lived in Jersey City, N.J., is survived by his brother Richard Goldhaber and his companion, Wilfredo Hinds.