Helen Kerr HazardTeacher, Writer Helen Kerr Hazard, 81, a teacher and writer, died of complications of emphysema May 28 at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital. She lived in Alexandria. Mrs. Hazard and Harriet Crampton took over the charter of the private Gunston Hall School in 1958 after learning that Fairfax County schools did not have a kindergarten program. She served as its principal from 1965 through 1979, when the school closed and was replaced by an endowment scholarship fund. While at the school, she taught Greek history and remedial reading, concentrating on children who needed special educational assistance. She was on the school's board of directors for many years and was also the school's social worker, interviewing families that needed educational and financial aid. She was born in Evanston, Ill., and contracted polio as a child. She participated in an experimental program in Chicago and completely recovered from the disease. During World War II, she worked summer jobs as an airplane mechanic, installing fuel lines and restoring damaged fighter planes in Coronado, Calif. She graduated from the University of Texas in 1947. She moved to Washington the next year and became a research assistant and later a writer for the Kiplinger organization and worked on the early issues of what became Changing Times magazine. Mrs. Hazard married in 1950 and with her husband built a house on the Potomac River in Lorton, where they raised their seven children. In addition to her work at the school, she wrote and published poetry and children's stories. She was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and the Army and Navy Club. She and her husband had a second home in Stuart, Fla., where they lived for several years. After her husband of 50 years, John W. Hazard, died in 2001, Mrs. Harmon returned to the Washington area. Survivors include seven children, Celima H. Richardson of Falls Church, Anne H. Hargrove of Alexandria, John W. Hazard Jr. of Alexandria, Amanda A.H. Daniel of Greenville, N.C., Thomas B. Hazard of Chantilly, Charlotte W.H. Moscardini of Safety Harbor, Fla., and Charles A.K. Hazard of Stafford; and 16 grandchildren.