John Feeney dies after career dedicated to city's schools

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - Former Superintendent of Schools John J. Feeney, who devoted more than 30 years of his life to providing Northampton students with a quality education, died Wednesday at the age of 83.

Those who were fortunate enough to have learned and worked in city schools during Feeney's long tenure say they will remember him for his devotion to his students and his no-nonsense approach to management.

Donald Palmisano, of Northampton, taught at Northampton High School for 37 years and recalled the day that Feeney took a chance and hired him to begin teaching psychology in 1967.

"It wasn't until I worked for several principals after John that I realized how disciplined he was and how he really knew what it took to run a school," Palmisano said. "He was always easy to talk to and was very knowledgeable when it came to education."

"I was never a person who thought they were going to go into education. My background was in psychology, and I was substituting when I became more interested in teaching. He allowed me to draw up all the paperwork for a new course called psychology," Palmisano said, adding, "When I started working for other principals I really noticed how efficient he was and would often think, 'Where's John Feeney when you need him?"

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Feeney was born in Northampton on Dec. 28, 1926, attended a local parochial school and graduated from the former St. Michael's High School. After graduating from St. Michael's College in Winooski, Vt., Feeney later earned a master's degree in education from Boston College.

From 1957 to 1964 he worked at the former Hawley Junior High School, first as an English and Latin teacher and then as principal. From 1964 to 1981, Feeney served as principal at Northampton High School. He became superintendent of schools in 1981, holding the job until he retired in 1988.

Joe Misterka, who had Feeney as a principal at both Hawley Junior and NHS, remembered the day Feeney hired him to serve as his assistant superintendent.

"He was always a great boss and certainly cared a great deal about the education we offered at Northampton's public schools," Misterka said. "He was dedicated to Northampton. He worked during an era when educators would typically stay in the same school system their entire lives. Very few people today have the kind of dedication to a system that John did."

Feeney's son, Brian Feeney, who had his father as a principal in both middle school and high school, said the combination of time spent together at school and their time at home created a special relationship between the two.

"He always knew where I was, whether it was day or night," he said. "When I moved from middle school to the high school, he moved up the same year. He was my principal during the day and my father at night."

In 1988, Feeney and his wife of 57 years, Patricia, moved to Harwich, where they spent time golfing and sailing on the "Annah Kim," according to his obituary.

Also remembering Feeney for his dedication Wednesday was longtime School Committee member and Florence resident Chuck L. Johnson, who worked with Feeney for 16 years.

"I always appreciated his attitude because he was always trying to protect the schools and the School Committee from any kind of public criticism," Johnson said. "I remember having many discussions with him about it because it was always my feeling that the School Committee should run interference for the superintendent, not the other way around."

Throughout his career, Johnson said, Feeney would often absorb public scrutiny to protect local teachers and school administrators.

"He was so dedicated to Northampton, the children and the school system, and he felt so strongly about it that he wanted to protect it from outside interference," Johnson said.

A funeral Mass for Feeney will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at the Corpus Christi Church, 324 Quaker Meetinghouse Road in Sandwich. Prior to the Mass, a Visitation will be held at 9:30 a.m. at the Morris & O'Connor & Blute Funeral Home, 58 Long Pond Drive, South Yarmouth. Burial will follow the service in the family plot at the Sandwich Town Cemetery.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.