Jack was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts. He graduated from Amherst High School in 1941, attended Deerfield Academy for one year, then went on to obtain a B.A. from Amherst College, where he majored in History, played football, and sang in the Glee Club and Double Quartet.
Jack’s time at Amherst College was interrupted by World War II. During the war he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Okinawa. Following completion of college, Jack continued his education at University of Massachusetts, where he received a Master’s in Education, and at Harvard University, where he received a Doctorate in Education. In 1947, he married Mary Ann Ritchie, also from Amherst, Massachusetts.
Jack’s career was devoted to public education. After serving as a high school Assistant Principal, Principal, and Superintendent of Schools in several towns in Connecticut and New York State, he became Superintendent of Schools in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he served from 1967 to 1981. Among Jack’s most significant accomplishments during this period was his leadership of the peaceful and successful implementation of a state-ordered busing program designed to eliminate segregation and provide equal quality education to all students in Massachusetts public schools. In recognition of his achievements in education, Jack received honorary degrees from Amherst College and Western New England College.
Following his retirement from the Springfield school system, Jack and Mary Ann moved to Yarmouth, Maine, where Jack taught in the Graduate Education program at the University of Southern Maine until 1992.
During his retirement, Jack indulged his passion for sports, reading, and singing. He was a regular golfer, an avid Boston sports fan, and he sang for many years with the choir at Sacred Heart Church in Yarmouth, where he was a parishioner. Despite having had both hips replaced on two occasions, he was a devoted walker until late in his life.
Throughout his life Jack remained very involved with Amherst College and was President of his class for many years. In 2011 he received a Distinguished Service Award for his service to the college. In 2013 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Maine Healthcare Association, as part of its Remember ME program that honors residents of Maine long-term care facilities with significant backgrounds and achievements.
Jack will be remembered by everyone, from his closest friends to his most casual acquaintances, for his intelligence and good humor and, most importantly, for the dignity and respect with which he treated everyone, regardless of status.
Jack is survived by his wife of 66 years, Mary Ann; by his daughter, Shauna Hyde of Yarmouth, Maine, and his son, Conan Deady of Freeport, Maine; by six grandchildren: Darren Spehr of Frederick, Maryland, Nathaniel Hyde of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Samuel Hyde of Portland, Maine, Alexandra Hyde of Somerville, Massachusetts, and Owen Deady and Amelia Deady of Freeport, Maine; by two great grandchildren: Samantha Spehr and Benjamin Spehr of Frederick, Maryland; and by his daughter-in-law, Cynthia Berliner of Freeport, Maine, and his granddaughter-in-law, Carolyn Spehr of Frederick, Maryland.
The family intends to hold a memorial service in Yarmouth, Maine in the spring.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that friends consider a donation to the Deady Family Scholarship Fund at Amherst College, which supports financial aid for students with demonstrated need from Massachusetts, and particularly Western Massachusetts. Donations to the fund may be made to the Trustees of Amherst College and addressed to the Office of Advancement, Amherst College, P.O. Box 5000, Amherst, MA 01002-5000.
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