William J. Leary, PhD, of Boca Raton, FL and Boston, MA passed away on May 19, 2018. Son of the late John G. and Josephine Leary (nee Kelley), Mr. Leary is survived by his wife of nearly 58 years, JoAnn Leary (nee Parodi), three daughters; Lorraine White, Lisa Grandovic and Linda Spinner, seven grandchildren, two great grand-children and his sister Marie Fitzgerald of Falmouth, MA.
Mr. Leary, a lifelong educator and coach, was the former Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, where he was the Director of Curriculum and a teacher for ten years. He was also Superintendent of the Broward County (FL) School District, the fourth largest in the country; The Rockville Centre (NY) School District, the North Babylon (NY) School District, and the Gloucester (MA) School District. Prior to becoming an educator, Mr. Leary also proudly served in the U.S Army’s 124th Armored Ordnance Battalion, 2nd Armored Division.
Mr. Leary received earned his Bachelor’s Degree at Boston College, his Master’s Degree in Education from Boston State College and then went on to earn two doctorate degrees in Education, the first from Boston University and the second from Harvard University. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.
Following a long career running various school districts, Bill went on to teach education at several Universities. He served as the Chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Psychology at the University of Mississippi from 1993 to 1998, after which he went to Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL as Director of the Educational Leadership program. He was appointed as the first Professor Emeritus from Lynn University.
Mr. Leary was an Associate in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for three years, a visiting Professor at Suffolk University in Boston for two years, and an adjunct professor at C.W. Post Center of Long Island University, Florida International University and Salem State College in Massachusetts.
Mr. Leary served for 12 years as head coach of Basketball and Baseball at Matignon High School in Cambridge, MA, where he was a member of that schools first graduating class. In 1995 he was named to Matignon’s Achievement Hall of Fame. Among other honors he received the Ida M. Johnston award as the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year from the Boston University School of Education, The Champion for Civil Rights Award from the Oxford-Lafayette County Mississippi chapter of the NAACP and a state educational Leadership award from the Long Island (NY) chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Mr. Leary was a member of the Harvard Club of Boston and New York City. He also belonged to the Knights of Columbus, the American Legion, the American Historical Association, The Association for Asian Studies and the American Association of School Administrators. He was also a Lector and Eucharistic Minister at Ascension Catholic Church in Boca Raton, FL.
The family will receive friends from 2:00 P.M. until 4:00 P.M. and again from 6:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at Babione – Kraeer Funeral Home, 1100 North Federal Hwy, Boca Raton, FL, 33432. A Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:30 A.M. on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at Ascension Catholic Church, 7250 North Federal Highway, Boca Raton, FL 33487. Burial will immediately follow at South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth, FL.
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