John J. Byrne

John J. “Jack” Byrne, of Hilltown Township, died peacefully at home on March 16, 2012. He was 90. He was the beloved husband of Judy Byrne for 31 years.

He was born in Trenton, N.J. to John J. and Ruth C. (Schenck) Byrne. He was a 1939 graduate of Hamilton High School.

People talk about breaking the mold when they refer to a unique individual. With Jack, there was no mold – just Jack. He was a special guy. You either liked/loved him or disliked /hated him, but you always knew where you stood with him.

Jack was a child of the Depression and a young man of World War II before dedicating over 42 years of his life to education. He finally retired to a log home in Hilltown Township, Pennsylvania, where he loved to golf, fish and even become a very accomplished backhoe operator.

Jack enlisted in the Coast Guard the day after Pearl Harbor. His first assignment was to patrol the New Jersey beach on foot at night in the Forked River area in defense of the landing of German agents from U-boats.

It wasn’t long before he was assigned to the U.S.S. Leonard Wood (AP-25 / APA-12), an amphibious attack transport ship, where he served from 1942 through mid-1945. The Wood was a Coast Guard ship manned by all Coast Guard personnel. On the way to and from the landings, Jack worked as a cook (one of many) in the galley, feeding a few thousand men.

Once they reached the island, atoll, country, etc. where the troops were to be landed, he drove a small 36- man size landing craft (Higgins Boat – named after the inventor / builder) made of plywood. He said the worst part of that was the poor intelligence of the times that, as often as not, had the boat hung up on a reef and the men disembarked into water over their heads. After the landing, the Wood picked up wounded and prisoners before beginning the return trip to Hawaii or San Francisco to embark another load of troops for the next landing.

The Leonard Wood and all who served on her were awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for “exceptionally meritorious service in action against enemy aircraft, shore batteries, mines and submarines” during a period of time from November, 1942 and ending in January, 1945. This included a North African landing in French Morocco, the capture of Sicily and five other landings and operations through January 9, 1945.

The Leonard Wood earned eight battle stars for World War II service. (If you are so inclined, get a copy of Away All Boats by Kenneth Dodson. It describes the role of the amphibious attack transports in WWII. A great read, even if it was about a fictional Navy ship. Mr. Dodson served on an APA and based his book on his experiences in the war. Jack was at many of the landings described. Buy online from Barnes & Noble or Amazon. No digital copies available.)

Between his last trip on the Leonard Wood and discharge from the Coast Guard, Jack also spent time on a lightship (“lots of rocking and rolling while going nowhere”) and drove a Pilot boat on the Delaware River.

Thanks to the G.I. Bill and hard supplemental work on his part, Jack was able to attend Slippery Rock (then a State Teachers College) University to earn his B.S. in Education. He later earned a Masters from Rutgers University in School Administration

His first job was teaching eighth grade in Brick Township, New Jersey School District in 1949-50. He ended up as “teaching principal” part way through that first year. The next year he became superintendent. After that, he never looked back.

Jack was Superintendent of Schools in New Jersey – Brick Township for his first 11 years, then he moved on to the superintendence of the just- being -created Central Regional School District, encompassing Bayville and Haddon Township, still in New Jersey. In Central’s 1960 yearbook the students lauded him as being “the cornerstone upon which Central rests.” At the age of 39, Jack was the youngest superintendent in New Jersey.

While he was at Brick and Central Regional, he also worked on the ambulance squad, where he also cooked all of the meals for their never-ending fund-raisers. He also cooked at Normandy Inn in Normandy Beach, New Jersey in his “spare” time.

Next he moved on to Ithaca, New York for one year as superintendent, and then back to New Jersey (“too much snow in Ithaca”) for a stint as Director of Development and Planning in 1970 and Dean of Administration in 1971 at Camden County Community College. This was just at the time when community colleges were opening to create a less expensive first two years of college. While at Camden County, Jack helped to write the community college law for the state of New Jersey.

He was offered the first presidency of the newly opening Ocean County Community College, but it would have meant an $18,000 pay cut, so he moved on to work as a Specialist in Community Colleges in Maryland. While there, he co-authored the community college law for Maryland, as well as traveling to and evaluating all of Maryland’s community colleges.

Jack finally ended up in Council Rock School District in Pennsylvania in 1974, where he spent the last 17 plus years of his educational career. When he came in 1974, Council Rock was known as either “the farmers” (lots of open farmland covering 76 square miles) or Council who? (few had heard of the district except the residents).

At his retirement, Council Rock schools were scoring in the top 1 percent in the state of Pennsylvania for academic achievement and scoring among the highest in SAT’s. By that time, the school district had grown to over 9,600 students and not only had a reputation for academic quality but also for high athletic and music achievement as well. While Jack was at Council Rock, he ran an efficient four-person central office and managed a budget of well over $65 million by himself (with just his hand-held calculator).

In 1984 he was lauded by The Executive Educator, a professional journal, as one of the “Top One Hundred of North America’s best and brightest school executives” for his “administrative abilities and accomplishments over more than the last 25 years.” During his long journey in the educational field, he also was responsible for overseeing the construction of over 60 school buildings. He was proud of the fact that he could “look at a slurry of cement and tell if it would pass or not.”

Jack was always proud of the fact that he was able to run a school district with as small an administrative staff as possible. He always believed that the school district’s (taxpayers’) money was “to be used for the education of the students, not for all of the assistants and assistants to the assistants.” He hated central offices that were “top-heavy” with staff. “Put the money where it belongs – with the students.”

When retirement finally caught up with him at the age of 73, he ended up in a log home with a pond in the front yard that grows 5 pound bass (no lie!). He was happiest running his backhoe and when we were floating in our boat fishing on a big lake in New Jersey. (We didn’t catch much, but we did a lot of floating.) He hated retirement, but realized that the time had come for him to slow down and “enjoy the golden years”, yeah, right!

In addition to his wife, Jack is survived by his sisters: Jean Leefeldt, of Ocean City, New Jersey, and Pat Miller, of Plantation, Florida. He is missed.

It was Jack’s wish that he be cremated, and his ashes wait in a biodegradable communal urn for his wife to join him, so that they can then be placed in their favorite “fishing hole” together.

Donations are not necessary, but if you feel the need, they may be made in Jack’s name to Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation at the following address: Diabetes Action, 426 C Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.