Bob Harrington, a pillar of the Winchendon School

The following is a copy of an email I just sent to The Winchendon School community about our beloved and esteemed colleague, Bob Harrington who passed away last night (August 15, 2009):
Dear members of The Winchendon School community,

It with a great deal of sadness that I write to tell you of the passing of our friend and colleague Bob Harrington. Many of you knew that Bob had been ill for the past eight months, and this time was often a great struggle for Bob and his family. In recent weeks his condition worsened, and he passed on Saturday evening.

Bob’s contributions to The Winchendon School were made over a period of many years while working for a number of Headmasters. He began his service with our school in 1983. Over the next 25 years, Bob served our school as an administrator and teacher in a variety of roles including Academic Dean, Dean of Students, Dean of Faculty, College Counselor, International Student Adviser, and Assistant Headmaster. Perhaps the most deserved titles and the ones that Bob would appreciate most would be “friend” and “mentor”.

But none of those titles begin to capture the extent of Bob’s role at Winchendon.
In any good community, there are those people who play a special role that goes way beyond their job description. At The Winchendon School, Bob Harrington has been one of those pillars.

I was fortunate to get to know Bob a bit during my visits as a candidate during the fall of 2007. True to his character, it was during one of earlier meetings that he grabbed me and we went into an office. “I don’t know what the others have all told you,” he said, “but let me tell you what’s really going on around here. These are great people, and this is a wonderful school”. As I continued on through the interviewing and transition process, Bob was always offering help and to do anything that might be needed. His perspective and advice was very helpful.

And I learned much more about Bob as we moved through this past year even though he was not on campus. I learned how much the students cared about and missed him as they would come to my office asking if there were any updates on his health, whether he would be visiting or just to share how much Bob had helped them. The students felt that Bob was always there for them. What’s just as impressive is that many on the faculty felt the same. A number of faculty members sat around a fire in the Magay’s back yard one evening recently reflecting on Bob’s many contributions. One teacher captured the sentiment best when he said something along the lines of “Bob was always there for every teacher. Whatever needed doing, Bob would make sure that it was covered, and he never wanted or expected anything back.”

Bob Harrington has been there for many people of all ages of The Winchendon School and has had a major and important impact on generations of students and teachers. While he could appear gruff on the surface, that big chest was filled with a huge heart. Our School will continue to be a wonderful place if we all aspire to live to the standards that Bob set and bring his level of passion to our daily work.

On behalf of the School I extend our sympathy to Bob’s wife Joan, his former wife and close friend Gerry, his children Rob, Mike, John, Mary and Ralph and their spouses including our own MaryLee, as well as to his grandchildren Jonathan, Sean, James, Megan, Patrick, Bridget, Nicholas, Julie, Thomas and Danny. While Bob may not be with us in person, we are fortunate that his presence will be felt each day through Gerry, his kids and grandkids. They all carry the Harrington name in ways that would make Bob very proud.

Note: At this point arrangements for services have not been completed. We will forward details as they become available.