Leroy Callahan
(Memorial by Hugh
Petrieis, Dean emeritus and professor emeritus in the Graduate School of Education)
I will miss Roy Callahan deeply and
profoundly! Roy was my colleague and fellow administrator at the Graduate School
of Education at the University at Buffalo during the 1980s and 90s. But more
than that, he was my friend. Roy Callahan was one of the finest human beings it
has been my privilege to know.
Roy was a model for all of us. He was a
sensible, down-to-earth associate dean who held my sometimes wild ideas as dean
to the test of educational rationality. I particularly remember his coming to
my home one bleak Saturday morning when we had just heard that we were likely
going to have to retrench some faculty during the hard times of the early 80s.
His advice to go slowly and carefully was much appreciated and very much on
target. It turned out we did not have to fire anyone after all.
He was an inspiring professor and a
widely respected elementary mathematics educator throughout Western New York
and the nation. I will always remember the yearly luncheons he held for
mathematics teachers in Western New York who had participated with him in an
experimental program years before. He kept in touch and kept up the enthusiasm
and was revered for his constant work with real teachers in real classrooms.
Roy also served many times on committees and in a consulting role for the
Clarence school district, keeping them on track as well.
Roy and Peg were also good friends. My
wife, Carol, and I remember fondly the annual Christmas parties at the
Callahans and the ease with which they welcomed not only us, but anyone who
happened to be visiting us. We also remember the special invitations we got to
cheer us up when there had been an illness or other problem. We were so
delighted to have been able to return some of the kindness to Roy and Peg when
they made trips out to the Southwest and stayed for a time with us at our home
in Tucson.
And, of course, the Callahans were
famous for their wonderful family and the way the family truly operated as a
family. They worked together, they played together, and they stayed together
through it all. I remember being told by a Clarence school administrator that
the Callahans were as close to being the first family of Clarence as anyone
could get.
Now with both Peg and Roy Callahan
gone, it remains for their children to carry on the traditions. But they were
taught by two of the finest people ever to have lived in Western New York. The
children will do well to follow in their footsteps.
Remembering Leroy Callahan
LEROY CALLAHAN, a professor in the
Department of Learning and Instruction for over 30 years, died in February 2006
after a brief illness. He was 73. During his tenure in the Graduate School of
Education, Callahan received numerous honors and awards, and was loved and
respected by his colleagues and former students. He is survived by five
daughters, Patricia Randall of Adams Center, Mary Schmalzle of Hawley, PA, Jean
Rois of Amherst, Christine McCabe of Flanders, NJ, and Meg Steckley of
Rochester; two sons, James of Clarence and Martin of Williamsville; two
sisters, Rosie Berning of Galena, IL, and Anna Berning of Hazel Green, WI; and 19
grandchildren. His wife, Margaret, died in 2004.
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