Southington BoE Honors Fallen Coach, SHS Principal

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Local school officials recently paid tribute to three former members of the Southington School System community who died this fall.

At the last Southington Board of Education meeting last month, the board conducted a moment of silence in honor of a crossing guard, longtime physical education teacher/coach and a pioneering former Southington High School principal.

Honored at the Nov. 10 meeting were:

• Francis "Franny" Falco, who died Oct. 20 at 81. He started as a substitute crossing guard in 2016, then became a regular crossing guard at Derynoski Elementary School until the end of the 2021-22 school year.

• Joseph Orsene, who died Oct. 23 at 96, decades after retiring after a long career in education that actually began in 1952.

Southington school officials said Orsene taught physical education in local schools for 39 years, retiring in 1991.
In addition to teaching, Orsene was a basketball, baseball, football and track coach throughout his time in Southington.

• Kathleen McGrath, who died on Oct. 26 at 72, the first woman to be named principal of Southington High School, a post she was named to in 2002.

School officials said McGrath started her career in education as a language arts teacher in Southington, then earned a post as an assistant principal prior to her pioneering role at SHS.

Veteran school board member David J. Derynoski discussed his connections with both Orsene and McGrath.

He said he was on the school board when it hired McGrath to become SHS' first-ever female principal.

"It was heart wrenching in some aspects. Kathy McGrath was a tremendous teacher at Southington High school. I was lucky enough to be on the school board at the time when we convinced her to become principal," Derynoski said. "And it took a lot of arm twisting.

"She was in a perfect place at a perfect time and really gelled the whole staff and administration at the high school to what it is today."

"I was sorry to see her retire. I was shocked to see she had passed away," he said.

Meanwhile, Derynoski said he was one of "Coach Orsene's" football players for SHS, though he admitted with a smile he was far from the team's star.

"I have to say, those were the years when we had some memorable football teams. Unfortunately, I was not a major contributor to the team," Derynoski said. "Coach Orshene was a great guy. He stayed in touch with us over all the years.

"Time travels on and memories are still there, but it is a sad day."

For the minutes of the Nov. 10 Southington Board of Education meeting, click on this link.

For Francis Falco's online obituary, visit this link.

For Joseph Orsene's online obituary, visit this link.

For Kathleen McGrath's online obituary, visit this link.