By:Jennifer Marino
He would be embarrassed, said his daughter, Terry Ganley, of the attention. Her father was a humble man who did his job and did not seek recognition, she said. He was 30 years old when he started as principal of Wilson in 1959. Before that, he taught at Watson School for four years.
His influence as an educator is evident in his own family and beyond. Ganley is principal of West End Elementary School in Lynbrook and a former Wilson student who had McDonnell as his principal is a fourth grade teacher at West End.
McDonnell-s six children attended Hewitt School so they could have some anonymity and not be the principal-s kids. But Wilson will always hold a place in the family-s heart. We grew up in that school, said Ganley. She remembered helping teacher-s decorate their classrooms.
McDonnell died in January of 2003 and since then his family, including his children and wife Barbara, and the staff at Wilson hoped there could be some way to memorialize him. The idea eventually evolved to name the auditorium after him. Ganely says that she hopes that when events take place there her father-s name will be on the invitations and he will be remembered.
We-re so grateful the school district extended itself, she said. She was especially grateful to Superintendent Dr. William Johnson and the Wilson staff and it-s current principal, Tom Ricupero.
During his 25 years at Wilson, McDonnell always greeted students in the morning. He dressed up as George Washington to help the school celebrate the bicentennial in 1976. He also helped local teachers prepare to the change from traditional math to modern math. Thanks to that experience, he wrote several math textbooks and was an adjunct professor of mathematics at Molloy College.
In 2002, McDonnell-s daughter Eileen McDonnell established the William H. McDonnell Commitment to Education Scholarship Fund at Molloy College.
The auditorium dedication will take place on Sunday, June 13 at 2 p.m. at Wilson School, 25 Buckingham Rd., followed by a light reception. A bronze plaque will identify the memorial. Ganley and her family hope that former students and staff will turn out for the dedication. They invite everyone in the community to attend.
