Dec. 7, 1998
John P. "Jack" Whalen died Dec. 7, 1998 in St. Vincent Hospital,
Worcester, after a long battle with cancer. Mr. Whalen, 73,
a longtime Worcester educator and athletic coach, had most
recently been the supervisor of secondary education for the
Worcester School Department for 12 years, retiring in 1993.
Previously, he had served as principal of his alma mater,
the former South High School, from 1977 to 1978, and then,
as the first principal of South High Community School, from
1978 to 1981. Mr. Whalen had also been the principal of Doherty
Memorial High School, from 1974 through 1977, and assistant
principal of the Worcester East Middle School, from 1971
to 1974; during this time, he was the principal of the Evening
School Division.
Mr. Whalen began his teaching
career in 1949 as a teacher at St. Peter's High School. He then taught at David
Prouty High School, Spencer, Grafton Street Junior High School and Commerce High
School, Worcester, before joining the staff of Doherty
High School in 1966.
Mr. Whalen also had a full career as a coach, on both the college and secondary
school levels. In addition to serving as head football and baseball coach at
Doherty High School, he had also coached football, basketball and baseball at
Commerce High
School, varsity basketball at St. Peter's High School and varsity baseball at
David Prouty High School.
At Holy Cross, Mr. Whalen had been the head baseball coach for 28 years, retiring
in June with a record of more than 300 wins. He had also been an associate football
coach and
an assistant basketball coach to Lester "Buster" Sheary, including the 1954 National
Invitational Tournament Championship team. In 1979, Mr. Whalen was elected to
the Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame.
Captain of the 1948 varsity baseball team at Holy Cross,
Mr. Whalen was a player-manager for a semipro baseball team in New Brunswick,
Canada, in 1952. He later scouted
for the
Cleveland Indians, from 1953 through 1956.
The recipient of many educational and athletic awards, Mr. Whalen was named NCAA
New England Baseball Coach of the Year in 1980 and Outstanding Secondary School
Principal by the National Association of Secondary School Principals in 1978.
He had been a Holy
Cross class agent and a member of the President's Council. Mr. Whalen is survived
by his wife, Ann; three sons; six daughters; a brother; two sisters; 15 grandchildren;
and nephews and nieces.
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