In Memory
John Henry McNamara
Jan. 16, 1911 - Aug. 8, 2001
SOUTH BEND -- John H. McNamara, an educator who spent his entire career working in the city's public school system, died Tuesday at his home on the city's east side. He was 90.
If nothing else, Mr. McNamara showed he was a man who could make a long-term commitment. He spent 30 years working for School City of South Bend and the South Bend Community School Corp., 36 years enjoying retirement and 61 years living in a house he built.
"We raised our family here," said Angela McNamara, his wife of 68 years.
For the community, Mr. McNamara's biggest impact may have come in his 13 years as principal of Washington High School. He was involved in the planning and construction of the school at its current site and oversaw the move of staff and students in 1960 from the old building's location on Sample Street.
In 1965, Mr. McNamara abruptly resigned from the school system, convinced that his duties as Washington's principal were too much for one person to handle. Rather than find a new line of work, he entered into retirement at age 54 and picked up more than a handful of hobbies.
"He was an avid sailor," Angela said. "He had a couple of boats and sailed in the Mackinac races and the races at Michigan City Yacht Club. He really enjoyed being on the water. But he was also a golfer. He played a pretty good game of golf.
"He was always an amateur photographer. Then he started to raise his own grapes. He liked to make a little wine every year."
Mr. McNamara also began his career in 1935 at Washington, where he taught English for five years. He moved across town in 1940 to teach at Adams High School and spent almost a decade there.
"While he was teaching, we'd spend every summer in the Airstream," Angela said, referring to the camper trips they regularly took with their family.
In September 1949, Mr. McNamara became the director of pupil personnel for School City of South Bend, where he dealt with student absenteeism and delinquency. Shortly thereafter, he became the director of publications for School City and served in that role until he returned to Washington in 1962.
Mr. McNamara was also active in the community before his retirement. He spent several years as a committee chairman for the United Fund of St. Joseph County, overseeing public relations and solicitor training. He also served as the executive secretary of the Catholic Forum and was part of the lay advisory board of the Holy Cross Central School of Nursing.
Mr. McNamara was born in Columbus, Ohio, but his family moved to South Bend in 1915. He attended elementary school at St. Edward's Hall on the University of Notre Dame campus, attended high school in Illinois, then returned to Notre Dame for college.
He received a bachelor's degree from Notre Dame in 1933, the same year he married the former Angela Probst. They had six children, five of whom survive.
Mr. McNamara also took graduate courses at Notre Dame, Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina before receiving a master's degree in education from Indiana University in 1947.
A wake for Mr. McNamara will be held at 7 p.m. today at Hickey Funeral Home, 3516 E. Jefferson St. Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 226 N. Hill St., South Bend.
Staff writer Nate Trela:
ntrela@sbtinfo.com
(219) 235-6176
01/14/2022 DEC
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