THOMAS READ

1923 - 2019

Aug. 15, 1923 - Dec. 21, 2019. Known for trademark bow ties, horn rim glasses, and a no-nonsense demeanor, Thomas Read drew his last breath peacefully in Plano, TX. Survived by his formidable wife of 68 years, Joan; by three children, Bookie (Richard Orr), David, and Timothy (Anna), four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and three accomplished sisters, Nancy Coville, Helen Steele, and JoAnne Floyd. One of five children, he was homeschooled and entered Harvard Class of '49 at age seventeen, earning a BA in Biochemical Studies. He earned a MA in Math from the University of Toledo, and a CSA from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He was an avid outdoorsman, skier, and tennis player, a lover of books and travel, and a terrible driver. He worked in five independent schools as a teacher, coach, administrator, and Headmaster of three schools over thirty-five years. He was very proud of his work on the merger of Summit School and Saint Paul Academy in Minnesota, the building program, and subsequent service as Headmaster of SPASS, as well as his work with the Downers Grove Library. As President of Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS) for eleven years he oversaw evaluation and accreditation for more than 160 schools in a fifteen-state region. He focused on service to boards of trustees. He worked with the Hawaii Department of Education to deregulate private schools from direct state control; including organizing a new private school organization for Hawaii. As a volunteer at Executive Service Corps of Chicago, he worked with non-profit clients in strategic planning, board development, and revenue generation, and conducted over a hundred workshops. He received ESC's Platinum Service for more than ten thousand hours of volunteer service. He has served as a trustee for more than fifteen schools and non-profit organizations and worked for fifteen years with the US Department of Education and the Council for American Private Education in the Exemplary Schools Recognition Program (Blue Ribbon Schools). He has chosen to be cremated and interred in his childhood home of Tamworth, NH. Memorials preferred to St. Andrews Church, Downers Grove, IL or ESC of Chicago.