WEST TISBURY, MA — Clayton Albert Friis passed away on July 7, 2021 at the age of 95.
His obituary tells the story of a life well-lived but one tale from a part of life will have special resonance for New Rochelle High School graduates from the late sixties.
On May 17, 1968, an arson fire consumed New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York. The building was virtually destroyed. Three thousand students were left in need of instructional space for the final weeks of the school year but they would continue their education and graduation because Dr. Friis ran into New Rochelle High School while it was on fire and rescued the student records before the building collapsed. His heroic effort made it possible for the school’s thousands of students to continue their education in community spaces throughout the city while a new high school was built.
The son of Scandinavian immigrants, Clayton Friis grew up in Brockton, MA during the depression. He enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and was sent to Alma College to train to be an officer where he received the gift of a college education. He served as Ensign First Class in the North Atlantic aboard the aircraft carrier USS Leyte.
With the aid of the GI bill, he fulfilled his and his parents’ dream of higher education and received an MA in Psychology from Tufts University, an MA in philosophy from New York University, and an MA/PhD in Education from Boston University.
Witnessing the inequalities and injustices visited on the working class and immigrant community of his childhood inspired him to dedicate his life to public education.
He went on to be Assistant Superintendent of the City School District of New Rochelle where he was a part of the first successful efforts to fully desegregate a northern urban school district.
He went on to serve as the Superintendent of the East Williston School district on Long Island, named the best school district in the US during his tenure, and was the Superintendent of the Nyack, New York school district, from which he retired.
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