Board of Education members said they will remember former Superintendent of Schools Thomas Petruny as a friendly man who always thought about the children first.
Petruny, a Seymour Schools administrator for 13 years, including five as its top official, died Sunday after battling cancer.
He was 61 years old.
Petruny, a 1965 Seymour High School graduate, had worked in education for 25 years. He joined the Seymour Public Schools in March 1994 as the assistant superintendent, where he worked for eight years. He took over as the schools chief in March 2002 and worked there for five years before retiring two years ago.
During its regular meeting Monday, school board members had a moment of silence to remember Petruny.
They also remarked about his work as an administrator and how he was as a person.
“Tom was a man’s man,” said Board Chairman Bruce Baker, recalling Petruny’s love of fishing and hunting as well as his work in the schools. “He’s a great guy. He set the direction for the education system in Seymour. We’re following the direction he started. We will miss him.”
Jeanne Loda remembered Petruny for his work with “moving the system forward” in his time back in his home district.
“He had the Seymour kids at heart,” she said.
Fred Stanek echoed the sentiments of others who knew Petruny for putting Seymour’s youth ahead of other concerns.
“He always had the best interests of the children at heart,” Stanek said. “He was very connected to the town and he was very much a Seymour person.”
