Ilion High School - Class of 1896

Herkimer Evening Telegram - August 29, 1972

Miss Foley, 93, Dies At Ilion; Noted Educator

Miss Foley, 93, Dies At Ilion; Noted Educator

ILION - Miss Marcella M. Foley, 93, for 34 years preceptress and principal of Herkimer High School, and an Ilion resident for most of her life until entering the Mohawk Homestead last Feb. 3, Mohawk Valley General Hospital after a period of failing health.

Among the many signal honors conferred upon her as the outcome of her long career in the field of education, was the naming of the Marcella M. Foley Middle School in Herkimer in her honor in 1964. It was formerly the high school, which she headed for many years after its construction in 1913, coming there from the previous high school on the top floor of the old N. Washington St. school, on the present site of the L.W Bills school. When the present high school was built in 1959, the former high school became a junior high and then a middle school.

Born Jan. 13, 1879 in South Columbia, she was graduated in 1896 from Ilion High School and in 1901 from Cornell University, spending her entire teaching career in Herkimer. Many hundreds of former students in the area remember her with lifelong respect and affection.

She was born Sept. 3. 1877, in Mohawk. She came to Ilion when a girl and graduated from Ilion High School in 1896, valedictorian and treasurer of her class. Miss McCann graduated from Cornell University in 1900 and started teaching in New York City.

The first class graduated from the old school under her direction numbered 21, while the last class graduated from Herkimer High School at Bellinger and W. German Sts. in 1937 totaled 105. The old school, at the time she began her career in 1901, housed only about 100 students, from first through 12th grades. She taught for two years before becoming preceptress and principal.

Retired In 1937

At the time she retired in 1937, she was honored with a dinner at the Mohawk Valley Country Club, given by the Board of Education and faculty. The late L.W. Bills, then school superintendent - for whom the Bills school was later named - pinned on her the insignia of honorary membership in the Cornell chapter of the national honorary educational society, Delta Epsilon.

Also present at that time was the late George Elmendorf, superintendent here from 1910 to 1920, under whom she had also served. She was succeeded as high school principal here by Royal Kinner.

The Marcella M. Foley Student Loan Fund to assist Herkimer High alumni wishing further education was established in 1937, the year of her retirement.

During her long tenure, the absence of guidance personnel, she functioned in that capacity for generations of students, assisting them with applications and other work towards further education.

Another tribute came to her in 1964 with the official naming of the Foley School in her honor. Representatives of virtually every class graduated under her leadership attended. A bronze plaque now in the school designating the dedication to Miss Foley as "teacher, counselor, friend," was presented at that time by Bronson A. Quackenbush, chairman of the sponsoring Herkimer Kiwanis Club committee, which worked with the Board of Education in the renaming of the school.

In addition to education at Cornell. Miss Foley also did graduate work in McGill University, Montreal, and Columbia University.

Active In Church

She was long active in church work in Ilion as a communicant of the Church of the Annunciation and remained so well into her later years. She was also a member of the Ilion Council of Catholic Women and Travelers' Club, a former member of Herkimer Branch, American Assn. of University Women, and a member of the Herkimer County Retired Teachers Assn.

She was written up in 1967 in a book appearing that year, "The History of Pioneer Educators and Teachers of New York State."

The only survivors are cousins, including John and William Mackesey, of Herkimer; James Mackesey, Utica; Charles Finnegan, Ilion; John Finnegan, Little Falls; George Finnegan, Massena; Mrs. Arthur (Gertrude) Quinn, Syracuse, and several residing in Fulton. A brother, Robert, predeceased her.

Prior to entering the Homestead, she resided for many years at 11 West St., here.

Calling hours at the Homestead will be 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow A prayer service will be conducted at the Homestead at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow by the Rev. J. Gregory Mulhall, pastor of the Church of the Annunciation, and a Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Annunciation Church. Burial will be in St. Agnes' Cemetery, town of Herkimer. Donations may be made to the Foley Student Loan Find in her memory.