Callanan, Paul E.

Paul E. Callanan, a teacher and vice principal at Canton High School from 1953 to 1992 and a resident of Canton for 58 years, died on January 16 of bladder cancer.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Virginia Corcoran Callanan, and his children: Frances Callanan and her husband, Dr. Gary Kaplan, of Falls Church, VA; Jane M. Callanan and Stephen R. Hall of Wellesley and Nantucket; Paula Callanan of Wellesley, and Peter Laytin of Fitchburg; Chad Paul Callanan and his wife, Lynne Marie Anderson, of Bartlett, NH, and Naples, FL; and Andrea Callanan Giroux and her husband, Don Giroux, of Wellesley. Brother of Jane Chambers and her husband, Karl, of Yarmouth. Also survived by 10 grandchildren.

Born and raised in Brighton, Mr. Callanan joined the Navy shortly before the end of World War II and served as a deep-sea diver on a minesweeper that helped to clear our country’s Atlantic coastal waters.

He met Virginia Corcoran, his future wife, in high school while he was working as a bus boy at the Harvard Club in Boston. Virginia was waitressing.

Under the GI Bill, Mr. Callanan earned a BA at Boston Teachers College and two master’s degrees at Northeastern University. He said he never would have been able to attend college without this federal assistance. Consequently, he was forever an ardent and vocal supporter of the GI Bill, public education, public libraries, public parks, and public museums.

Mr. Callanan served as a trustee of the Canton Public Library for 13 years. During the years that he taught industrial arts, he started Canton High’s chess club, golf club, hockey team, and men’s chorus; he supervised track, student-council activities, school dances and ski trips; and for four years, he served as the president of the Canton Teachers Union.

A longtime member of St. John’s Church and the Knights of Columbus, Mr. Callanan helped create a discussion group of 12 couples that met regularly to talk about the changes ushered in by the Second Vatican Council.

An avid golfer, he was a member of Wampatuck Golf Club and for the last 32 years, he was a member of the Milton Hoosic Club. In his retirement he founded the “Edgewise Club,” a men’s discussion group. In addition to leading discussions about current events, books, and politics, he organized educational group outings around Boston.

The consummate teacher, he was always alert for an opportunity to expound upon something — the most recent book he had read, a scientific theory, or the importance of placing events into historical context. For example, he would explain to his small children how, for centuries, kings and queens had lived in poorly heated castles with no running hot water, and then he’d say, “Here we are in our house in Canton, toasty warm, with running hot water — do you realize how rich we are?”

If you lived in Canton and didn’t know Mr. Callanan from the high school, St. John’s, or the golf course, you may have met him under his alter ego: Santa Claus. For many years, children lined up at the Canton Public Library to tell him what they wanted for Christmas. This may have been the forum where he honed his impressive listening skills.

He loved life, he loved to laugh, he loved his friends, and he loved his family.

Visiting hours at the Dockray & Thomas Funeral Home, 455 Washington Street, Friday, January 25, from 4-7 p.m. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a celebration of Paul’s life at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Milton on Saturday, January 26, at 11 a.m. A reception will follow. Burial private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to his favorite charity, Hope Rural School, c/o Sister Mary Dooley, 15929 SW 150th St., Indiantown, FL 34956.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Jan 23 2013. Filed under Obituaries. Both comments and pings are currently closed.