Esteemed Bromfield math teacher, vice principal
Tom Stanley (Courtesy photo)
With the news that long-retired math teacher and vice principal Tom Stanley had died on Tuesday, June 11, in Florida, his former Bromfield students flooded Facebook with tributes. He was “my favorite teacher ever,” “a great teacher and a great human being,” “a man who taught me math even when I didn’t want to learn,” “my greatest mentor,” “kind and infinitely patient,” they wrote of Stanley, whose influence they remembered decades after graduation.
Tom Stanley lived in Leominster but was a product of Fitchburg—educated at St. Bernard’s High School and Fitchburg State College. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after his high school graduation in 1954, and was hired to teach at Bromfield right out of college in 1962. There, he joined Mike Horgan, another former Marine and gifted math teacher with Fitchburg roots, who would go on to be Bromfield’s principal for many years. In 1978, Stanley was appointed to serve as vice principal under Horgan, but only for 40 days that year, because there was no money in the school budget to replace him in the classroom. Aside from teaching, as an administrator Stanley had a knack for interviewing and hiring teachers who were good for the school, said his old friend and colleague Tom Hill this week. “And he was big into supporting kids in whatever they did,” Hill said. “He had their respect.”
After 30 years at Bromfield, Stanley retired and moved to The Villages, Florida, where he was a member of the golfing group and the Fraternal Order of the Knights of the Unstable Table, and was known as “Tommy Gunn.”
Tom Stanley is survived by his wife of 53 years, Gerry (Bolduc) Stanley; a son, Daniel D. of Leominster; and a daughter, Chris, of Jupiter, Fla.; grandsons Ian, Graham, and Rory; and family friend Mary Beth Landrum of Brookline. Other survivors include his sisters, Kathleen DiNardo of Stratham, N.H., and Elizabeth LeClair of Concord; and brothers Michael of Hudson, James of Lunenburg, and John of Winthrop.
He was predeceased by his daughter Mary Ellen, and son Timothy.
A graveside service with military honors will be held Friday, June 21, at 11 a.m. at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Cornerstone Hospice at The Villages, 601 Casa Bella, The Villages, FL 32162. Online condolences may be left at www.beyersfuneralhome.com.
