John G Kacandes

John George Kacandes, longtime teacher, coach, referee, administrator, and union rep in the White Plains School system passed away at his home in White Plains surrounded by members of his large family on Friday June 20. John was known for his booming voice, colorful stories, dedication to fairness, strong convictions about the value of an education, and seemingly endless generosity, even in times when he himself had little. John was born in Newark, NJ in 1929 to Greek immigrant parents. After beginning elementary school in Irvington, NJ, John, along with his three younger siblings and mother travelled to Greece, while their father stayed behind to earn money to save for a family home. John and his family became trapped in Greece when the Second World War broke out. His harrowing experiences trying to help feed his family, though still a child himself, running messages for the Resistance and eventually helping a British tank regiment became the material for many stories heard by his students and colleagues. They were gathered together in a book about his life collated by one of his daughters and published as Daddy’s War in 2009.
After his return to the United States, John worked hard to get a good education. He graduated from Pennington Preparatory School in 1950 and earned a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in 1954. He immediately went on to earn an M.A. degree and then launched his forty-year career in the White Plains public schools, beginning at the Post Road School, then Highlands and then the High School. He continued to educate himself with graduate work at Columbia and Yeshiva universities.
John was instrumental in giving opportunities to the underserved, for example, starting a junior high track program utilizing public parks at a time when no other resources were available. He was a huge proponent of adult learning and taught ABE (adult basic education) and ESL (English as a second language) at the Rochambeau School in White Plains for decades. John was a key figure in remedial reading programs for poor youth in the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York City.
John was a founding member of The Church of Our Saviour in Harrison, NY.
John’s love of sports is legendary, having set a NJ state record in the high school half-mile, running on the cross country team at Cornell, and playing a small yet key role in the lives of some White Plains youngsters who went on to make a real mark in their sports: Otis Hill, Craig Masback, and Art Monk, among many others. As proud of those high achievers as he was, he insisted that anyone who showed up and put in the effort would get to compete, and anyone who did not, no matter how naturally talented, would not.
No one knows how many scores of children John taught how to swim. He taught even more children and adults how to read. Many graduates of the White Plains schools have a large vocabulary because of John’s insistence on teaching them Greek roots.
John adored the water and loved everything to do with sailing and being near or on the sea. He fished to feed his family during the war, once saved his own life by swimming to shore when a boat he was on was bombed, and eventually survived near hurricane conditions on the Long Island Sound in his beloved Venture-21 which he moored at the Orienta Yacht Club.
John is predeceased by his parents, George and Chrysoula Kacandes, and his brothers, Harry and Nick Kacandes. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Lucie of White Plains, NY, by his sister Pearl of Lancaster, PA, by his six children and their families: Maria Kacandes-Kamil and her daughters Elynor and Francesca of London, England, his daughter Christine of New York, New York, his daughter Irene and her husband Philippe Carrard of Lebanon, NH and La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland, his daughter Georgia and her son John Gittens of Los Angeles, CA, his son, Tom of New Paltz, NY, his son Peter of San Francisco, CA, his sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, and dozens of nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, donations could be made in John’s name to The Church of Our Saviour, on Westchester Avenue in Harrison, NY or to a charity of your choice.
Visitation at Ballard-Durand at 2 Maple Avenue in White Plains, NY from 4-8pm on Tuesday June 24. Funeral services will be held at the Church of Our Saviour on Wednesday June 25 at 10am with burial at White Plains Rural Cemetery following. A memorial celebration of John’s life will be scheduled for a later date.