Retired Babylon High School principal, John Stack

Longtime Babylon High School teacher and principal John A. Stack died September 28, 2008 in Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport after complications from a fall. He was 89. After graduating from Notre Dame University, he joined the Army Air Corps and pi loted B17 bombers during World War II.

After the war, he started working for the Babylon School District in 1947, first as a science teacher, then as assistant principal and finally principal before retiring in 1976. Although he was regarded as a "no nonsense administrator," he allowed for mistakes and fun, according to his family and former students.

He lived on Coppertree Lane in Babylon Village and summered at his home in Mattituck, where he moved to full time during the 1980s.

Mr. Stack was active as a tenor with the North Fork Chorale, Our Lady of Good Counsel R.C. Church in Mattituck and was president of the Suffolk County Historical Society. He was a self-taught painter who loved to capture places he visited.

He leaves behind his wife of 32 years, Aurelie Dwyer Stack of Mattituck; his six daughters; seven grandchildren; and three great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, Ruth Phillips Stack and his second wife, Betty Lou Maguire Stack.

He reposed at the Coster-Heppner Funeral Home, Cutchogue. A Funeral Mass was said at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Mattituck followed by interment with Air Force Honor Guards at the Long Island National Cemetery in Pinelawn.