GELINEAU, RUTH PHYLLIS

Phyllis was born on February 17, 1919 in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of the late Adam Iovine and Ruth Swenson Dawson. Up until three weeks before her death she was a professor of education at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut. Phyllis was a remarkable woman whose personal and professional legacy will carry forward for many years. Living at the time in Houston, Texas, she was an original member of Our Gang comedies at the age of 8. She toured as a dancer on cruise ships travelling between Miami, Cuba and the Panama Canal. She won the coveted Capizio Golden Slippers award for her performances. She also was the musical director of the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine and a writer and director of innumerable educational television and radio shows. She also wrote and anchored a weekly musical radio show, with her first husband, Robert Boak, in Dover, New Hampshire. She was also the author of 4 textbooks presently being used in graduate schools of education in the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Graduating in 1940 from Boston University with a degree in music, Phyllis went on to obtain a Master’s degree from the University of New Hampshire and a PhD from the University of Connecticut in 1960. She was a consultant and critic teacher in public schools in Massachusetts, and Connecticut. She traveled New England giving presentations to elementary school teachers, business leaders and health care providers focused on the importance and utilization of the arts as methods of improving and enriching their particular environment. Phyllis also obtained many federal grants focused on interdisciplinary methodology and diversity in education.

In 1959 she married Raymond Gelineau and they built a house in Milton, NH which soon became the family home. Phyllis was an exceptional woman who will be missed by many. She was the consummate teacher whose passion for education was extraordinary. She was dedicated to her students and their overall need to see the world through the the arts. She often said, “I have two houses but SCSU and my classroom are my true home.”

Phyllis Gelineau is survived by her daughter, Robin L. Pierce of Scottsdale, Arizona; two grandchildren, Dr. Kristen Pierce of Monkton, Vermont and Michael Pierce of San Anselmo, California; and four great grandchildren, Liam and Miles Peterson and Isaac and Maggie Pierce.

Arrangements- A memorial service to honor her life will be held at a later date. The Alderson Ford Funeral Home, 615 South Main Street, Cheshire CT is assisting with the arrangements as well as Quinnipiac University Medical School in Hamden CT. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name may be made to Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) Foundation Fund, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515. Please mark Phyllis Gelineau Scholarship in the memo line. To view these arrangements on line and to offer condolences please visit www.fordfh.com