Marcella A. (Rabinski) Pavelcak, 77, of South Deerfield,
a former clerk in Dairy Industries and in Physics, died Dec. 20
in Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield.
She served the University for 13 and a half years before leaving
in 1956 to care for her family.
She leaves her husband, Joseph Pavelcak; two sons,
Mark of Conway and Gregory, clerk III in the Isenberg School of
Management, of Florence; a daughter, Kathleen of Columbia, S.C.;
and other family.
Memorial contributions may be made to Franklin Hospice,
48 Sanderson St., Greenfield 01301.
Harvey B. Scribner, 88, a retired professor of Education
and former chancellor of New York City's school system, died Dec.
23 in Waterville, Me.
He served public education for 32 years, including
a decade-long stint at the end of his career on the UMass faculty.
He had taught and worked in school administration
in Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont for two decades
before taking on the chancellorship in New York for nearly three
years in the early 1970s. His tenure oversaw a strife-ridden shift
toward local control of public schools in the city. Although he
was unable to enforce the steps he thought necessary to make a
new system work and left the position in frustration, he remained
committed to the idea of local control in public schools. He also
supported continuing education for teachers and an emphasis on
basics in the classroom.
In Amherst, he studied educational leadership and
school administration and wrote a well-received book, "Make
Your Schools Work: Practical, Imaginative and CostFree Plans to
Turn Public Education Around." He also helped the city of
Boston develop alternative schools for underprivileged children.
He held a bachelor's degree from Farmington State
Teachers College in Maine, a master's degree in education at the
University of Maine, and a doctorate in education from Boston
University.
His first marriage ended in divorce, and his second
wife, Alta Scribner, predeceased him.
He leaves three daughters, Patricia Arno of Hartland,
Me., Jacqueline Cheney of Simsbury, Conn., and Donna Archambault
of Leesburg, Fla.; grandchildren and other family.
