Family, friends recall late RHS counselor
Toolbox
By Cristina Kumka Staff Writer - Published: April 24, 2009
It seemed like his usual farewell.
But Tuesday's day-end parting ended up being Joseph Flory's last goodbye when he died at the age of 65, suddenly and unexpectedly.
Flory departed Rutland High School Tuesday afternoon the same way he did most days during the past 12 years — by bidding a gracious adieu to the Guidance Department secretary, Anne Carpenter.
"He said, 'Have a good evening,'" Carpenter said.
Flory wouldn't see her because she would be gone for the day when he planned to return.
He was on his way to pick up her gift for Wednesday — Administrative Professionals' Day.
Hours before he set out on his somewhat secretive journey, Flory, a longtime guidance counselor and adviser at the school, had another productive day in the office — one of many he shared over the years with hundreds of students turned friends.
Senior Keely Levins came in Tuesday morning to do homework, have a bite to eat and a chuckle with Flory.
He walked out of his office with a coffee mug in his hand.
It was one of three he bought from Levins, a soon-to-be Middlebury College freshman, during a fundraiser for the Rutland Community Cupboard.
"He said it was the perfect suit mug," Levins said, laughing.
A day earlier, 17-year-old Libby Kirby also wore a smile in Flory's office, a place both girls called their "safe haven."
"I saw him Monday morning and told him I'm accepting it," she said.
Kirby was offered a full, four-year scholarship to the University of Rhode Island, after Flory's help in filling out applications and gathering college referrals.
"It was funny, he had such a personal interest in it, it was like he just got in," she said. "He saw us right through the end, here we are and we owe it all to him."
According to the students he guided, Flory did everything they asked of him.
"And more," Carpenter, Levins and Kirby said in sync outside Flory's office door Thursday.
He would ask for five minutes more than a student's scheduled appointment.
He would offer advice, but more often, he would just talk – politics or parents splitting up.
Nearly every Friday, Flory would come to work, open his briefcase and take out a box of doughnut holes for his students, colleagues and anyone else needing some comfort, those close to Flory said.
They would often sit not far from chocolate chip cookies and a bowl of M&Ms – the colors of which were always from the wrong holiday, Kirby said, laughing.
"He was like my uncle or my grandfather," both girls said.
No one knew it, but Tuesday was the last time Flory would open his briefcase, help plan a student's future or ask for more time.
After Carpenter's farewell, Flory got into his truck at about 4 p.m. and headed out of the high school parking lot.
Flory suffered a fatal heart attack or a blood clot behind the wheel and pulled over, his wife, Margaret "Peg" Flory said Thursday.
Flory, a Rutland-born, 1961 graduate of Mount St. Joseph Academy, had a congenital heart defect, but had surgery to correct the problem at the age of 16.
Still, Peg Flory said, her husband was who he was as a 39-year educator and counselor because he lived every day like it was his last.
"He felt like he was on borrowed time," she said.
Flory said her husband was the happiest at school, in the garden at his Pittsford home and with his grandchildren.
He talked about retiring, but he "couldn't give it up," Peg Flory said.
Joseph Flory "was one of the kindest, most wonderful people I've known in my 36-year career," said Rutland Superintendent Mary Moran.
Guidance Director Steve Sampson called Flory "irreplaceable."
"The position is, but the man isn't," Sampson said.
A funeral mass for Flory will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Christ the King Church in Rutland and a burial will follow at the Evergreen Cemetery in Pittsford.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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