Evesham Township lost one of its greatest educational allies last week as Frances S. DeMasi passed away on Dec. 29 at the age of 88. DeMasi had been a Medford resident, but was a teacher and administrator in the Evesham Township School District for many years before her retirement.
All one has to do is look at the listing of school names in the township to know how much DeMasi meant to education in Marlton. Not one, but two schools were named after the dedicated teacher. Students are taught, and will continue to be taught, at Frances S. DeMasi Middle School and Frances S. DeMasi Elementary Schools. The schools were opened in 1993.
Prior to coming to Evesham Township, DeMasi was a nun for 12 years and taught at several Catholic schools, said her good friend, Dr. Jean Ricketts.
Ricketts and DeMasi were friends for 50 years and worked side by side in the district for almost 30.
“She was an inspiration for all of us. She was a mentor, a confidant, and a supporter. She loved what she did and she was so enthusiastic about teaching, teachers and students in particular,” Ricketts said. “She was a joy to know. I knew her for many years and she was a great friend.”
Ricketts worked in the district for close to 30 years as a teacher, a school principal, and finished her career as an assistant superintendent of the district.
She worked with Eileen Brown, a teacher at the district for close to 30 years.
Brown praised both Ricketts and DeMasi for their dedication to the district’s teachers.
“Fran was probably one of the most well liked persons that worked in that district I’ve ever known. Fran was not one of those people that went out there and worked for the accolades. She was a real down-to-earth educator who really cared about the kids and the teachers,” Brown said. “She worked really hard with the students and with us. She observed in the classrooms ¬– that was her main function ¬– and she especially helped the new teachers to get them on the right track.”
She was blown away when the schools were named after her, Brown said.
Brown is the mother of Marlton’s current mayor, Randy Brown.
She shared a story of DeMasi’s dedication to Evesham students when Randy was in second-grade and working from a new “reading program” book that his elementary school had introduced that year.
He was miserable, she said, and she couldn’t tell if Randy wasn’t challenged by the book or was just having difficulty reading. She asked DeMasi to go into his classroom and observe him in action.
“She went in there and observed Randy. I don’t know if he even remembers this, but she sat with him and listened to him read for the day. She came over to my school afterward and said, ‘He no more belongs in those books than I do. He’s so bored with them; lets get him out of there and give him something more challenging. He’s way ahead of this,’” Brown said with a chuckle. “That was just her dedication for Evesham students. Her prime concern was making sure the kids got what they needed as students and making sure that teachers got what they needed to be better teachers.”
Randy Brown agreed with his mother — and said DeMasi was more than just a teacher. She was a great friend during his four-year span in the school district as a substitute teacher.
“She was someone I could talk to about life. I talked to her about moving ahead and whether I wanted to be an educator, a football coach, or anything else,” he said. “She was a very outstanding person that always put the students and school district first.”
In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, memorial donations may be made to St. Mary of the Lakes Catholic Church, 40 Jackson Road, Medford, 08055.
