Lawrence H. Vadnais passed away on February 9th, 2017, aged 91. Lawrence, born in North Adams on May 21, 1925, was the son of Laurence Vadnais and Gertrude Bernard. Vadnais graduated from Assumption High School and enlisted in the Naval Air Corp’s V-12 Program in 1943. He saw action in the South Pacific in World War II as a tail gunner in the Avenger Torpedo Dive Bomber Squadrons. After the war, Vadnais received his BA from Middlebury College and his MA from North Adams State College. Vadnais went on to a remarkable career as an educational visionary, pioneering project-based learning initiatives in secondary schools and at the college level. He began his teaching career first in Richmond, MA, and later at the Johnson School in North Adams. In 1961, Vadnais joined the first faculty at the new Mt. Greylock Regional High School. During the 1963-1964 academic year, Vadnais attended the University of California, Berkeley, as a member of The John Hay Fellows Program. In 1968, Vadnais joined the faculty at North Adams State College where he would go on to create The Center for Resourceful Living as a branch of the Sociology Department. Vadnais retired from teaching in 1987. He is survived by Elizabeth Ross Vadnais, his wife of sixty-six years, and his four children - Martha, Andrew, Christopher, and Katie. Nathalie Vadnais, his sister, predeceased him. He leaves grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Vadnais had a life-long engagement with ideas about theology, the philosophy of education, the environment and climate change, and the proper place of humans in the world.

FUNERAL NOTICE: A Liturgy of Christian Burial for Lawrence Vadnais will be celebrated Thursday February 16, 2017 at 11:00 AM at St. John Bosco Church in Stamford, VT. Burial will be in the spring in Southview Cemetery. There are no calling hours. Donations may be made in his honor to 2020 (children’s vision) and SmileTrain in care of FLYNN & DAGNOLI-MONTAGNA HOME FOR FUNERALS CENTRAL CHAPEL, 74 Marshall St. North Adams, MA 01247. To add to the Book of Memories, please visit www.flynndagnolifuneralhomes.com.