The Wethersfield school community is today mourning the death of science teacher Mike Palanos.
Palanos died Thursday afternoon of an apparent heart attack. He was stricken at his home northeast of Kewanee and transported to Kewanee Hospital by the Kewanee Fire Rescue Squad where he died.
Palanos, who had been a teacher in the Wethersfield district for about 40 years, was semi-retired, teaching every other day for the past seven years from his classroom in the Blish Building.
“Thursday was one of Mike’s days off but he usually stopped by whether he was teaching that day or not,” said Superintendent Shane Kazubowski. “I missed him yesterday but he was here in the morning and visited with Mr. Johnston (junior/senior high school principal Jeremiah Johnston), and others at the high school,” said Kazubowski. “Everyone said he seemed fine.”
The superintendent said an assembly was scheduled for this morning at the school and clergy and grief counselors were to be on hand not only for students, but faculty as well. Kazubowski said the staff was called together at the end of the school day Thursday and told the news. “It hit everyone very hard,” he said.
The Palanos family has close ties to the Wethersfield School District. Daughter Amy Bryan is an elementary teacher and son-in-law Dan Bryan is a member of the school board.
Last spring when slow state aid payments were tightening the school budget, Palanos volunteered to spend the summer cutting grass. Kazubowski reported at the March board meeting that Palanos had approached him and offered to volunteer 8-to-10 hours a week to help the maintenance staff keep up when mowing season arrived. “He said Wethersfield had been good to his family and it was a way to give back,” said Kazubowski.
One of his hobbies was woodworking. Palanos and fellow teacher and friend Roger Mann built a new podium and donated it to the school where it was used for the first time at last spring’s graduation ceremony.
He was also an avid pigeon racer maintaining one of the few lofts left in the Kewanee area and gave an informative program on the sport for the Kewanee Rotary Club a week ago Tuesday.
Funeral services for Mike Palanos are pending.
Source: Star courier
