William McMahon, teacher and author

William C. McMahon of Lawson Lane, a longtime teacher, a textbook author and a conservative activist, died Saturday, Oct. 21, at Pope John Paul II Center for Health Care in Danbury. He was 80 years old and the husband of Lorraine M. Remillard McMahon.
Bill McMahon, who taught in the Ridgefield schools for nearly 20 years, succumbed to the effects of Parkinson’s Disease, an ailment that led him to retire early from teaching and to move from his beloved home on Main Street. In a 1991 interview that focused on how he was dealing with the disease, Mr. McMahon told The Press, “I try not to be morbid — not to be a nuisance to the people around me. I very consciously try.”
“This is the most horrific disease you will ever see,” said his daughter, Lori E. McCleery of Danbury, this week. “Yet, he never complained about it.”
A native of Dorchester, Mass., Mr. McMahon was born on March 15, 1920, a son of the late Edward and Mary Long McMahon. He graduated from Roxbury Memorial High School in 1937, and received his bachelor’s degree in education from Boston University and a master’s in English from Southern Connecticut State College.
Mr. McMahon served four years in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, attaining the rank of staff sergeant. He and the former Lorraine Remillard were married on Aug. 22, 1948 in Boston.
A specialist in reading, he began his teaching career in southeastern Connecticut, working at schools in Old Lyme, Hamburg, and Old Saybrook, then moved to the New Canaan schools where he not only taught but was a state reading consultant. He then joined the Mt. Pleasant School District in Westchester County, and soon after, came to Ridgefield.
Mr. McMahon taught reading at Branchville School for many years, beginning when it opened in 1969, and then moved to Veterans Park. He retired from teaching in 1987 after the effects of his disease were growing stronger. “I wanted to be honest and fair,” he said. “All along I told [the principal] that I wouldn’t stay if I couldn’t do the work.”
His work over the years included 16 years of teaching at Western Connecticut State University where he was assistant professor in the School of Graduate Studies. He taught courses in “The Teaching of Reading” and “English Phonetics,” and wrote textbooks on reading instruction.
Mr. McMahon was convinced that reading is best taught through phonics, although that was not always the favored approach of school administrators during his career. He developed his own phonics readiness program, wrote a series of workbooks that he first published on his own and were then picked up by an educational publisher in Cambridge, Mass., who kept them in print for 20 years.
He was well known regionally as a reading teacher and had been president of the Danbury Council of the International Reading Association.
Early in his career here, Mr. McMahon established the Ridgefield Independent Teachers Association as an alternative to the Ridgefield Teachers Association, the established union. The group, later called Professional Educators of Ridgefield, objected to Ridgefield union members’ being forced to join and pay money to the Connecticut and National Education Associations, because those organization supported political candidates and political action committees.
A conservative politically, Mr. McMahon was active in supporting conservative causes and candidates, and was once vice president of the Connecticut Conservative Union.
He had many other interests. For nine years during the 1970s and early 80s, Mr. McMahon operated a food co-op, open to both teachers and the public, which allowed people to buy foods and household items in bulk at considerably discounted prices. “It was a kind of pre-Costco,” said his daughter, Lori. He’d drive his pickup truck on regular runs to New Jersey for supplies, and gave up the co-op only after “my truck wore out,” he said later.
For a time he and his son, Barry, operated a “greaseless doughnut” business. “And this was before all the concern about low fat diets,” Mr. McMahon said.
He also enjoyed maintaining his 19th Century Italianate Victorian home on Main Street, which the McMahons purchased in 1963 after having lived three years at the Ridgefield Knolls. He kept a large garden out back and enjoyed raising vegetables. The family sold the house in 1985 to move to Casagmo.
Mr. McMahon was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 1976 and became active in the local support group; his wife still is active. He was pleased with the help that new medications in the late 1980s were providing. He also extended his mobility through the use of a special three-wheeled scooter that allowed him to drive into town. In 1991, Mr. McMahon, who was six foot seven inches tall, rode his scooter with the American Legion contingent in the Memorial Day Parade.
Mr. McMahon frequently commented on the community scene through letters to the newspaper. Usually, his writings dealt with education. One, in 1982, noted that The Press had just carried two interesting help wanted ads in the classifieds. One sought “cleaning ladies” at $40 for a six-hour day and the other, Ridgefield substitute teachers for $30 a day.
“There must be at least 300 certified, unemployed teachers in Ridgefield,” he wrote. “Why must the Board of Education advertise for substitutes? Where are all the teachers? Now we know where they are. The females are working as cleaning ladies.”
Besides his wife and daughter, Mr. McMahon is survived by three sons, Brian C. McMahon and his wife, Slavka, of Sydney, Australia, Edward S. McMahon of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Barry O. McMahon of Danbury; two brothers, Edward and George McMahon; two sisters, Margaret McDonald and Rita Voerding; and two grandchildren, Meghann and Kellie McMahon of Vermont.
A brother, John, and two sisters, Mary Hood and Theresa Lamb, died before him.
A memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Mary’s Church at a time to be announced.
A private graveside service, with military honor guard, will take place in St. Mary’s Cemetery at the convenience of the family.
There are no calling hours.
Contributions in Mr. McMahon’s memory may be made to the Parkinson’s Disease Association of Connecticut, 27 Allendale Drive, North Haven CT 06473.
The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.