Peter J. Creedon

Peter J. Creedon, a legendary Long Island educator passed on Friday June 15th at age of 90 in the company of his family at  the Sunrise assisted living  facility in Setauket. Born in North Quincy Massachusetts and a long time resident of St. James, New York, he was the devoted son of Peter Creedon and Mabel  Leblanc Creedon brother of John Creedon and the  late Paul, Francis, Lawrence, Eugene and Bernard, husband for 65 years to Isobel B. Creedon, father to Peter, Kyle and Elizabeth, grandfather of Peter and Francine L Creedon’s children Mathew, Mark and Charlotte, Kyle and Joel Poltun’s children Julian, Reed and Aidan and  Elizabeth and Ayman Awad’s children Liza and Peter.He will be waked at the St. James Funeral Home, 829 Middle Country Rd, St James, NY 11780 on Monday September 25th 2-4 pm and 7-9 pm. A funeral mass will be said at St. Phillip and James R.C. church 54 N Country Rd, St James, NY 11780on Tuesday September 26th at 10:00 a.m.Peter J. “Joey” Creedon was a trail blazer in Long Island education, with two brothers who were high  school superintendents and another who was also a Long Island principal. He was Sachem High School’s first basketball coach and the man who gave the school the name “the Flaming Arrows”.Staring as an English teacher at Sachem in 1955 he went on to principal roles in the Sachem School District at Chippewa, Seneca and Sagamore and then as principal of Sachem South and North where, with 3,000 students, he led the largest  school on Long Island.He was a strong leader, mentor and disciplinarian, he loved to laugh and he was a man who knew that he was only as good as his staff and assistant principals, and that if you weren’t in the business for the kids, you weren’t in it for the right reason.He encouraged Sachem’s strong athletic traditions, hiring and mentoring  outstanding coaches, earning him an induction into Sachem’s inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame. This was natural follow on to his own athletic career, as captain of the Northeastern University basketball team,  Hall of Fame Captain of the North Quincy High School basketball team, a career .400 batting average in North Quincy, and  rumored as  the star of semi-professional North Quincy Knights playing under the nom de guerre “Ziggy O’Calahan”.After retiring from Sachem he founded St. James Tutoring, a successful and still thriving business that provides at home and in-facility secondary educational services.He was a dedicated youth sports coach in his St. James neighborhood, and a devout Catholic who was a long time usher at St. Phillip and James. He was a man who touched many lives in a positive way, who emphasized service to  community and to country, an army veteran who served in the occupation forces of Japan,  and a man who embodied the old school ethic of work, church and home.He was unfailingly devoted  to his wife Isobel of 65 years, and to  his brothers and sister, children, grand children, nieces and nephews. He was loyal and faithful to his colorful friends in whose company he found great joy  as a sportsman in the fairways, fields, waterways and mountains.He was a man who kept his promises, tried to make a difference and lived and died with a faith in god.A scholarship fund is being established in Joe’s name for Sachem students moving  on to studies in education, and to continue Joe’s scholarship for wrestlers in need who wish to attend Sachem’s summer wrestling camp.

In lieu of flowers a pledge, or request for a contact to make a pledge, can be directed to PeterCreedonScholarship@gmail.com

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