Buena Mourns Death of McConnell--Founding Principal and ‘Loyal Fan’

Buena High School teachers and students paused for a moment Friday to pay respects to the school’s founding principal, a man praised as a gruff but fair leader who set high standards in academics and athletics.

Arleigh W. McConnell, 76, who died Thursday night after suffering a heart attack at a Buena High girls’ basketball game, was the feared principal to some students and father figure to others. He was a coach’s helper, and the devoted administrator with the open door. And he was a true fan.

Longtime history teacher Joanne Cornelius fought tears in class Friday as she shared her private thoughts with her class before calling for a moment of silence.

“Dr. McConnell was the kind of person who went to every single event on this campus,” she told them of the man who hired her. “He was always there. He really was Buena’s loyal fan.”

Mason Parrish, the only teacher still on staff since the school opened in 1961, recalled times when McConnell would help drive students to games or travel long distances to watch competitions.

“What kind of principal would do that?” he asked. “There has never been an administrator that could even hold his shoe laces.”

Tim Hoctor, a Ventura real estate broker who graduated in 1967, said McConnell served as stand-in father figure for many students, including himself.

“He made a lasting impression on young people at a time when that needed to be done,” said Hoctor, who was on the school swimming and water polo team with McConnell’s son, Kim.

Most students today have only second-hand knowledge of the man whose portrait they pass beneath to enter the school gymnasium, which was later named after McConnell. But whether they knew McConnell, students enjoy his legacy, teachers and administrators said.

“We have one of the best athletic programs in the state and high academic standards,” Assistant Principal Jim Morgan said. “That’s because of the culture that he created.”

McConnell’s devotion extended to all students, not just those who excelled, said retired special education teacher Gene Thanos, who also started at Buena in 1961.

“Special education students were not really included in the 1960s,” he said. “But Arleigh mainstreamed students from the day Buena opened. There was nothing ever closed to them at Buena High School. That in itself speaks very highly of him.”

McConnell, who retired in 1980, collapsed at Thursday’s basketball game at about 9 p.m. after telling a friend that he was “in trouble.” Despite efforts of school nurses and paramedics, who whisked him to Community Memorial Hospital, he was never revived.

Born Feb. 26, 1920, in Tripoli, Wis., McConnell grew up in the San Joaquin Valley, the sixth child of a poor and widowed mother. He picked oranges in the farming town of Lindsay and later sold newspapers when his family moved to Fresno.

“He told me he would get a nickel for selling a newspaper and then go buy a plate of beans so he could eat that day,” said his wife of 52 years, Mary.

But it was the efforts that a teacher at Dos Palos High School in the San Joaquin Valley took on McConnell’s behalf that changed his life.

The teacher had asked about McConnell’s plans after graduation.

“Arleigh said, ‘Well, I don’t have any money so I guess I’ll get a job,’ ” Mary McConnell recalled. The teacher helped secure a $50 scholarship to Fresno State College.

“He worked three jobs sometimes to keep going,” she said. He graduated from college and went on to get his teaching credential at UC Berkeley. Later, he earned a doctorate in education.

When McConnell retired 16 years ago, he and his wife set up a scholarship, which gave $500 annually to a student chosen by the current principal.

“He said, ‘I got a start, and I want to help others,’ ” Mary McConnell said. The McConnell family wants to increase the scholarship to $1,000 with donations from the community, which they are requesting in lieu of flowers.

“He was quite a guy,” she said. “He was a wonderful man.”

In addition to his wife, McConnell is survived by two sons and their wives--Lawrence “Kim” McConnell and his wife, Chantale, of Laguna Beach and Mark Alan and Kathie McConnell of Kissimmee, Fla.--and five grandsons, Nicholas, Nathan, Nolan, Mark Alan and Michael Arleigh.

McConnell will be buried in private family services next week. A memorial service to which the community is invited is planned at 2 p.m. March 16 at Community Presbyterian Church, 1555 Poli St., Ventura. Donations may also be made to the church in lieu of flowers.

Miller is a Times staff writer; David is a Times correspondent.