Margaret Clyne Krawczyk was a gifted mathematician–and more than that, a gifted math teacher, said her nephew Thomas Brophy.
“She loved to take a concept and to present it to a kid and to have that kid understand,” he said. “She was able to capture unbelievably complex subjects in very understandable terms.”
Mrs. Krawczyk, 85, a former principal and superintendent of several Chicago schools, died of a stroke Wednesday in Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry County.
A Chicago native, Mrs. Krawczyk had master’s degrees in mathematics and education. She taught in situations as unusual as a “pre-flight” training school during World War II, where she instructed high school students in navigation, meteorology and flight regulations.
Later, she studied at John Marshall Law School. But she decided to return to education, this time as a principal.
After leading Birney and Suder Elementary Schools and Harper High School, Mrs. Krawczyk was appointed superintendent in 1966 of what was then one of many school districts in the city.
The South Shore district was created in an effort to improve eight elementary schools and a high school on the South Side. Mrs. Krawczyk was its first superintendent, and her tenure spanned challenging times.
In addition to Brophy, survivors include her husband, Frank, two other nephews, 14 grand-nephews and grand-nieces, a great-grand-nephew and a great-grand niece. There will be a funeral at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Juliana Catholic Church, 7201 Oketo Ave., Chicago.
