Former Canton Interim School Chief Dr. Louis Mager Dies

Dr. Louis Mager, whose four-decade career in education included a 20-year stint as Enfield superintendent of schools and interim stints in Canton and elsewhere, passed away Sunday, Feb. 3 at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. He was 83.

The 1947 graduate of Hale-Ray High School began teaching in 1955, including a four-year term as teacher and coach at East Hampton High School. He spent four years as guidance director at Coventry High School and two years as principal at Bacon Academy before moving to Enfield in 1967 as assistant superintendent of schools.

In 1972, Mager was promoted to superintendent, and served two decades in that post before retiring in 1992. Upon retirement, he filled in as interim superintendent in more than a half-dozen towns, including Suffield, where he took over from former superintendent Bruce Douglas in 1998.

In August of 1999 to February of 2000, he filled in for Canton after the departure of David Erwin. Read more about his tenure an August of 1999 Hartford courant article or this February 2000 follow-up.

Mager received the "Golden Shield Award for Courage Under Fire" from the Connecticut Association of School Administration in 1986, and the "Distinguished Service Award" from the New England Association of School Superintendents in 1992.

He is survived by his wife, Rita (Kaufman) Mager, four children and nine grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Friday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. at Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek Cemetery, Route 151, Moodus. A memorial period will be observed Thursday, Feb. 7  from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at Quail Hollow Club House, 1 OakView Place, Vernon.