Rolland G. Duval, 98

ADAMS, Mass. —

Rolland G. Duval, 98, longtime Adams educator and former superintendent of the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District, passed away on April 2, 2022, at Bethany Home in Providence, RI, where he had been a resident for a short time.

Known to almost everyone as “Duke,” he was born May 14, 1923, in Adams, son of the late Henry J. and Matilda B. (Guerin) Duval. He was educated in local schools and graduated from Adams High School in 1941. Prior to serving in the U.S. Army for two and a half years during World War II, he attended Bliss Business College in North Adams and St. Michael’s College in Winooski, VT. After the war’s conclusion, he returned to St. Michael’s to complete his bachelor’s degree in English and mathematics, followed by a master’s degree in English from the University of Vermont. He later pursued graduate studies in education and school law at North Adams State Teachers College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

On April 22, 1948, he and Catherine T. Hannan married in Burlington, VT; they shared exactly 50 years of marriage until her passing on April 22, 1998. On February 14, 1999, he and high school classmate Anne Brown Ramocki married and for the next 18 years they split their time between Adams and Naples, FL, before relocating to Warwick, RI, in 2017.

He devoted the greater part of his working life to education, first as a teacher in the Adams and Williamstown public school systems, then as principal of C.T. Plunkett Junior High School and superintendent of the Adams Public Schools. He was instrumental in the construction of Hoosac Valley High School and the creation of the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District, serving as its first superintendent. Subsequently, he was Berkshire Office Director and Assistant Commissioner of the Massachusetts Dept. of Education before returning to the Adams-Cheshire school district as superintendent. After his retirement in 1981, he served as an education specialist for Donovan & O’Connor law firm, interim superintendent of Monument Mountain School District and Arlington (VT) School District, and adjunct professor at North Adams State College.

Duke excelled at caring for people - his students, co-workers and, most particularly, his immediate and extended family members. He enjoyed regaling family and friends with stories about various jobs he held early in his working life, including butcher and delivery man for Duval’s Market in Pownal, VT, and Boisvert’s Corner Market in Adams; laborer with the Boston and Maine Railroad and Vermont Public Bridges; cook at Twist-O-Hill Lodge in Williston, VT; Northern Berkshire reporter for the Springfield newspapers; and broadcaster for radio station WMNB in North Adams where he read the comic pages over the air on Sunday mornings to his three young sons at home.

He was a former member of Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs Parish, where he served in various roles, and St. John Paul II Parish in Adams. His community service included membership on the W.B. Plunkett Hospital and North Adams Regional Hospital boards of trustees. In his younger days he enjoyed directing plays for Williamstown High School, the Adams junior and senior high schools, and the Adams Lions Club. He was a member of American Legion Post 160 in Adams.

A dedicated golfer who played the game into his early 90s, Duke was a former member of Taconic Golf Club and Forest Park Country Club. He also was well known around town as a bicyclist, notably participating in Susan B. Anthony Days events with his wife Catherine on their bicycle-built-for-two. In addition to his wife Anne of 23 years, he is survived by sons Gilbert R. Duval (Virginia) and Geoffrey M. Duval, both of Adams, and daughter-in-law Christina Lussier Duval of Pownal, VT; six grandchildren: Jeremy (Jennifer), Mathew, Melissa, Christopher, Nicholas and Dillon; three great-grandchildren: Miles, Lara and Eden; stepson Stephen Ramocki of Warwick, RI; sister-in-law Concetta Duval of Orleans, MA, and many nephews, nieces and cousins. He was also predeceased by son Gregory E. Duval and two brothers, Robert Duval and Richard Duval.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, April 11th at 12 Noon in the PACIOREK FUNERAL HOME, 13 Hoosac St. Adams. Burial with military honors will follow in Bellevue Cemetery, Adams. Calling hours will be held on Monday from 10:30 AM until the service, in the funeral home. The family respectfully requests the omission of flowers. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Adams Free Library to benefit the Children’s and Young Adult departments, at 92 Park St. Adams, MA 01220. To leave a message of condolence, please go online to www.paciorekfuneral.com