Michael Foy, longtime Catholic school principal, dies at age 55

It didn't take long for the news to spread.

Within hours of the death Monday of Michael Foy, longtime principal of Seattle's Assumption-St. Bridget School, hundreds of students, parents and alumni had gathered at St. Bridget Church to mourn and pray.

At a prayer service Tuesday morning at the school, hundreds more packed the gym, sitting on the floor, the bleachers and extra chairs.

They spoke of how Mr. Foy, who headed the Catholic school in the Ravenna neighborhood, had taught them that the little things they do add up to who they are. That they could accomplish things they didn't think they could.

"Kids over and over talked about: 'He believed in me, so I could believe in myself, even when I was messing up, making mistakes,' " said Kathi Hand, assistant principal at Assumption-St. Bridget School. "He never gave up on kids."

Mr. Foy, of Shoreline, died Monday evening after going to the hospital with chest pains. He was 55.

"He left an imprint of genuine goodness on the lives of all those whom he touched," said Sister Joyce Cox, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Seattle Archdiocese.

Mr. Foy, the oldest of seven children, attended Catholic schools as a child and graduated from Gonzaga University in Spokane.

In Seattle, he served first as administrator at Seattle Preparatory School and, for the past 19 years, as principal of Assumption-St. Bridget School, which offers kindergarten through eighth grade.

Mr. Foy inspired his daughter, Kathleen Conklin, 25, of Shoreline, to become a teacher "just by seeing the difference he made in every kid's life."

Almost every day, she said, she would talk to him by phone. "He was just someone you always wanted to share whatever happened in your day, whatever you were thinking about."

Her father "really, really believed that he was supposed to be an example of Jesus in how he lived his life, the way he loved the people in his life," his daughter said.

Mr. Foy, a Eucharistic minister, loved going to Mass with his family and receiving Holy Communion, said the Rev. Marlin Connole, pastor at St. Bridget Church. He "was able to take the living presence of Jesus and minister the presence to a larger community."

At Assumption-St. Bridget, where students and staff are remembering him as their "beacon of light," Mr. Foy "brought life back into this school," said Marilu Byrne, a friend and teacher at the school.

When he began as principal, there were 240 students at the school. Now there are more than twice that.

He was able to get people to support his vision for the school, Byrne said. He could see a person's talents and gifts and knew when someone needed a little push but didn't make anyone feel like a failure for not achieving. "He just had that way about him — of making you feel like you mattered and that, at that moment, you were the most important person in his life.

"For anybody to have any one of those qualities is a gift," Byrne said. "To have all of those qualities is a miracle."

In addition to his wife, Sandra Foy, who is a high-school counselor, and daughter Kathleen Conklin, Mr. Foy is survived by daughters Molly Johnson of Edmonds, Michaela Foy of Edmonds, and Meaghan Foy of Shoreline; son Kevin Foy of Birmingham, Ala.; and three grandchildren.

A vigil and wake will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Bridget Church, 4900 N.E. 50th St., Seattle. The service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph Church, 732 18th Ave. E., Seattle.

In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Michael P. Foy Memorial Fund for Excellence in Education, Assumption-St. Bridget School, 6220 32nd Ave. N.E., Seattle, WA 98115

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com