2005 -- H 6473 ======LC03175 ======STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2005 ______

H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING JOSEPH ANTHONY CUNHA ON HIS RETIREMENT AFTER MORE THAN THIRTY-FIVE YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE CHILDREN OF RHODE ISLAND

Introduced By: Representatives McNamara, Kilmartin, and Faria

Date Introduced: May 10, 2005

Referred To: House read and passed

1 WHEREAS, Joseph Anthony Cunha was the only child of Virginia and the late Armando

2 Cunha. Born in the small northern Portuguese village of Carrapichana, he emigrated from his

3 native land to the United States at the age of nine, and attended Pawtucket's public schools until

4 the ninth grade. He went on to attain his high school diploma from St. Raphael's Academy, also

5 in Pawtucket; and

6 WHEREAS, In 1969, Joe followed his heart and began on the path to a career in

7 education. He graduated from Bryant College with a degree in Business Administration and went

8 on to attain his Masters of School Administration from Providence College; and

9 WHEREAS, To the very good fortune of many a student, Joe began his dynamic career

10 in the field of education with the Pawtucket School Department, as a junior high history and

11 mathematics teacher, in the English as a Second Language program on September 9, 1969.

12 Despite tight budgets and often deteriorating facilities, Joe has had a career-long trend of

13 acquiring and providing all the essentials to his students, even when many of them had special

14 needs, required extensive service, and came from a variety of language and cultural backgrounds;

15 and

16 WHEREAS, Joe has been the strong father figure that so many of his students needed,

17 but did not always have in their lives. As the Principal of Jenks Junior High School, Joe was

18 usually firm and occasionally thunderous, but always led with compassion and determination,

19 motivated directly from his heart; and 1 WHEREAS, Over the past three and a half decades, Joe has had a myriad of titles and has

2 assumed numerous responsibilities. From being a vice principal to becoming the longest serving

3 principal at Jenks, from being Assistant Superintendent of Pawtucket's schools to President of the

4 Administrator's Association for ten years, Joe has always gone above and beyond. He has been a

5 colleague and the boss, a disciplinarian and a friend, and to Superintendent Hans Dellith, "Porky"

6 has been his right arm and his comrade; and

7 WHEREAS, Despite the rigorous and often extensive hours Joe has devoted to his job, he

8 makes the time to enjoy his family, wife Audrey, son Joseph Junior, stepson Cole and his lovely

9 wife Melissa, and especially his beautiful granddaughter Abigail. He has a hearty if not

10 discerning appetite for life that overflows not only his waistband, but also with his largesse to his

11 many friends; and

12 WHEREAS, Although Joe has begun a new chapter of his life, traveling with his wife

13 Audrey to China, relaxing in Florida and planning cruises to exotic islands or a trip to Russia,

14 extraordinary people like Joe never really retire. Ninety days a year, he can quite often still be

15 found stealing chocolates and other goodies off desks around the School Administration Building,

16 and he's always available for a second helping of fried clams at the Pawtucket Country Club; and

17 WHEREAS, By virtue of his numerous and selfless accomplishments, Joseph Anthony

18 Cunha serves as a model for all our educational leaders and the accomplishments and strides he

19 has made in the educational experience for the children of Pawtucket will be felt for generations;

20 now, therefore be it

21 RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

22 Providence Plantations hereby honors and commends Joseph Anthony Cunha on his retirement

23 after more than 35 years of devoted service to the children of Pawtucket. We thank him for all his

24 efforts and wish him good health, fulfillment and much success in all his future endeavors; and be

25 it further

26 RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to

27 transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Joseph Anthony Cunha.

======LC03175 ======

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