Grand Finn-Ale: Marie Finn Is Retiring After 43 Years in the Winthrop Schools

When Marie Finn walks out of the Gorman Fort Banks School for the final time on March 4, it will mark the end of a superlative 43-year teaching career in the Winthrop school system.

Finn started in 1979 at Winthrop Junior High as a physical education teacher.

“I was teaching with Tony Fucillo,” recalled Finn. “He and I taught together for 17-18 years.”

She continued her teaching career at the Dalrymple School and the Willis School, and when the new schools were built, she worked at the Cummings and Gorman/Fort Banks Schools.

Finn has taught multiple generations of Winthrop families.

“I’ve had students who are now grandparents, and their children and grandchildren, which is crazy,” said Finn. “I really feel very fortunate. After 43 years, I still love what doing what I’m doing.”

Former students regularly express their gratitude for her inspiring words as a teacher. “Someone just said to me, ‘I’m 55 years old now and I do exercise a lot more now because you ingrained in me how important it is to be physically fit’,’’ related Finn.

A former tennis player, gymnast, and swimmer at Medford High School (Class of 1974) and tennis player and gymnast at Boston State College, Finn said she can recognize a student’s athletic potential right away.

“I can tell a great athlete when they come into my class and I look forward to seeing them later on,” said Finn. “Steven Staffier, Lisa Monteleone, Nicole Giaquinto, you could tell right away that they were going to be great athletes.”

Administrators, Colleagues Offer Praise

Ilene Pearson has been the principal at the Gorman Fort Banks Elementary School for 15 years.

“We’re going to miss having Marie here as a teacher,” said Pearson. “She has established a reputation all of her own that is stellar in the community. We value her on every level. She has so much concern for the students. Safety is always at the forefront and a quality learning experience matters so much to her.

“She has a huge presence on our staff, and we’ll miss her as a really strong staff member, and we’ll also miss everything that she brings to the kids. It’s really going to be an adjustment. I haven’t worked in this district without her being the physical education teacher, so it’s a change of life for me, for sure.”

School Nurse Nancy Feeley will miss her day-to-day interactions with Finn.

“I just want to say after 17 years of working at the Gorman Fort Banks School, the best part of most of my days is Mrs. Finn,” said Feeley. “She makes me laugh every single day and I am so going to miss her.”

Paul Soares, school custodian, was a student in Mrs. Finn’s physical education class at Winthrop Junior High School.

“I had attended Catholic school for grades 1-8 and transitioned to public school in ninth grade,” said Soares. “Having Mrs. Finn as a teacher was great. She was very supportive and made gym class fun. She was my favorite teacher in junior high. Thirteen years ago, I got hired here, and we’ve been working side-by-side. She’s great. I keep calling her Mrs. Finn, and she said, ‘you’re an adult now, you can call me, Marie’.’’

Winthrop Director of Athletics Matt Serino has worked with Finn, who is the head coach of the boys tennis team.

“Marie Finn has been one of my all-time favorite coaches,” said Serino. “She is just a true professional. She’s in it for the love of the sport and she’s top-notch. I couldn’t be happier for her on her retirement after such an outstanding career. It’s well-deserved. I’m ecstatic that she’s staying on as our tennis coach. You won’t find a coach who’s more dedicated to the kids. She’s always at the tennis courts helping people out. She’s been an asset to not only the Winthrop public schools but our athletic department.”

The Phenomenal Finn Family

Marie Finn wouldn’t say it, but it’s well known that some of the greatest-ever athletes in Winthrop were her own children, Kristen, Courtney, and twin brother, Paul.

Kristen was a top runner in cross country, a four-year starter on some great Winthrop High basketball teams, and an incredible softball pitcher. She went on to excel at Bates College and is a physician’s assistant at Mass Eye and Ear. Courtney was a three-sport standout (soccer, basketball, and softball) who became an All-American basketball player for the Division 2 national champion Bentley University team. She is the associate athletic director at Bentley University. Paul played golf, hockey, and baseball and holds degrees in Engineering from WPI and Northeastern. He is a mechanical engineer at Raytheon.

“Paul was one of the best kids I ever coached,” said Winthrop High girls hockey coach Butch Martucci, who was one of Mrs. Finn’s former students. “He was the most respectful kid and a tough, hard-nosed defenseman that I really enjoyed coaching. 

“Courtney was a fantastic athlete who’s going into the Hall of Fame this year. My wife (Tracey) was fortunate to have coached Courtney in soccer.”

Marie Finn is proud of the Winthrop school district.

“I believe in public school education,” said Marie. “My kids couldn’t have gotten a better education and couldn’t have gone to better schools than the Winthrop schools.”

 Marie’s husband, Peter Finn, served as superintendent of Winthrop schools, succeeding Michael Fortunato in the position. Peter became the director of the Massachusetts superintendents’ association.

“Peter was the assistant superintendent of schools when I was hired,” said Finn. 

Will Continue as WHS Boys Tennis Coach

In addition to her stellar teaching career, Finn has been a tennis coach at Winthrop High School. She is currently the coach of the boys tennis team that has set all-time, single-season winning records in school his-tory. She has been named Northeastern Conference Coach of the Year three times.

Luke Hodgkins, son of Kenneth and Maria Martucci Hodgkins, played two seasons of varsity tennis for Coach Finn. He was a two-year Viking co-captain (with Jake McKinnon) and went on to play four seasons of college tennis at Salem State, graduating with a degree in Business Management in 2017.

“Actually, my first time picking up a tennis racket was with Mrs. Finn as an instructor back in the day for Parks and Recreation tennis down at Ingleside Park,” said Hodgkins. “She taught tennis and my friends and I just thought it was fun. Mrs. Finn helped out my tennis game a lot.”

Suzanne Ohlson Lazzaro played No. 1 singles and was a four-year varsity player and captain for Coach Finn’s WHS girls team in the 1980s.

“We were always competitive in the Northeastern Conference,” said Lazzaro, whose husband is former WHS three-sport athlete Chris Lazzaro. “Mrs. Finn was a big mentor to me. I went and got my USPTA professional license. Sports have been a huge part of my life, and it all began in high school.”

Lazzaro said Finn’s coaching methods were exemplary. “She led without bullying and yelling. She was about self-respect, so she motivated us to do our best because of self-respect. It was about being the best you can be. She led by example. She promoted all of the wonderful things about sports without being overbearing. I don’t know how she did it.”

A Fond Farewell

As she winds down her career in the teaching profession, Marie Finn expressed thanks to the parents in Winthrop.

“I would like to thank the parents of Winthrop because most of the parents I had as students, I’ve had their children in class, and what a great opportunity it was to teach their kids growing up. I want to thank the parents for letting me educate their children in physical education,” said Finn. “I’m definitely going to miss doing this, but there are always other chapters of my life.”