Eugene Feeney, longtime educator, dies at 88

A former Jesuit priest who helped launch a Manhattan middle school for low-income boys, Eugene Michael Feeney always saw "the lighter side of life," his brother said.

Feeney, of Bridgehampton, died March 2 in Naples, Fla. -- where he and his wife, Jeanne Fee, also lived -- after battling prostate cancer. He was 88.

Feeney had previously been married to Peggy Cass, an actress, comedian and game show panelist. She died in 1999.

"He was a joy," said his brother, Tom Feeney of Naples. "When everybody was down, he would pick them up."

"Storytelling, his wit, his jokes" were among the things her husband would want to be remembered for, Fee said.

Born on May 22, 1924, in the Bronx, Eugene Feeney, the son of an NYPD police detective, attended Jesuit schools -- Xavier High School in Manhattan and Holy Cross, where he majored in accounting.

Bernard "Bud" Feeney, of Madison, Conn., attributes his brother's calling to their father's encouragement to be of service, as well as their Jesuit education.

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After serving in the Navy during World War II, Eugene Feeney went on to join the priesthood. His first duties were to address the needs of poor children in Puerto Rico. During a sabbatical, he later received a master's degree in urban affairs from Saint Louis University.

At the Nativity Mission Center on Manhattan's Lower East Side, he helped launch the center's school in 1971. It was "a small, community-based school serving an underserved neighborhood," said Father Edward Durkin, who worked there with Feeney.

Durkin, now a middle school principal in Buffalo, said the early word on Feeney when he was assigned to the mission center was that he "shoots from the hip, but he's a good guy." Feeney opted to teach the children who needed the most help.

Durkin said Feeney left the priesthood in the late 1970s. He worked in the private sector in financial positions, according to Fee.

Married for the past 10 years, Fee said she and her husband enjoyed golf, travel and working on crossword puzzles.

Feeney is also survived by another brother, James of Westhampton; a sister, Eileen Smith of Cutchogue; four stepchildren, David Fee of Whitefish Bay, Wis., James Fee of Darien, Conn., Mariah Fee of Manhattan and Kathryn Fee of Sag Harbor; and 27 nieces and nephews.

A funeral Mass was offered Monday at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Naples.