JAMES L. RIVERS, 77, of 30 School Street, Dalton, a lifelong resident of
Dalton died Wednesday, July 6, 2011, at Berkshire Medical Center.
Born in Pittsfield, on March 29, 1934, the son of Leo and Helen Lee Rivers, he was educated in Dalton schools, was a 1952 graduate of the former Dalton High School where he was a standout three sport athlete. Jim attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he played in the College World Series held in Omaha in 1954. He was a 1957 graduate of North Adams State College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Education. In 1969, he earned a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
A lifelong educator, Jim began his teaching career in the Dalton schools in
1957, at Dalton High School, and from 1961 to 1969, taught at Wahconah Regional High School. In 1969 Jim became a Guidance Counselor at Wahconah and was named Director of Guidance in 1975, a position he held until his retirement from public education in 1990 with 34 years of service. While in the Guidance Department, he was instrumental in starting the first work-study program in Berkshire County. Following retirement, Jim served as principal of the former Notre Dame School and St. Mark School in Pittsfield. He retired from there in 1997. He continued to serve his community as an outreach worker with the Dalton Council on Aging.
Jim was a member and past president of the Berkshire County Guidance
Association and was the recipient of the Massachusetts School Counselors Association
Award in 1990. While at Wahconah, he coached basketball and football, and was a longtime
Varsity Baseball Coach. He also coached the Dalton American Legion Baseball Team that won the District 1 Baseball Championship in 1973, the first since the early 1940's. Jim was the 1990 recipient of the Gibb Kittredge Youth Service Award. He was inducted into the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1984 as well as the UNICO Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a communicant of St. Agnes Church and was a founding member of the Dalton Benefit Association. He loved nothing more than watching his grandchildren play sports for their respective teams, especially the Wahconah Warriors.
Jim leaves his wife and high school sweetheart, the former Catherine "Peter" Murray, whom he married February 5, 1955, in St. Agnes Church. Besides his wife, he is survived by four daughters, Susan R. Licalzi and her husband, Peter, of Houston, Texas; Kathleen Millard of North Adams, Joanne R. Dowling and her husband, Kevin, of Hinsdale; Mary Rivers Cherry and her husband, Michael, of Dalton; a son, James Michael Rivers and his wife, Jo Ann, of Dalton; two brothers, Richard Rivers and his wife, Paula, of Pittsfield, and Robert Rivers and his wife, Anne, of Ashland, Massachusetts; his sister-in-law Evelyn Rivers of North Conway, New Hampshire; 16 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was pre-deceased by a brother, Joseph Rivers of North Conway, New
Hampshire, and a son-in-law, Francis Millard of North Adams.


FUNERAL NOTICE:
Funeral services for JAMES LEO RIVERS will be held Monday, July 11, at
9:15 a.m. from DERY-FOLEY FUNERAL HOME with a Liturgy of Christian Burial
at 10:00 a.m., at St. Agnes Church concelebrated by Rev. Christopher A. Malatesta, Pastor, and Rev. Peter A. Gregory, Pastor of St. Charles Church, Pittsfield. Burial will follow in Fairview Cemetery. Calling hours will be Sunday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Mr. Rivers may be made to BMC Renal Dialysis Unit or to St. Agnes Church Memorial Fund both in care of the Funeral Home, 890 East Main Street, Dalton.

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