Donna Woodcock

Donna Woodcock, 65, longtime Greenfield High School teacher, coach, athletic director, and administrator, died at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield on Monday, May 8.

Born on May 5, 1958 in Athol, MA, she was the daughter of Courtney and Barbara (Kennedy) Woodcock of Greenfield. The family first moved to Greenfield in 1960, and Donna lived in town through the rest of her life. She graduated from GHS in 1976 and earned an undergraduate degree in physical education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1980. In later years, she obtained a masters +30 degree from UMass Amherst.

Donna began her service to the youth of Greenfield as a summer playground counselor, and later became director of the Summer Playground Program.

Shortly after college graduation, Donna began her teaching career in Orange, MA. She started work in the Greenfield public schools in 1982, teaching physical education in the middle school. She transitioned to the high school in 1996, where she taught physical education and health for many years. She would go on to serve as athletic director, assistant principal, and principal at Greenfield High School. During her time as principal, Donna played an integral role in the successful renovation of the high school.

For more than 25 years, Donna was also a highly respected and successful coach of Greenfield girls’ field hockey, softball and basketball teams. As field hockey coach, her teams won state titles in 1989 and 1999. In softball, her teams won five western Massachusetts titles and made four state-championship games.

Donna retired in 2016. In retirement, she was active, fun-loving, highly social, and never shy about displaying her wry sense of humor. She traveled to South Africa and Spain and loved the beaches of Maine and Florida. In recent years, she spent the winter months on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Donna also became an avid golfer and an accomplished member of the Greenfield Country Club, participating in various leagues and traveling around New England to participate in tournaments.

In addition to those varied interests, Donna was a “foodie” who enjoyed going to restaurants to try new cuisines or doing her own cooking and sharing meals with her friends and family.

Donna was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Greenfield and served as a church trustee. She had also served on the Franklin County Technical School Committee.

Donna definitely lived a full and fulfilling life. Above all, her greatest love was her family. She treasured all the time spent and the memories made with her parents, with her siblings and their families, and with her large extended family.

Beyond that deep love of family, Donna’s life was defined by the passion she exhibited as a teacher and coach, by the personal pride she took in helping other people, and by the immeasurable impact she had in shaping the lives and futures of the countless students and athletes who came under her leadership, tutelage, and mentorship.

No profile of Donna’s life would be complete without a closer look at how all of that unfolded and what drove her. When she began work as a teacher in the early 1980s, it didn’t take long for Donna to recognize that she had found her true calling. She captured the essence of how she viewed her role as an educator in an interview published in the Greenfield Recorder in March 2014, at a time when Donna was helping lead the GHS renovation process as high school principal.

“My father was a teacher, so I grew up around teaching,” Donna told the Recorder. “I guess it always seemed that being a teacher was something I really wanted to do. I think helping young people find their way – or reach goals – and having them come back later when they’re adults and finding out how they are doing and where they are in their lives – is the most meaningful kind of work.”

It was meaningful work to Donna throughout her career…and it turned out to be equally meaningful to those who she taught and coached. Over 35+ years, Donna impacted the lives of generations of young people and left an indelible mark on the community she loved. As former students and players will willingly tell you, it was done in Donna’s unique and straightforward way. She could be tough, direct, and demanding, but she believed in teaching respect, responsibility and accountability. And her heart was always squarely on the side of the young people who had become such a focus of her life.

Donna’s advice to those she taught and coached, especially young women, was to embrace challenges, work to overcome obstacles, and never be afraid of failure. She touched on this very concept, in her own words, in that same March 2014 Recorder interview. “I think sometimes a fear of failing really kind of limits people. It’s important to fail: to brush yourself off, get up and try again, and go at things in a different way. So, failing is as important as accomplishing things. Through athletics, there’s lot of times when you lose a game. But you work through it and get another opportunity in the next game.”

Guided herself by those foundational principles, Donna earned numerous awards during her career. In 2012, she was selected as an Unsung Heroine by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. The award recognized her as an outstanding leader who was deeply committed to her students, helping them learn life’s lessons, realize their full potential, and prepare for a bright future as adults.

In 2015, Donna received the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference Distinguished Service Award.

In 2018, Donna received the Betty Nee Distinguished Service Award for her many years of dedicated service and care given to the students of Greenfield High School as a teacher, coach, administrator, mentor and friend.

Despite the many accolades, Donna never saw herself as special. “I just go about my job each day,” she said in another Recorder interview in May 2012. “I don’t really see myself doing anything out of the ordinary. I come to work with the idea of doing the best to help kids.”

Today as we mourn her loss, there are thousands upon thousands of people who can and will vouch for how Donna successfully met that life goal.

Donna leaves her parents, Courtney and Barbara of Greenfield; brother Dana and wife, Sue, of Belchertown; sister Karen of Turners Falls; nephews Kyle Woodcock and Scott Perlberg; niece Hannah Perlberg; and step-niece Sara (Ryan) Kirby and their son Jackson of Timonium, MD; uncle John Wallace of Athol; and many cousins and friends. She was predeceased by her brother Scott. She was the granddaughter of the late Margaret and Melvin Woodcock and Emma and Milton Kennedy.

She also leaves a large network of friends and neighbors, including the Flamingo Ladies.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions can be made to the following organizations.  First United Methodist Church 25 Church St. Greenfield, MA 01301, Childrens Advocacy Center of Franklin County and North Quabbin 56 Wisdom Way Greenfield, MA 01301 and Stone Soup Cafe' 399 Main St. Greenfield, MA 01301. 

Arrangements are under the direction of Kostanski Funeral Home and will be announced at a later date.  For condolences, please visit www.kostanskifuneralhome.com.

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