E.D. Feehan High School was Named After Edward Daniel Feehan

Edward Daniel Feehan, eldest son of Daniel Feehan and Margaret McGeough, was born in St. Margaret's, P.E.I. on July 4th, 1891. He took his primary grades in a little country school at St. Margaret's, and managed to win a scholarship to St. Dunstan's College for high school. He earned his teaching Certificate at Prince of Wales College, P.E.I., at the age of sixteen. After teaching in two small village schools, he soon became Principal of the school in Souris, P.E.I.

With the outbreak of World War I, he took officer's training in Halifax and became a Second Lieutenant with the artillery. However, it was discovered that he possessed a damaged heart and he was discharged from the active forces.

In 1916 he came west with a harvest excursion. That fall he became Principal of a large separate school in Regina. In that city he met another teacher, Josephine Cecilia Grattan, and they were married on July 14th, 1919. For the next six years they taught together at a two room teacherage in a Ukrainian settlement outside of Rhein, Saskatchewan. In 1926 he was asked by the Inspector of the District to open a new high school in Sheho, Saskatchewan. In 1927 he was made Principal of St. Mary's School and Superintendent of Separate Schools in Saskatoon.

To continue his education he enrolled in night classes and summer school at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. He graduated with a B.A., and took classes in Education during the depression. However, with teachers' salaries at a very low ebb, and with his children at college age, he discontinued his studies in order to give his children a greater opportunity. In the early fifties, with the separate schools greatly expanding in Saskatoon, he became a full-time superintendent of the system, a position he held until his forced retirement, due to a stroke, in 1954

He was an invalid for nine years and then, at the age of seventy-three, passed on to his God on October 10th, 1963. He is buried in the Catholic section of Woodlawn Cemetery in Saskatoon.

There was no question that he was extremely well-loved by the teachers and pupils alike with whom he came into contact. His sense of wit and humour did not leave him until the very end, so much so that it was often said that he used to "inflict jokes upon people". He devoted his life to building good catholic citizens in the separate schools, on the sports field, and in every aspect of the lives of the children. That he succeeded admirably was attested on an evening in 1954 when "Feehan Night" brought together pupils and teachers from many towns and provinces. Letters, telegrams and messages from across Canada and even Europe poured in. The school board gave a farewell dinner at his retirement and the Public Schools honoured him with a tea. They highlighted the amiable relations that had always existed between the two boards, owing chiefly to his friendly efforts. He had been President of the Teachers' Federation on two occasions, and held offices in the Mens' Teachers Organization in the city.

Many societies in the city also benefited from his leadership. He served as Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus, District Deputy for the Province, and conferring officer of the Third Degree. He presided over ninety-two degrees, and served on several communities of the Supreme Council. He organized the Fourth Degree in the city.

Mrs. Josephine Cecilia Feehan, Edward's wife, was greatly honoured when the Saskatoon Separate School Board chose to name a new high school after him in 1967. 

E.D. Feehan High School, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan