Willow Glen Resident

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Obituaries

Michael O'Kane

Longtime Willow Glen resident Mike O'Kane died at home on Aug. 18 after battling brain cancer. He was 67.

O'Kane was a 40-year member of the South Bay education community, having been a K-12 teacher, principal and district ad- ministrator in San Jose, Cupertino and Los Altos.

A 1966 graduate of the University of Oregon, O'Kane received a bachelor of science in speech and psychology. He went on to earn a master's in administration and supervision from California State University, Hayward.

He began his career as an educator in 1969, teaching and coaching the track team at the Tehran American School in Iran. From 1988 through 1991 O'Kane was the principal at the Peter Burnett Academy, the first Stanford Accelerated Middle School in the nation. Under his leadership, the program grew to 600 schools across the United States. O'Kane also co-founded the "Get Set Program," which engaged volunteers from the Santa Clara County Society of Women Engineers to serve as mentors for disadvantaged girls interested in careers in math and science.

He was on the Role Model Program board of directors, and he was Middle School Principal of the Year in 1991, an honor bestowed on him by the California Middle School Association. In 2002 he was also honored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Greater San Jose honored O'Kane as its Man of the Year.

He held positions at the Arena Authority as community liaison on the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame committee. He also held numerous city positions, and since 2004 had served as directory of community relations and volunteer programs for the San Jose Grand Prix.

He is survived by his former wife, Kathy, and son Kevin and daughter-in-law Kristen.

The family requests that donations be made in his name to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, or to donor's charity of choice.