Obituaries

Obituary: Jeffrey Nardone Taught Student Journalists in Grosse Pointe, Michigan for Two Decades

Jeffrey Nardone, an English teacher and newspaper adviser at Grosse Pointe South, died Sunday.

Jeffrey Nardone, who was the adviser to Grosse Pointe South's award-winning weekly newspaper The Tower and was active in the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, died Sunday Nov. 3, 2013, from T-Cell Lymphona, according to the newspaper. He was 48.

Mr. Nardone, of Grosse Pointe Park, was a graduate of Michigan State University and has been the newspaper adviser at Grosse Pointe South for 20 years. He also was an English teacher at the school.

“Mr. Nardone has been a strong educator within the South High School community," Grosse Pointe Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Harwood wrote in an email. "He has left a legacy of success, and built student skills that expand beyond the boundaries of Grosse Pointe. We are saddened by his loss and the loss of so many instructional skills he provided to his students every day. He will be greatly missed.”

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The Tower has earned Gold and Silver Crowns, All American ratings and placed first in the 2008 NSPA Best in Show. His students have also won over 800 individual awards from both state and national organizations, according to the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association.

Former students shared their memories of Mr. Nardone in emails:

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Ted Berkowski wrote, "One thing that has always stood out to me about Nard is how much faith he has in all of his students. He had such high expectations and gave us so much responsibility, and it means a lot as a high school student to be treated this way by an adult. Besides helping me to become a better writer, leader and person, he was also a great friend whose humor and kindness I will never forget. The Tower Room was really like a second home and Mr. Nardone was central to that." 

Neala Berkowski wrote, "Nard was the first teacher I had at South who really treated me like an adult. We would either be laughing like friends about the time I ate three doughnuts in a row or be going over issues I was having with the page I was designing.  Nard gave his students real responsibilities like strict deadlines, yet trusted us to be doing what we were supposed to. I remember one class last year he spent the entire time explaining to us how important it is to have “enthusiasm” in anything we do, even if it isn’t journalism.  For the rest of the year, he would constantly remind us to either have “enthusiasm” while we worked on “The Tower” or to find something we could be enthusiastic about.  I think that really shows he cared so much about his students that he wanted to make sure we all spend our lives doing what we love."

Mr. Nardone has served as president of MIPA, and was a long-time member of MIPA’s board. He also was a speaker at MIPA conferences, judge in the organization’s annual statewide contests and was an instructor at the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop at Michigan State University, where he taught the sports writing class, according to MIPA.

He also earned scholastic journalism recognition including the Distinguished Adviser Award from Dow Jones, a Gold Key from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, a Pionner Award from the National Scholastic Press Association and the Golden Pen from the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, according to MIPA.

Jeremy Steele, MIPA executive director, announced the association has established the Jeff Nardone Scholarship. The scholarship will help students attend the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop, where he taught and a number of his students attended over the years. 

Donations can be made through a donation by credit card online or by sending a check made payable to MIPA to:

Michigan Interscholastic Press Association
MSU School of Journalism
404 Wilson Road, Room 305
East Lansing, MI 48824

Mr. Nardone is survived by his parents, wife DeEtte, sons Kal and Cy; step-daughter Shannon; brothers Anthony, John, Joseph and James.

Visitation will be from 2 - 9 p.m. Friday at A.H. Peters Funeral Home, 20705 Mack Ave., Grosse Pointe Woods.

His funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Grace Community Church, 21001 Moross, Detroit. 

Memorial contributions may also be made to the Van Elsander Cancer Center, 19229 Mack Ave, Grosse Pointe Woods.

A Storify page has been established to collect tweets and Facebook posts honoring Mr. Nardone.


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