Michael L. "Mr. Sok" Sokolowski Print

Michael L. “Mr. Sok” Sokolowski

1940 – 2014
 
 Michael L. “Mr. Sok” Sokolowski, 73, of Nashua, N.H., teacher of English and Dramatic Arts for forty years at Lowell High School and two years at Spring Street Junior High School in Nashua, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer July 19, 2014. He was the beloved husband of Julia (Papadimitriou) Sokolowski with whom he celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary on April 28th of this year.
 He was born on November 16, 1940 in Plainfield, Connecticut where his father ran the town’s movie theater. Eventually, his family moved to Lowell, Massachusetts when Edward Sr., his father, accepted an offer to manage the Capitol and Royal Theaters as well as the Park and Colonial Theaters in Nashua. Michael often proudly remarked that he was born on the balconies of the theaters and that the movies were his neighborhood.
 Growing up in Lowell, Michael attended the Dover St. School, Morey School and Bartlett Junior High. He graduated from Lowell High School in 1958 and from Merrimack College in 1963 where he majored in English and Philosophy. His educational background included courses taken at Harvard Extension and Emerson College.
 Fondly known as Mr. Sok, Michael was highly regarded by his students because he not only stressed the basics but also engaged them on a personal level. His skill in reaching out to his students rested, as one student put it, on his “gift of talk”.
 As a Drama Teacher, he, along with Doug Townsend, Musical Director, brought Broadway to Lowell.
 Michael frequently quoted Larry Bird’s concept of success – “you’ve got to take it to another level”. Mr. Sok did just that.
 In addition to his wife Julia, Michael is survived by two sisters-in-law and their husbands; his brother Edward W. Sokolowski, Jr. and his wife Carol; and numerous nieces and nephews and their children.
 Friends may call at the O’DONNELL FUNERAL HOME 276 PAWTUCKET ST. at Fletcher from 4 to 8 P.M. Wednesday. Relatives and friends are invited to attend his Funeral Mass to be celebrated Thursday morning at the Holy Trinity Parish, 340 High Street in Lowell at 11 o’clock. Burial to follow in Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashua. E-condolences/directions at www.odonnellfuneralhome.com. Those wishing may make contributions in his memory to the American Cancer Society, 30 Speen St, Framingham, MA 01701 or the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA 22312. For comments of appreciation of a former student, please visit www.hgazette.com’s Mike Veves’ Every kid needs his own Mr. Sok . Arrangements by Funeral Directors James F. O’Donnell, Jr. and John W. Crane (978 or 866) 458-8768.