Phillip Tenney

Phillip Lee Tenney of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, formerly of Minneapolis, Minnesota, passed on May 7, 2015. Phillip was born on December 30, 1923 in Redwood Falls, Minnesota to Zoa Pease Tenney and Raymond Pitts Tenney, the youngest of seven children. He graduated from Redwood Falls High School in 1942 and in 1943 he entered the Navy where he served as a Marine Medical Corpsman. Upon being discharged, he enrolled at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota where he graduated in 1950 with a teaching degree in General Science and Education. It was during this time that he married Maxine Audrey Amundrud on June 8, 1947 in Fairdale, North Dakota. In January of 1950 he accepted a position at Yuma Union High School in Yuma, Arizona, teaching Math and Science. During the summers he attended the University of Arizona at Tuscon, Arizona working on a Master's Degree in Education Administration, which he completed at the University of North Dakota in 1955. It was at this time the family moved to Walhalla, North Dakota where he became a teaching principal. From 1955-1957 he was a teaching principal in Larimore, North Dakota. He then became Principal of Barnesville High School in Barnesville, Minnesota, and after three years, was named Superintendent of the Barnesville Public School system, a position he held for four years. In 1964, Phillip became the Principal of Bemidji High School and then was named Assistant Superintendent of Bemidji Public Schools, a position he held for four years. It was at this time he was recruited to become Assistant Executive Director of the Minnesota Association of Secondary Principals and later became Executive Director, a position he held until his retirement 15 years later. Upon retirement, he resided in Minneapolis, Minnesota until he relocated to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he lived until the time of his passing. He is survived by his sister Florence Madorey and daughters, Meredith Kehoe (Richard), Sidney Brock (Tom), Adriane Dobbins (Robert) and Leslie Geving (Bradley), 10 grandchildren, 3 step-grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. During his high school and college days he loved to dance. He particularly enjoyed the time he spent at the family lake home on Lower Bottle Lake near Park Rapids, Minnesota. He enjoyed eating out with his friends and making weekly phone calls to his daughters. Memorial donations will be used to support the Anoka Hope for Youth Drop in Center, a center serving homeless teenagers. A memorial service will be held at Miller Funeral Home 6210 Highway 65 Northeast Fridley, MN 55432 on Wednesday June 24th at 7:00 pm, with a visitation one hour prior.