Elaine A. DiCicco, retired principal of Concord-Carlisle High School and a lifelong Concord resident, died at home on Saturday, June 29, 2024. She was 83.
Elaine was born on March 14, 1941, as the daughter of the late Romeo and Sophie DiCicco. After attending Concord Public Schools and graduating from Rose Hawthorne High School, she went on to receive her Bachelor’s Degree in French from Regis College in Weston. She earned a Master of Arts in teaching French from Assumption College in Worcester, which included summer studies at the Sorbonne in Paris.
After teaching for three years at Uxbridge High School, she joined the foreign language department at Concord-Carlisle High School in the fall of 1967, where she taught French and served a term as department chair. At the same time, Elaine was an active member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association and chaired their special education committee through which she helped to provide inservice training for public school teachers throughout Massachusetts. As a result of that work, she was invited to serve as assistant to the superintendent for the implementation of the state’s landmark special education legislation of 1974. She then served as acting director of personnel for the Concord and Concord-Carlisle school systems.
In 1978, she was appointed principal of Concord-Carlisle High School, a position she held for 22 years. During her tenure, she served a six-year term with the Commission on Public Secondary Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. In this capacity, Elaine later chaired several visiting committees that evaluated high schools throughout the six-state region.
In addition to her service in education, Elaine was a faithful parishioner of St. Bernard’s Church at Holy Family Parish, where she was a lector and eucharistic minister. She also served a term on the parish council. Elaine served three terms on the Board of Registrars for the Town of Concord, volunteered with Communities for Restorative Justice, and served for many years as a Trustee for The Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle.
She is survived by her brother, Peter DiCicco and his wife Mona of West Newbury, her niece, Stacey Macmillan, her husband Rob and their children Georgia and Emilie of Newburyport, and her nephew, Ryan DiCicco, his wife Elizabeth and their children August and Evelyn of Marblehead.
Family and friends will gather for visiting hours on Friday, July 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Dee Funeral Home, 27 Bedford Street. Her funeral will be held on Saturday, July 6 at 9 a.m. from Dee Funeral Home, followed by a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. in St. Bernard’s Church at Holy Family Parish, 12 Monument Square. Burial will follow at St. Bernard’s Cemetery.
Concord’s town flag will fly at half-staff on July 6, 2024, in honor of Elaine’s recognition as Concord’s Honored Citizen in 2002.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Elaine’s memory may be made to The Elaine DiCicco Scholarship Fund, c/o The Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle, 34 Walden Street, Unit 217, Concord, MA 01742 or to Holy Family Parish, c/o Parish Center, 70 Monument Square, Concord, MA 01742.
Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord. To share a remembrance or to offer a condolence in her online guestbook, visit www.DeeFuneralHome.com.
