Pasquale Morano, 81; directed Brockton arts department

PASQUALE MORANO

Pasquale Morano knew that everyone has a creative side. He saw it in the classrooms where he taught, and he saw it was his challenge to draw creativity out of people while mentoring others to do the same.

As head of the arts and music department in the Brockton public schools for more than two decades, Mr. Morano fought to keep the arts alive in the schools and money flowing to the programs he helped to develop.

Mr. Morano died Jan. 31 at the AnneMark Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Revere. He was 81 and previously lived in Brockton and the Back Bay.

As the Brockton schools expanded to reflect the growing community, Mr. Morano looked for ways to incorporate art and music in new and exciting ways, colleagues and friends said.

"He tried to get them exposed to the broadest possible aspect of all the arts," said Thomas Nash of Scituate, a childhood friend. "He always was looking to the future so that he could keep alive the love that he had for the arts, and that included all of them . . . the fine arts especially."

He spent many hours observing teachers in their classrooms and offering up tips on how to improve technique.

"He was very professional, always dressed very well," said Kathleen Garner, an art teacher he hired and mentored. "He would come into the classroom to observe you and always complimented you, but there'd always be one thing he said you could work on. . . . There was always room for improvement."

Teachers who worked for him said he provided a tremendous amount of support.

"He would stand by you if there were problems," said Frederick Lawrence, a retired Brockton teacher. "He was quite knowledgeable about art and the teaching of it. He would say: 'Be as creative as possible. The child has a lot of creativity in them, and it just has to be brought out.' "

Mr. Morano had an office in the central administration building and another one in the high school and was often whisking around among the various schools to keep an eye on the programs. He was known to encourage students to enter into competitions, and coordinated many arts shows for students to display their works.

"He was very good with the kids," said Norma McWilliams, his former secretary, who had him as an art teacher in the third grade.

What helped him as a teacher and as an administrator was that "he always thought like a very young guy," Nash said. "Even up until the very end, he was thinking like a young, struggling artist."

He was relatively low key in demeanor, Nash said, and "he never tried to come on strong. You would have to engage him in conversation to realize the depth of his knowledge."

Mr. Morano, born and raised in Brockton, lived for many years in his hometown before moving to the Back Bay.

He served in the US Navy during World War II, attended the University of Arizona, and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1953. He earned a master's in education from Bridgewater State University in 1955 and taught art for a short time before being hired to head the arts department.

He also oversaw the schools' music program for about a decade. He retired in 1982 and then spent several years as a screener at Logan International Airport.

But he could not stay away from art, so he became a security guard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a post he held for more than a decade, according to friends.

At home, he always made sure to have a music room, filled with compact discs of the opera music he loved. "Everything was organized and indexed," Nash said.

About four years ago, the Brockton schools named an award in his honor, given to a top art student at the high school.