Michael Patrick McNerney

Native born son of Florida, Michael Patrick McNerney died aged 85 on September 1, 2026 in Chiefland, Florida. Born in 1941 and raised by a community of loved ones and coaches in St. Petersburg, Florida, "Mike" was young when World War II left a country wondering about the future. He grew up in a time when Florida was still a wild river of grass swamp land, the coast was lined with mangroves, and the water was ripe with wildlife. His stories of growing up in St. Pete reveal a community on the brink of possibility and a childhood left to roam. And his life was a continued investigation and celebration of the roots of community and the Florida spirit.

Young Mike's father Clare Patrick McNerney was part of the Merchant Marines, and his mother Barbara Dell Wood traveled quite often for work making ends meet during the war. Mike was largely raised by his mother, aunts, and Grandma Wood, who is the hardened stuff of legends that one might imagine a second-generation Floridian to be. A childhood spent with cousins broke up after the war, and Mike became an orphan who lived with lifelong friends like Dennis Bishop and Johnny Williams. Graced with athletic prowess in multiple sports including football, baseball, and track & field, his coaches made sure he had places to sleep. He worked his way through middle and high school on shrimp and crab boats and making watermelon runs to South Carolina. Mike was part of the first class to graduate from Northeast High School in St. Petersburg with the support of his friends and coaches, whom he would spend the rest of his career honoring through his work.

As a pole vaulter for University of Florida, he raised a young family with his first wife Shirley Hutching. Michael William McNerney and Tammy Gail McNerney (Warren) were born, and Mike and Shirley raised them on the university campus while attending classes and working for the grounds and housing departments there. He once told of saving Steve Spurrirer from drowning in a swimming class he had to take for Physical Education requirements. Determined to pay it forward to young athletes, Mike got his degree in Education and began teaching and coaching at PK Young University of Florida Lab School.

Mike apprenticed under, coached with, and learned from some of the football greats like Lou Holtz, Bobby Bowden, and Steve Spurrirer (thank goodness he saved his life). During a teacher's strike shortly after beginning his career in public education, Mike, now mostly "Mac" or "Coach," moved his family to Maryland where he wouldn't have to cross the picket line. He assistant coached at Blair High School, but little did he know he would soon open a new program where he was the first head coach at Paint Branch High School in 1969. There, he led one of the first integrated high school football teams in Maryland. His third child Terri Lynn McNerney (Kinsey) was born there during this short but impactful period of his career. Players from PB have stayed in touch with their coach, most recently having reunions and telling stories about a tough but proud period of all their lives where they found belonging and camaraderie during the civil rights movement they didn't know they were part of.

After returning to his home state of Florida, separating from his first wife, and beginning the move to public education administration while still coaching, Mac shifted his attention to Lake Wales High School's program where he met the love of his life and partner for over 50 years, Michelle Edna Cox McNerney. She the swimming coach and special education teacher and he the Athletics & Activities Director, Head Football Coach, and Dean of Students, they shared a passion for educating young people and providing opportunities to those kids who needed an extra hand. They fell madly in love sharing lesson plans for football plays, keeping books for the baseball team, and dancing at roadhouses, and were married at sunrise on December 18, 1976 in a small ceremony. His son, also “Mike,” whom Mac coached, was commissioned as a football recruit to the United States Air Force Academy, another moment of absolute pride in Mac's life.

Mac and Michelle moved to Pensacola, where he attended the master’s program at the fairly new University of West Florida. They both continued teaching and coaching and had Mac's fourth child, Michelle's only, Maegan Aline McNerney (Azar). They both loved the community there, but particularly the sand dune beaches of the panhandle. His son Mike graduated from the Air Force Academy, served six years, and has spent the last 35 years in real estate development. Mac & Michelle's careers and family solidified in Pensacola. Even after Mac was recruited into his first principal position as an assistant at Naples High school, their bond to that place has always called them back.

Known for his work with tough cases, the Naples position was short-lived, as Mac was shifted quickly to the head administrator at Immokalee High School. Immokalee was a challenge, but one that Mac's entire career up until that point had prepared him for. Largely made up of migrant families in an economically depressed community, Mac set to work building relationships, starting athletics programs, revitalizing work programs, and encouraging the arts in a school most people had given up on. The Seminole Tribe honored the school by carving and raising a totem pole specifically to maintain and respect the history and culture of the community. Mac raised the graduation rates and created partnerships that would last the rest of his career. They lived in a stilt home in the swamp that flooded when it rained and saw alligators walking up the driveway. Shortly after that school was steadied, Mac pursued the opportunity to open a school in Cape Coral, Florida.

Perhaps the position he was best known for was his role as the first principal at Mariner High School in 1987. He and his wife Michelle worked in tandem to create an entire mythos and culture of Mariner as the Home of the Fightin' Tritons. Setting to work getting to know his community, Mac entered a school system where students were still being bussed for federally mandated integration purposes. He spent many hours on the road building relationships with community partners from Dunbar to Pine Island. His legacy at Mariner included staff recognitions, award-winning arts programs, high achieving graduates with acceptances to some of the finest colleges, and state championships in multiple sports. His time at Mariner also saw sad moments, too, with the deaths of students and staff, the use of the facility as a hurricane shelter, and the horrors of 9/11, while a community looked to him to guide them through grief and legacy building.

Mac, Michelle, and Maegan settled on Matlacha, an island that reminded him of his childhood spent crabbing. There, he was often seen fishing on the seawall with a cast net or stranded on his boat poling in from the bay. His daughter Terri graduated from Florida State University and began teaching for Lee County Schools, and his daughter Maegan graduated from Mariner during his time there. Mac was always proud of his Mariner Family, hosting Thanksgiving dinners for singles, celebrating with huge pep rallies, facilitating epic field days, and hosting end of the year celebrations where he welcomed staff to his home on the island.

Not unsurprisingly, the work he did at Mariner became a blueprint for schools all over the county and state. Mac traveled as a consultant to far reaches of the region helping administrators establish top-notch schools, programs, and curriculums. Eventually, he was brought downtown as Assistant Superintendent of Lee County Schools with his longtime friend Jim Browder as Superintendent. They were on a mission to modernize the county's public schools, one of the largest school districts in the state. He partnered with teams to implement new education standards, re-fitted the fleet with electric vehicles, redesigned shopping malls and department stores as new district facilities, among many other improvements that have outlasted his time with the district.

He retired to Fanning Springs, Florida, where he briefly taught adjunct for the University of Florida's Education Department. He was far more passionate about gardening in his retirement, with fruit trees and vegetable beds that are the envy of many. He was the first President of the River Walk Homeowner’s Association, a title he begrudgingly accepted but dutifully carried out to welcome families and homeowners to a community he loved in the heart of the state he admired. His greatest joys included traveling to see his grandchildren in games and performances, going on trips to wilderness in the country he hadn't yet explored, watching and supporting football at all levels, keeping up with his former students, learning about his genealogy, seeing his children and grandchildren seek higher education, and walking his sweet pup Clover, who preceded him in death.

Known for his stories and lessons, he leaves behind a big family: his wife Michelle Edna Cox McNerney and mother-in-law Miriam “Toby” Torres Cox; his son Michael William McNerney and daughter-in-law Tami McNerney; his daughter Tammy Gail McNerney Warren with grandchildren Misty Warren (and great grandchild Lucas), Shannon Warren, and Perry Warren; his daughter Terri Lynn McNerney Kinsey and son-in-law Hugh Kinsey, Jr, with grandchild Heidi Kinsey; and daughter Maegan Aline McNerney Azar and son-in-law Thomas J. Azar III with grandchild Tristan Zaki McNerney Azar; along with a network of past students, employees, friends, neighbors, and loved ones. If some lucky person finds his childhood baseball card collection under the interstate in St. Pete, consider it a final gift from one of Florida's first favorite sons.

An event will be held in celebration of Mac’s life in December 2026. More information to follow. In lieu of gifts, please consider a donation in honor of Mac to The National World War II Museum New Orleans: https://support.nationalww2museum.org/site/Donation2?df_id=8047&mfc_pref=T&8047.donation=form1