Arizona – Dr. John Kriekard, a past Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) principal, assistant principal, and assistant superintendent sadly passed away on Saturday, February 18, 2023. On June 30, 2020, The Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Governing Board approved a contract naming longtime Valley educator Dr. John Kriekard as SUSD’s Superintendent. John was a member of the Armed Forces, a lifelong educator, and a beloved friend, husband, father, and grandfather, he dedicated his life to serving his community and making it a better place.
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We learned about this from the tributes that friends and family members put on social media. Dr. John Kriekard suffered a stroke and passed away on Saturday morning, according to Terry Kearney, a former Teacher, and coach at Scottsdale Public Schools. Respect Our Scottsdale Students a Facebook community released a statement as soon as Dr. John’s death was confirmed. It was written;
In the 30 years I lived here, no single human being ever meant more to this District and our community than John Kriekard – loved our schools so much he gave up his retirement to return to save them – truly loved the teachers who adored him back – almost as much as he loved his own family.I was going to post a picture of John bathing one of his grandkids in the sink. Huge smile on his face – almost laughing – baby’s adoring him back. It’s how I thought I wanted to remember him. But when I look at it I cry.Please reach out to John’s family today. Their loss is worse than ours. But we all share a part of their loss.
Stunning, tragic news. One of my principals, actually the last one who had to put up with my teaching and (especially) coaching antics, suffered a stroke and passed this morning. Education has lost a Giant, a Legend, and a really, really good person.John Kriekard was a really good guy, and our stories together go deep and far back. We not only connected educationally and athletically, we played softball together and had some great cerveza nights after events…with a lot of laughter.Just a really, really good guy, a great educator and friend…and younger and seemingly in good health, it strikes to my heart, and I know everyone who knows him, especially those who worked with him, is shocked with this news…and beyond sad.He was a man who did so much good it’s incomprehensible to deal with the idea he’s gone.RIP John Kreikard.
