Things About My Father

My father in suit and tie.  He was the principal of the high school I attended so I often remember him dressed this way.

My father was born in 1922.

His family had a large farm, which he helped take care of. It took him ten years to get through four years of college because he was helping maintain the farm. His father had health problems, and he was the only one who could keep it going. Even though he was 1-A during WWII, and volunteered, he was not taken because his role in agriculture was too important.

 He became a school teacher by the late forties. He did summer jobs at Kellogg’s. Even though he was very adept at farming, and Kellogg’s wanted to make him an executive, he loved teaching and wanted to  devote his time and talents to public service. His specialty was in teaching math to lower achieving students. His ability to communicate and motivate had them succeeding way beyond their own and other's expectations.

He was a leader in the theory of team teaching, and even went on public television to promote it. He also was a leader in bringing computers in the classroom, as evidenced by the National Science Scholarships he got (one of our trips was to Stanford University where they had one of the first supercomputers).

 He became a high school principal in the early sixties, of a high school that was specifically built based on his team teaching methods. He was my high school principal, but I never felt embarrassed or ashamed, because he was that good with parents, students, teachers and the community. He served for a while as President of the Michigan Secondary School Principal's Association.

 He was married to my mother in '52 and the marriage lasted fifty-six years, until her death in October 2008. My father taught me much about love and caring, about strength of character and doing what was right. Even though not a heavy church goer, he taught me more about true Christianity than any preacher or book ever could. He was a workaholic, something I could never be. He is stubborn and sometimes set in his ways. I don't remember him ever engaging me in sports. But I always know he loves me and is proud of me. He supports me in bright times and dark times. When I divorced my first wife and I thought I was scum of the earth, he came down South and gave me unquestioning love and support. Am I like him? Well. I'm much lazier than he is. I read much more widely. I'm not as stubborn. If I could be one tenth of the father and husband he was, I will have succeeded wildly.

This is my Dad sitting on a flight of stairs.  I'm not sure of the  house, and I'm thinking the picture was taken in the late 70s.

UPDATE:  My father passed in September of 2013.  I remember him each and every day, in my memories, in the large influence he has had in the lives of those he educated and worked with, in his relationship with my mother and sister, in everything he has taught me, and in the positive influences he has had on me and my family, and how his best characteristics live on through my sons.