Farewell, Teach.

It is said that when a person dies it is like losing a library. Two teachers who were firmly on the "Good Teach" list in my educational life died within the past few months.

Lelia Olson was our 5th grade teacher at the Seaton School.  She was the only teacher I remember having in grade school whose occasional absence in lieu of a substitute teacher was not grounds for celebration.  Cool, with an even and calm voice, she tended to lull her students into a dreamlike environment where we were held captive to the pleasure of learning. 

This is from her obituary:  "Lelia served as an elementary teacher and taught several generations of students for approximately 30 years, six of which were in one room country schools (Smith School near Oquawka, Iveydor, Warren County and Duck Creek School, Mercer County). She was a member of the teaching staff at Seaton Elementary School, 1957-1981."

Here's to a great teacher who helped form and educate hundreds of kids.  And she also had a son, David, who was a good friend and still is.  Ole, like so many Seaton kids, went to IWC and was in the same fraternity.  During Hell Week he broke an unwritten rule, he actually did that a lot, by allowing me to "warm up" his bed.  Pledges, if we got any at all, were to sleep only on a hard floor.  Our comfort at any point was disallowed.  We had to wear bottles around our necks full of rotten eggs and stuff, and had to work long hours into the night.  Ole on one of those nights wanted me to go up to the attic dorm and get his bed warmed where I promptly went to sleep.  He never came back, thus allowing me a good night's sleep.  It was also this week that the fraternity guys separated Mark and I and said the other one had quit and left the house.  We both said that we would not have, which we didn't and I always thought that was a neat "twin" thing.          

At Iowa Wesleyan there were three teachers I particularly enjoyed.  One is still living, the great Dr. George E LaMore, Theology, and the other two were Dr. Theodore Khan, who introduced me to philosophy, and Dr. Carl  Shepard, who made history come to life.

From Dr. Shepard's obituary:

"He was drafted into the army during World War II, serving four years in the Army Intelligence Corps as a German interpreter. After interrogating German prisoners, he was assigned to a unit to compile information for the Nuremberg trials.

After the war, he served Oakland City College as a professor, dean (1961), and president (1965). Carl returned to teaching at Iowa Wesleyan College, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, from 1968-1982.

Highly praised as a professor, Carl was also a self-taught artist and violin maker, having made violins of concert quality that are currently played in symphony orchestras."

I was entranced by his lectures.  I always preferred lecture style, and not terribly fond of the Socratic method.  I would sit there and take notes continually like writing a book.  I'd put the ideas and thoughts on paper as fast as I could.  Dr. Shepard would walk in after all students were seated and begin his lecture.  No idle chit-chat, no ice-breaking that seems the norm these days.  Warming up an audience in school and asking questions all the way through always seemed to me more time-killing than educational.  I always had the policy that if I had a question I'd ask.  He would talk until his 50 minutes were up, and then gather his material as we shuffled out.  Of course in college you always have the after-class-kiss-assers who'd waddle up and circle the good ones like vultures.  He was, however, quite accommodating to questions after class if you approached him.  He was always the same, almost in a monotone speaking style, soft-spoken but he had a knack at making Medieval England seem like current events.  He made several eras of England come to life as well as Russian history as well. 

Apparently God's gift to good teaching is a long life.