| From the Alamogordo (N.M.) Daily News, Nov. 20, 1967, via newspapers.com |
| Remembering that one special teacher |
| We’ve been remembering teachers for the last few weeks, and here’s one more, from subscriber Jeff. It’s been edited for length. In 1971 I was a pretty typical 16-year-old 11th grade student with only a modicum of direction, or drive, until I was lucky enough to take a US Government class at my high school (Dixie M. Hollis H.S., nee Hollins H.S. — Pinellas County) and had the good fortune of becoming a student of Mr. William Quirey. Mr. Quirey was an unassuming and unpretentious man. Actually he was quite soft-spoken and pleasant and without knowing much about him I quickly decided that I liked him a lot. For some reason he had a way of treating the kids with a significant level of respect that wasn't always common to teachers that I was familiar with. And I don't know why, but Mr. Quirey seemed to see something in me and we kind of became friends. Like most kids of the Vietnam era I was anti-war (which I still am), and was surprised to find out that Mr. Quirey has been a Brig General in the U.S. Army. Then, in conversations with him I found out that he had been the 2nd in command in Vietnam under General William Westmoreland. In short order I learned that Mr. Quirey was a well-respected author with expertise in crowd control who had published books on the subject and had been an instructor at U.S. Military War Colleges. Mr. Quirey saw something in me at a time in life where I really needed someone to believe in me. Even though I was only in the first semester of 11th grade, he encouraged me to enroll in night classes at SPJC which I promptly did (the thought this would challenge me to excel - and I did!) Having done very well in my first SPC classes Mr. Quirey helped me hatch a plan to split my time between high school in the morning and then going to SPJC in the afternoons for my classes. At the conclusion of my junior year Mr. Quirey asked me if I would be interested in becoming his Teacher's Assistant the next year in his class and I was highly honored to be able to do so. Early in my senior year Mr. Quirey gave me a set of brochures and paperwork for a Congressional Legislative program in Washington, DC called The Washington Workshops Foundation where high school seniors from across the U.S. went to Washington D.C. to participate in a US Congressional Senior Seminar where we were to meet in small groups with the leaders of our nation. I was selected to participate in the Washington Workshops Senior Seminar and the session that I happened to be placed in was to take place during the week of President Richard Nixon's 2nd inauguration in January of 1973. We were invited guests of President Nixon's inaugural committee to participate in Youth Balls, presidential breakfasts, and the inauguration itself. That particular week in January 1973 turned out to be one of the most monumental weeks in US history with the Tuesday death of President Lyndon Johnson and the then very secret negotiations taking place in Paris between Kissinger and Vietnam's Le Duc Tho which would become known as The Paris Peace Accords. While we did not understand the monumental importance of it at the moment, the Supreme Court also issued a ruling that week that came to be known as Roe vs. Wade and we got to speak with national leaders on what that ruling might mean for the United States. After the conclusion of the Congressional Seminar I was lucky enough to be selected and invited to become a Congressional Intern in the Washington Workshops Congressional Intern Program between graduating from high school and entering college. I was lucky enough to secure an appointment as an Intern to Rep. Dante Fascell's office and formally participated as a student of Mount Vernon University (now Georgetown). All of these things happened solely because a retired US Army officer saw something in a 16-year-old kid and decided to make a difference in his life. He made me believe in myself and his faith in me allowed me to decide to live up to the potential that he said he saw in me. Ultimately I was able to graduate from high school with my first year's worth of college credits out of the way, allowing me to graduate in less than three years (with Honors) from my alma mater, Mercer University. Mr. Query was one of the most decent, honorable, dedicated and kind men I have ever known. And he changed my life because he was an educator who cared for the kids in his charge. |
| Here are some obituaries from the past week that I found in the obits section of the Tampa Bay Times, in the news and from local funeral homes. If you see any with great details, please share them.
• Max Pollard, 86, of Seminole "lived an extraordinary life. As an astute journeyman, simultaneously charming and tough, he worked throughout Canada and the USA. Finding a home in Florida, he established Park Plumbing, which he directed for over 25 years. Handsome and witty right to the end, he showed us how to enjoy an extraordinary life."
• Ed Carlson, 58, of Satellite Beach "had a close relationship with his grandparents. His pop Anderson taught him about cars. His pop Carlson took him fishing. Both were lifelong passions, along with golf."
• Phyllis Hernandez of Clearwater "had an adventurous spirit and after high school was a flight attendant for Pan American Airlines. ... Phyllis loved ice skating as a child and later took it back up and continued to skate and compete well into her 70s, and truly loved the sport." • Gilberto Vega, 82, of Tampa was "a solo practicing Orthopedic Surgeon, he engaged in a 40+ year career where he cared for patients of all ages as if they were his own family."
• And in the spirit of this newsletter, read this story by Zachary T. Sampson on Florida's "Shark Lady," Eugenie Clark, who is now on a forever stamp.
Thanks for reading, hug your people,
Kristen
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