Martha Jones, Beloved Teacher, passes on - Saturday, April 8, 2006
Martha Jones, Beloved Teacher, passes on - Saturday, April 8, 2006
Our beloved teacher, Martha Jones has gone to be with the Lord. She had been in skilled care at Wabash County Hospital for about 2 years. I had her for Senior English as did many others from Wabash High School. She didn't know me then & I felt slighted by her as she never spoke to me when I entered the room but she did with others. I mistakenly thought she was very prejudice and favored those whose parents had high social status. I say mistakenly, because once I really got to know her personally, I realized that Martha didn't have a prejudiced bone in her body. I made that error in judgment because she always joked and talked with those students whose parents were high on the social status. What I didn't realize was that she did so because she knew their parents so well. Once I got to know her, I knew that she didn't judge others and I never heard her speak about other's vices or speak ill of another. Even when former students fell victim to alcoholism or drug addiction, she never once spoke of it but only remembered the good things. She was a fine example of a person who accepts others as they are. She didn't criticize or judge them.
I got to know Martha personally as a friend in 1977 (11 years after I graduated from Wabash High School) when one of our classmates, C.N. Hetzner invited me to his book-signing party. His publishers were honoring him in Rhode Island for his first published book, In the War for Peace: A Novel. He invited me because we had the common interest in writing. She was invited as she was given the distinct honor of having his book dedicated to her - his inspiration through her teaching at Wabash High. Because neither one of us wanted to travel there alone, Martha said, "why don't we go together?" And that is what we did.
Traveling with her was fun and quite an experience. She was dressed very distinct and carried a long black umbrella which she used to help her walk. Counting back, she must have been a young "66 " at the time. Although to me, she seemed very old, more like in her eighties. We were waiting for boarding of our plane when the desk called for me to come up to the counter. The airline bumped us up to first class and wanted to let me know what they had done. I asked, "to what did we owe the honor?" The lady behind the counter said that we had friendly faces. Although she didn't say so, I know it was because of Martha that we got noticed. When she walked, she light-heartedly bent her knees and had a "dance" in her stride, putting one in the mind of Mary Poppins. She brought smiles to many sitting close by. Once we got to Rhode Island and was in the quaint hotel, she showed me how she had hidden money in her bra. She said she wanted me to know so that if anything happened to her while we were together, I would be sure and retrieve her money so it would not be stolen off her body. Of course, I didn't even want to consider such a horrendous thought.
I really enjoyed getting to know Martha and it was the beginning of a long friendship. When my brother came home from Nevada once for his class reunion, I took him to see her. He delighted her with his cowboy poetry - something he does on the side. He travels many places and performs his poetry that he writes, as well as reciting some written by others. She was very impressed as Ron recited by memory poem after poem. He was not one to do well while in high school. In fact he was short his credits when it came time to graduate and had to pick them up later the next year. She never mentioned that, but he was the one who brought it up. And of course, she said she remembered him as she responded when any former student asked her. She wanted ALL her former students to feel special. She was a first class lady and one who left an indelible mark on my life. I was honored to have known and traveled with her and to have been her friend.
Our beloved teacher, Martha Jones has gone to be with the Lord. She had been in skilled care at Wabash County Hospital for about 2 years. I had her for Senior English as did many others from Wabash High School. She didn't know me then & I felt slighted by her as she never spoke to me when I entered the room but she did with others. I mistakenly thought she was very prejudice and favored those whose parents had high social status. I say mistakenly, because once I really got to know her personally, I realized that Martha didn't have a prejudiced bone in her body. I made that error in judgment because she always joked and talked with those students whose parents were high on the social status. What I didn't realize was that she did so because she knew their parents so well. Once I got to know her, I knew that she didn't judge others and I never heard her speak about other's vices or speak ill of another. Even when former students fell victim to alcoholism or drug addiction, she never once spoke of it but only remembered the good things. She was a fine example of a person who accepts others as they are. She didn't criticize or judge them.
I got to know Martha personally as a friend in 1977 (11 years after I graduated from Wabash High School) when one of our classmates, C.N. Hetzner invited me to his book-signing party. His publishers were honoring him in Rhode Island for his first published book, In the War for Peace: A Novel. He invited me because we had the common interest in writing. She was invited as she was given the distinct honor of having his book dedicated to her - his inspiration through her teaching at Wabash High. Because neither one of us wanted to travel there alone, Martha said, "why don't we go together?" And that is what we did.
Traveling with her was fun and quite an experience. She was dressed very distinct and carried a long black umbrella which she used to help her walk. Counting back, she must have been a young "66 " at the time. Although to me, she seemed very old, more like in her eighties. We were waiting for boarding of our plane when the desk called for me to come up to the counter. The airline bumped us up to first class and wanted to let me know what they had done. I asked, "to what did we owe the honor?" The lady behind the counter said that we had friendly faces. Although she didn't say so, I know it was because of Martha that we got noticed. When she walked, she light-heartedly bent her knees and had a "dance" in her stride, putting one in the mind of Mary Poppins. She brought smiles to many sitting close by. Once we got to Rhode Island and was in the quaint hotel, she showed me how she had hidden money in her bra. She said she wanted me to know so that if anything happened to her while we were together, I would be sure and retrieve her money so it would not be stolen off her body. Of course, I didn't even want to consider such a horrendous thought.
I really enjoyed getting to know Martha and it was the beginning of a long friendship. When my brother came home from Nevada once for his class reunion, I took him to see her. He delighted her with his cowboy poetry - something he does on the side. He travels many places and performs his poetry that he writes, as well as reciting some written by others. She was very impressed as Ron recited by memory poem after poem. He was not one to do well while in high school. In fact he was short his credits when it came time to graduate and had to pick them up later the next year. She never mentioned that, but he was the one who brought it up. And of course, she said she remembered him as she responded when any former student asked her. She wanted ALL her former students to feel special. She was a first class lady and one who left an indelible mark on my life. I was honored to have known and traveled with her and to have been her friend.
posted by Pat Kirby @ 2:11 PM
1 Comments:
At 5:21 PM,
Dave Norris said…
Mrs Jones was once talking about London in class and made a comment about us all knowing about London Bridge and playing that game when we were younger. The majority of our class apparently had not and she said, "Everyone up!" There we were in senior English playing London Bridge. Too bad we weren't video taped for one of those home video shows because we would have won first prize. Mrs Jones you were the greatest teacher ever.
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