Godspeed, Loretta Dean (1931-2026)

I've told this story before, but Loretta Dean – Mrs. Dean to me for most of my life – taught me a lot of things. But I'll always remember her for teaching me the word "rowdy."

I was in the second or third grade at Concord Elementary School in the heart of Sugar Tree Ridge. One day after class and before I hopped on to Harry Emery's school bus for the ride home to Crooked Road, Mrs. Dean stopped me and handed a note to me that I was to give my parents.

Being a curious soul, I opened the letter on the ride home. Mrs. Dean wrote to my parents, "Rory is rowdy at school."

Awesome, I thought. So I shared the note with my older sister, Deirdre, who read it and smiled as she handed it back to me without any comments. Not comprehending at the time what "rowdy" meant, I was quite pleased on the way home, thinking Mrs. Dean and all of Concord Elementary thought of me as Rowdy Yates.

I'd watched reruns of the "Rawhide" Western on our black-and-white TV and enjoyed Clint Eastwood's famous character of Rowdy Yates. Being called Rowdy was a badge of honor.

Or so I thought.

What I didn't know then, but soon learned, was that "rowdy" is an adjective, meaning "rough, loud, boisterous or disorderly in behavior. It can describe a group of people making a lot of commotion or an individual who acts in a wild and disruptive way."

I was a rowdy army of one. But not for long.

My sister may correct me on this, but it's my column so I'll tell it to the best of my recollection. Sometime after supper when both our parents were home, Deirdre reminded me about Mrs. Dean's note. She may have stifled a grin.

After our parents read the note, I realized what rowdy did and did not mean.

Suffice it to say, I was a little less (just a little) rowdy at Concord Elementary after that.

I have always – and will always – maintain that my formative years in education were perfect for me. It began at home with great parents and continued in grades 1-3 at Concord with Mrs. Dean in charge and teachers like Geneva Howland, Violet Morgan and Mabel Euverard.

Mrs. Dean's professional career spanned all or parts of four decades from the 1950s-1989. She was a teacher at her alma mater, Fayetteville-Perry Schools, in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1969, she was a teacher or an administrator in the Highland County Schools until retiring from Bright Local School District in 1989. 

She was a member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Hillsboro since 1956, serving the church in several capacities.

"Loretta Dean is a class act, never to be equaled by anyone," Fr. Mike Paraniuk, a longtime priest at St. Mary, told The Highland County Press.

In the community, Mrs. Dean was a member of the American Association of University Women, where she and I reconnected through my work putting together numerous candidates forums ("fora," for pedants?) each Columbus Day at Southern State Community College. 

Mrs. Dean and my mother have been friends for decades, and I suspect they have laughed about my "rowdy" story a time or two. I can't help thinking how easy a school administrator solved a problem in 1969 before it escalated. A simple note to the parents. Back then, wise teachers and school leaders understood the old rule of thumb: If a student got into trouble at school, he was most likely getting in more trouble at home. That's just how it was.

"I first met Loretta Dean in the late 1960s or 1970 when she was the head teacher at Sugar Tree Ridge," Rosemary Ryan (my mother) said. "She made such a difference at that school. I think it was former county Superintendent John Cushing who hired her. He was George Greer's predecessor, and his office was down the hall from my husband's surveying office in Hillsboro. I think he knew just how stressful things could be in the new school district, but Loretta was perfect for that position. You know, she actually called me at home the day you were hit in the face with a baseball bat while you were a catcher. That was rare back then.

"A few years ago, we spent a day together (I am embarrassed how long I stayed!) just talking about our old friends in the Fayetteville community like Jane Gilfilen and others. I always enjoyed seeing Loretta at AAUW meetings as well. She will be missed."

Frankly, I have long marveled at how Mrs. Dean guided the Bright Local School District through its formative years. As many of us are old enough to remember, there was a lot of animosity when the district was announced. For one thing, Jackson Township was used to its own high school at Belfast. 

With the new alignment, Belfast would serve grades 4-8 and lose its high school students to Mowrystown's Whiteoak High School, some 15 miles west. (Both Hillsboro and Peebles high schools were closer to Belfast than Mowrystown.)

In what had to be a stressful time, Mrs. Dean was instrumental in bringing the Bright Local community together in those early years. She would be proud of Bright Local Schools today for all of the improvements and student successes at Bright Elementary and Whiteoak High School under Superintendent Jason Iles and the current Board of Education members Nicole Barnett, Steve Cox, Tammy Hauke, Jobey Lucas and Angie Wright.

I hope they all remember that people like Loretta Dean laid the foundation for the district's success.

Godspeed, Mrs. Dean.

(The Turner & Son Funeral Home is serving the family. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.turnerfuneralhomes.cc.)

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.