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Myra Passed away March 30, 2017
If you were a student at
Liberty High School in the mid-1950’s, you had Mrs. LaFrenz for your math
teacher, and in the classroom right next door, you had Mrs. Williams for
English.
My mother,
Irene LaFrenz, had been Myra
Remley’s teacher before Myra became Mrs. Van Williams and joined the faculty at
LHS. In 1956 the circle was completed when Mrs. Williams became my teacher and,
although we didn’t know it at the time, my professional role model.
Sixty years later, in the fall of
2016, I made a journey to Green Valley, Arizona, to thank Mrs. Myra Williams for
inspiring my career.
The idea for a visit came to
me when plans were underway for our 60th class reunion.
I remembered how Mrs. Williams had
challenged four of her English students, Mike Maloney, Diane Igoe, Bill Sterling
and me, to write a play suitable for production as the senior class play at LHS.
The result was “Diamonds, Daggers,
and Dolls,” starring Nancy Berry and Mike Maloney as the teenagers who outsmart
a gang of jewel thieves played by George Thomas, Kenneth Jones, and Bobby
Henderson.
I contacted Thom Weddle, Lifetime Class President, for permission to reenact scenes from “Diamonds, Daggers, and Dolls” at the reunion. He said, “Go for it, Murt,” and I began the search through my shelves and drawers for a copy of the play. With the script finally in hand, I phoned Mrs. Williams to let her know our reunion plans and invite her to attend. Her frailty and her wheelchair would make that impossible, but during our phone conversation, we made plans for a little reunion of our own.
So in October of 2016,
I
spent a week in Green Valley, Arizona, visiting several afternoons with Myra and
her husband in their
gracious retirement community.
I am happy to report that although
she is wheelchair bound, Myra is as gentle and charming as ever.
You can see in the pictures that
her bright eyes and lovely smile have not changed.
We spent many happy hours
remembering my mother and members of the Class of 1956.
I finally had the opportunity to
thank her in person for her influence on me and my career as an English teacher.
I didn’t know back in 1956 why she
challenged Mike, Diane, Bill and me to write a play, but now I know that Myra
Williams was ahead of her time in understanding the importance of trusting and
empowering student creativity.
