CORRECTION: Brown taught 33 years at Bluffton High School.
By Bill Herr
What Bluffton High School teacher was most memorable and influenced students the most? As a graduate of BHS and later a teacher at my alma mater, my list would be great but I would narrow it down to include Lorain Basinger (Vocational Agriculture), Wilbur Howe (History and Government), Wilford Geiger (Biology), Margaret Weaver (Latin), Duane Bollenbacher (Mathematics), and my choice at the top of the list, Gary Brown.
Gary graduated from Ada High School in 1956, from Bluffton College in 1961 and received his Master's in Teaching from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1972. He taught high school science for 35 years: Physics, Chemistry, Advanced Biology, and Environmental Biology (for which he developed his own course of study). He taught 33 of those years at Bluffton High School where he was affectionately known as "Doc." He was an assistant coach in football at BHS for 10 years.
Gary died on April 25, 2023, at age 84. There were approximately 150 who attended his funeral and a number of them were his former students. He retired from teaching in 1996. He was genuine, had high character and a strong personality. One of his former students told me he would always remember Gary's unique laugh. He had fun teaching and his classes received the benefit of his humor and his creative teaching.
He was an excellent teacher according to his students, but what elevated him to a memorable status was his demand that his students respect each other and respect the educational environment. He was a master of creative discipline, and if the principal was absent from school and a problem in discipline arose in the school that day, he was called upon to handle the problem.
For example, in his study halls he told the students that they could sleep if they wanted to, but they couldn't snore. And they were to remain quiet during the time because many students were working hard to complete assignments. A former student in one of those study halls told me that a student made a loud noise, and Gary walked to his desk and physically picked the student up and let him know that he was to be quiet in the study hall. The former student said you could hear a pin drop from then on.
A student was causing trouble at the lockers. He would take an unlocked padlock off a locker and lock it on another locker, and that student couldn't get into his locker. Gary figured out a way to identify the culprit. One day after the bell rang and students were at their lockers, Gary, who had a loud voice when he wanted to use it, told the students to stand in front of their lockers facing him. He called the name of the student that had caused the problem and asked him to step forward.
Then Gary tossed a padlock on the floor and ordered the guilty student to get on the floor and push the padlock with his nose until he reached his locker. When the last bell sounded, he
hadn't reached his locker yet. Gary told the students to remain at their lockers until he finished. Then he told the students that when they got back to their classes, if the teacher asked why they were late, they were to come and see Gary. Point made.
Gary loved riding his motorcycle to school. He once rode it through the entire winter. He wore heavy boots and carried his books and papers over his shoulders in a leather bag. He was a farmer like me and we often talked farming in the dining room. Once a student on the other side of the dining area was making a racket. Gary called him over and told him to stand by the wall. Gary was physically strong and students were afraid to cross him. He had a mustache and looked very much like the movie star, Charles Bronson. While thousands admired the actor for his performances in movies, what Gary did in his chosen profession of teaching was many times more important. That applies for all teachers.
Gary had great faith. He taught a Sunday school class for over 60 years. His cousin and her husband attended that class and said Gary made it meaningful and fun. Her husband said he would ask Gary if what he said came from a movie or the good book. Gary would laugh and say it came from the "Good Book."
Gary was creative in his school classes and made learning fun. My first year of teaching mathematics at BHS, I needed a rubber stopper and knocked on Gary's classroom door to borrow one. When he opened the door and saw me, he grabbed my right arm and tried to pull me quickly into his room. I thought something's up and with my left arm I grabbed the outsider wall to resist. Then a projectile flew by behind Gary toward the front of the room. He was having his science class mix ingredients that produced gas in a test tube. The developing gas made pressure that propelled a stopper from the end of the tube.
A former student told me that he was in the Student Senate and they were having a meeting in the principal's office. The principal had broken his leg and had it propped up on a chair. This was before the new addition to the school was built and Gary's room was under the principal's office. Gary blew up three balloons of three different sizes. He attached long strings to each and filled each balloon with a different gas. He lit the string to the large balloon first and it burned until it reached the next balloon and it burst, making a light sound. This was repeated in the middle size balloon and it burst, making a louder sound than the first. He had put helium or some gas in the smallest balloon and when it burst there was a loud boom. It was so loud the principal in the floor above almost dropped his leg off the chair. He said, "That darn Gary Brown."
Gary's wife, Marsha, taught elementary school in the Ada school system for many years. They have twin daughters, Timbre and Amber, and son Vance. Gary loved his family. He told me that Timbre was selected by her fellow students to give the speech at Ohio Northern University's graduation ceremony. He told me, "I sat and listened and I was so proud I cried." Gary Brown was an unforgettable teacher, and the memories he created with his students will live forever in their hearts and minds. And now you know why I choose him as the teacher in Bluffton High School history that influenced his students the most.
