FLOREN THOMPSON, JR.

EULOGY—THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2002

I can’t begin to tell you the honor and degree of humility that I feel in addressing you today. I must admit a great deal of anxiety also, because I want to talk to you for a few minutes about one of my mentors, who was also one of my heroes. You know, we ordinarily think of heroes such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Jesus Christ, Joan of Arc, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King… people like that. But we can, and I think we NEED to have living heroes also… and Mr. Thompson was one of those to me. If we had more living heroes like him today, we might not be in the social mess that we often read and hear about and see on TV. I could talk with you about Mr. T’s qualities as a conductor, or as a clarinetist, or a band director, or a musician, but we don’t have THAT much time. Instead, I want to talk about him as a person and as a teacher. Above all else, these are the qualities that made him my hero, and in the end they’re the most important ones that any of us can leave behind. Henry Adams said it best when he wrote "A teacher affects eternity….he never knows where his influence stops." And above all else, Mr. T was a great teacher!

Mr. Thompson….the man who NEVER aged! I swear he looked the same when I last saw him as he did in 1963 when I first met him as a high school junior. He was SO striking – like a Hollywood actor. He was the William Powell of band directors! A dashing leading man – so classy! Now, those of you too young to know who William Powell was, just go rent the 1934 movie "The Thin Man" and you’ll see what I mean. You’ll also meet the actress Myrna Loy…what a loveable screw-ball she was! Sounds a lot like Mary Thompson, doesn’t it? And here they were…right here in Portales! So different, but we couldn’t think of one without the other. Speaking of Mary, I really got to know her shortly after my matriculation here in 1964. Matriculate…. now, that’s a $10 college word that you don’t get to use every day… I don’t think I’ve EVER used it. But since I’m back here in my old college town, I thought I’d just throw it in. I think Mr. T would be proud of me for remembering it, but he’d probably be prouder if I could remember 3 or 4 ways to finger high D# on the clarinet!

But I’ve digressed. Here’s our leading man - Mr. T - always dressed professionally - in a white dress shirt, tie and dress slacks…ALWAYS! And NEVER a hair out of place…EVER! Then there’s our leading lady – Mary…well, dress was just not as important to her! I don’t mean she dressed poorly, just not at Mr. T’s level. How the two of them EVER got together…? But they were such a wonderful and loving couple. And their family…my good friends and classmates Butch and Carolyn, my colleague Susan, and Benny…I could tell stories about Benny, but not today! And the talented grand-kids, some of whom I’ve had the honor of working with in All-District and Band Camp Bands. What a living legacy all of you are to these two wonderful people. I can’t think of Mr. T and Mary without remembering one particular incident that happened at a band rehearsal one summer evening. The summer band back then was always quite sparse and the instrumentation was usually incomplete, so Mr. T often had to import high school players and other non-band musicians. Mary was one of those, and she always helped out in the percussion section. Anyway, this particular evening, Mr. T had stopped to correct something in rehearsal. After he made his correction and was ready to begin again, he realized the percussion weren’t ready. So, he looked back at them and waited… and waited…and waited some more as Mary took care of something. When she was through, she looked up at him and announced "OK, you can start again!" Needless to say, that broke us all up! But it emphasized the relationship the two of them had. It also emphasized two of Mr. Thompson’s greatest qualities…kindness and patience.

Kindness and patience….another incident comes to mind. The band was in dress rehearsal on Saturday before a Sunday concert in the Campus Union Building. The trombone section, of which I was a member, was up to some sort of mischief…I don’t remember what, probably squirting the bassoons with our water bottles or poking them with our slides…..who knows? The point is, we weren’t paying attention at the final rehearsal before the concert. So, Mr. Thompson, in the maddest that I ever saw him, stopped the band and exclaimed "Trombones, you’re going to have to either ship up or shape out!" Anger was so unlike him.

Sense of humor? Oh my, yes! We were in Marching Band Techniques class one day (for those of you who don’t know, this is a class that band majors take to learn about marching band drill design, music selection, teaching techniques, things like that), and Mr. T told the following story:

He also loved to tell the Amherst Band story, but he saved it until we took his methods class prior to student teaching as seniors. He would play the tape of this wretched Texas band and tell the story of judging with Maurice McAdow from North Texas State and G.T. Gilligan from Kermit. The band was so bad it was comical. He said he didn’t dare look at either of the other judges for fear of laughing out loud during the performance. Finally, he discretely glanced over at Gilligan to see him waving his white handkerchief in surrender. He used this humorous experience, which he would never even think of using in a hurtful way toward the students involved, to teach us many things in his class. One of his most important lessons was about seeking help and advice – to never believe that we had "arrived" or that we had "all the answers." He was the least pretentious person that I have ever known in a profession noted for its egomaniacs. This was just not in his character – he was above that.

Mr. Thompson was a student-oriented teacher before it was fashionable to be one. His primary concern was always the success of his students. He demonstrated this to me when, on my 30^th or so attempt at the Piano Proficiency exam, I finally passed, the day of graduation. He took me aside and explained that the committee passed me, but stipulated that if I ever returned to Eastern to do graduate work, I would be required to take an hour of graduate piano. Well, I did return to do graduate work here, but he conveniently forgot about the piano requirement…and I conveniently forgot to remind him. Over the years, Mr. Thompson did countless free clinics for his former students. I’m sure he accepted any payment that was offered, but it was never required, and it certainly was not expected. I believe he felt this was a favor, no, an obligation that he owed his students. This generosity was and is unheard of, but it was part of his legacy as a teacher.

In 1988, a number of us gathered to commemorate Mr. T’s retirement with a banquet, a celebrity roast of him, and an alumni band performance. Since then, we have gathered here in June every two years. We come from all over the country – from Hawaii, New Jersey, Minnesota, Georgia, and many other states. Many of us are here now or will be here this weekend for this year’s reunion. Since 1988 we have sadly seen the passing of Mary and its devastating affect on Mr. T. Then in 1992, we also saw his "rebirth"…and we met his new leading lady, Glen Ray Klebold. And what a terrific catch she was…this Ginger Rogers! She brought out a side in him none of us had ever seen. With her he became Fred Astaire! So suave, so debonaire. He was DANCING, taking cruises, going to Las Vegas!!!! He loved to tell the story that, while they were in Vegas for New Years in 1996, he saw an advertisement for half-price weddings, so he decided to take advantage of it and marry her. It was so much fun for us, his students…to see someone we admired so much having fun…again. They were such a cute couple.

During the 1990s, Mr. T and I co-directed several summer band camps here at Eastern. Since I was living in Odessa, Texas, I needed a place to stay while on campus. The dorm was provided, but he wouldn’t think of it, so I always stayed at his house. I was his student and he wouldn’t have it any other way. It must have been the summer of 1995 or ’96…it was HOT all of June, remember? I mean, the temperature reached 100º for over 20 days in a row, sometimes as high as 115 or more. It was HOT! We would come home after teaching band camp in the evening and both change into our Bermuda shorts, settle down in the two recliners he had in his den, and fall asleep talking band while watching TV. Now, when I say we wore our Bermuda shorts, I mean, that was ALL we had on – no shirt, no shoes, no socks, just Bermuda shorts! If you will, take a moment and let that roll around in your brain. Here he is, William Powell…Fred Astaire, the man who always wore a white dress shirt, a tie and dress slacks, sitting with me wearing nothing but Bermuda shorts!!! It does your mind good, doesn’t it? My hero – that’s when I realized that we had become very good friends and that he was also human! I think that’s an important quality for a hero to have also.

When I received word a few weeks ago that Mr. T was gravely ill and that the prognosis was not good, it really never occurred to me that he wouldn’t be here for this weekend’s reunion. After all, living heroes don’t die, do they? I phoned him in the hospital, and he was his usual up-beat self, a little tired sounding, but optimistic and SO looking forward to the reunion. I told him I couldn’t wait to see him. I now realize that living heroes may leave us, but they really don’t die…they live on in each of us. That is their legacy. And God needs Mr. T to conduct one of His bands in Heaven. What could be more worthy, more HEROIC than that?

And so, as Socrates taught Plato, and Plato taught Aristotle, Henry Adams was right…"Mr. Thompson HAS affected eternity….more than he or any of us could ever imagine." But I’ll miss seeing him, just the same.

Goodbye, my dear mentor and friend. And thanks for also being my Hero.

Van Ragsdale