People in Our City

In the last few years of my father's life, I became his designated driver. We had to take his keys away, it peeved him greatly, so the one who held the keys was the person who drove him to the market, to the barber, and, of course, to the doctor.

I also was his companion at funerals. One by one, his brother passed, then his best friends and old acquaintances and people who he knew from his many years of business. At first, he would joke a bit, saying "At least, I'm here to say goodbye and we can go eat afterwards." Later, his refrain changed, became darker as he began to wish out loud for his own demise. Despite a loving family, his children were always busy and he hated to bother us.

I have come to an age where the funerals have become more frequent. Since September of this year, the Middletown community has said farewell to such fine people as Matilda "Tillye" Itkin (long-time owner of the home decor store that bears the family name, educator and reading advocate Susan Rubel, the joyful voice and spirit of Shirley Stern, William "Bill" Simpson (who did so many things to help young people) and, just this week, the long-time Latin teacher at Middletown High School, Ruth Montgomery.

Mrs. Montgomery, wife of librarian and composer Chris Montgomery, loved to teach, loved languages, really appreciated students who took the time to study classical languages, the building blocks of modern grammar and speech. When our younger daughter Rachel attended MHS, Mrs. Montgomery helped her in many ways. Rachel has a natural aptitude for languages, loves Latin and, in her junior and senior years, created independent study courses in the language supervised by her teacher. Mrs. Montgomery kept her on task, allowed great breadth in her subject matter and was thrilled by the results.

Besides our personal relationship, Ruth Montgomery helped to create the Elizabeth Swaim Memorial Strings Program in the Middletown Public Schools. Many fine young violinists and cellists have developed under the watchful and caring eyes of this program. Ruth and Chris attended many concerts and plays in and out of town - she was generous in her praise and overjoyed when her former students excelled.

I did not know her well so her obituary (which you can read here) was very revealing, especially the early years. She will be remembered for her activism in support of language arts, for her love of teaching and the positive effect she had on so many young lives. Ruth Montgomery may not produced hundreds of Latin scholars but she very successfully passed on her curiosity for learning, for going beyond the printed page and for making an ancient language relevant to younger minds.

As we gather for Thanksgiving, the table seems a bit emptier with the loss of such fine people.