Brookline High School - Murivian Yearbook (Brookline, MA)

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IKVmu ' th OSnWiiu A devoted teacher is one of the greatest sources of inspiration that a school can furnish to its pupils. Such a teacher was .1, Kenneth Godkin whose death occurred January 16, 1929, at Sunmount, Tupper Lake, New York, where he had been living for several months, waging a losing battle against tuberculosis. Always brave and cheerful and hopeful, he fought to the very end, confident that he would regain his health and return to the work that he cared for so much. Mr. Godkin was born in Hartford, Connecti- cut, September 8, 1897, the son of James H. and Hannah M. Godkin. His parents, ambitious for the success of their only child, gave him the best to be had in the way of educational oppor- tunity, and his school life presents a constantly mounting grade of achievement. Graduating with excellent standing from the Boston Latin School in 1915, he entered Harvard University in the fall of that year. His college course was interrupted by the Great War, and bis enlistment in the Aviation Division in December, 1917. In less than a year he was com- missioned Second Lieutenant at Post Field, Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In spite of this interruption, however, he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Harvard in 1919. On June 30, 1926, Mr. Godkin married Miss Gertrude Johnston, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. William Johnston of Dorchester, who, with two children — Joan and Kenneth — survives him. A devoted son, he was also a devoted husband and father, bringing to his home life the same intelligence, the same gentleness of spirit, the same unselfish devotion which distinguished his pro- fessional career. As some men are predestined to become preachers or poets or prophets, so Mr. Godkin was predestined to become a teacher; and immediately after being graduated from Flarvard, he accepted a position in the faculty of St. Dunstan’s College in Charlottetown, Prince Edward’s Island. The following year he went to the High School in Meriden, Connecticut, where he made a conspicuous success. In September, 1923, he came to Brookline. Always mindful of his professional obligations, Mr. Godkin immediately entered upon a course of graduate study ; and in 1924 he received from the Harvard University the degree of Master of Education, with a record far above the average. The next year he took the examinations for a certificate of ability to teach in the Boston schools and passed with a very high rating. Despite these signal achievements, he continued to study right up to the time when ill-health forced him to rest and seek a change of climate. His unassuming and modest manner could not long conceal his rare quali- ties, and both pupils and teachers were soon brought to admire his thorough scholarship, his talents, his high ideals, and his warm enthusiam for all worthy activities. In his teaching he was clear, definite, thorough and exacting; yet in spite of his exactions pupils began to seek admission to his class. Very soon invited to become the faculty member of one of the larger fraternities, he welcomed this as an opportunity for extended service; and this was only one of the many activities to which he gave generously of his time and thought and effort. His propensity for careful, thorough, painstaking work, he continually tried t instill into his classes, and his success was marked, for he not only allured to brighter worlds but led the way. Yet it was not merely careful work that lie was able to do: he could write with charm and distinction; he could act with a fine appreciation of character values; and he could inspire such appreciation in others. A discriminating and enthusiastic student, an exacting yet hopeful teacher, and a loyal friend, Mr. Godkin filled a large place in Brookline Pligh School. “And who shall say that these ardors Are but cinder in a jar.” 16

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-Hg( H I n E T E E X TWENTY-HIKE ain ' t] ifntiu ' Nut Oil ' ll ' ' How strange it seems. They’ve gone away ! These men who were our teachers true. The mighty Hand that rules the day, Saw fit to call them from our view. They hasten back from whence they came, With problems solved; with souls at rest. Though treading paths unknown to fame. They visit realms where sleep the blest. The lessons taught point out their worth. They left their mark as all men should. Until we go from on this earth, We’ll feel their influence for good. And after all, that unknown way Leads but to rest where land meets star. There is no death ; but past the bay They’ll find what all life’s secrets are. How strange it seems. They’ve gone away ! These men who were our teachers tried. But still they light us through the day; Their lives, our guides; they have not died. Stanley Lewenberg ’ 28. 15

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ICmtUi E. Naiih Louis E. Nash made his comparatively short pilgrimage in this life with a loving heart and an open and inquiring mind. Those who knew him from his early youth were impressed by his freedom of thought and his gentlemanly qualities. Firm and strong in his convictions, he was yet very gentle and lovable in his social conduct. His intellectual curiosity was of a substantial sort; with an independent spirit he sought the truth of life and the truth of things. His faith in reality, spiritual and material, was intelligent and strong. He had a ready and passionate response to the harmony and beauty of things. Reason and the sense of beauty were his dominant endowments. He achieved the rank of a brilliant mathe- matician, and his sensitiveness to rhythm and beauty made him an ac- complished cellist. These natural gifts made him also a lover of nature; he loved the flowers and the hills and the stars and found his kinship with the Spirit which gave them their beauty. He was a loyal friend, a loyal and good citizen, and a faithful and devoted husband and father. And although he was by nature an idealist, his idealism did not detach him from the practical duties of life. His sense of duty was strong and con- stant and was supported by an ardent desire to achieve practical results. But Nature, which richly endowed him mentally and morally, was not so generous to him physically. His body, afflicted at its core from his early youth, could not long endure the strain his high ambition and his labors placed upon it. Finally the “silver cord’’ broke and he passed from this life at the threshold of his prime. As a teacher, earnest personal interest in his pupils characterized his work. His influence therefore, extended far beyond the subject taught; he was an example of faithfulness and helpfulness.