Central High School - Brecky Yearbook (Washington, DC)

Page 22 text:

IN MEMORIAM ' Close on the realization that we have lost our principal comes remembrance of him as we have seen him day in and day out at Central, a genial man with a twinkle of recognition for many, a ready friendliness for all. We took him for granted. He was part of every chapel, subject often to good-natured jest in its program. We frequently passed him in the corridors or saw him mingling with the students in the lunchroom, and few of us have had cause for disconifiture even when facing him across the great desk in his glassed-in sanctuary. Our activities, our interests, our welfare were Mr. Miller's. In his busy days he found time to visit our classrooms, to attend games more faithfully than we did, and to make plans for our enjoyment as well as our discipline. He was patient, forgiving, and mild in reproof 5 but, more than for these gentle qualities, we young people loved him for his never-failing, sympathetic sense of humor. There is something sweet in sorrow at the passing of a man of whom we have only pleasant thoughts. ANNE VVOODVVARD IQING VI

Page 21 text:

IN MEMORIAM Hear you the sighing of the midnight wind, The sorrowed lapping of the restless deep? Listen, for they mourn too: this night a planet, The flickering pole star, beacon of the sea, Has been extinguished. Long, long it has burned And seemed to show the way from shore to shore Unfailing, constant as the air: eternal. No storms dislodged, no massed clouds brushed it down And after every gale, still there it shone, Still cheerfully it twinkled with a light That gave the weary courage to go on. Now that the course was pointed out again. Then came tonight. Low in the north it hung Above the foam-capped swell of the evening breeze, Silent, brilliant. Suddenly it burst Into all the accumulated splendor Of its years, and in a flaming streak It dropped below the rampart of the north, Leaving an aching gap among the stars, Whence it has slipped to darkness and to peace. RAY MILLER. V

Page 23 text:

IN MEMORIAM Day by day, throughout the busy school years, hundreds of hurrying, restless boys and girls have passed to and fro down the long main corridor on the first floor, glancing in the office as they went, at their principal, sitting at his official desk. Day by day the joyous crowds have swarmed into the auditorium on chapel mornings and gradually settling in their seats, turned expectant eyes toward the familiar figure that advanced to open the exercises. Perhaps it was an enthusiastic chapel, a rejoicing over a hard-won victory, an appeal to the student body--no chapel was ever complete without the principal's remarks. Sometimes they were his congratulations, sometimes gentle pleasantries, sometimes deserved reproofg but whatever they were Centralites listened, for the one who spoke was one who knew and understood them. ' Day by day they passed him in the halls, always ready with his friendly smile, not minding the throngs of young people who jostled him along with themselves. Even the littlest and lonesomest rookie knew Mr. Miller, he was so essentially a part of all school life. How many times students looked up from their lunches to see him standing in the doorway glancing in, not critically, but in the spirit of interest he felt in everything that concerned the student body. Each year could be to him but a repetition of other years, yet his interest and enthusiasm were always fresh and always genuine. Of how many crowds of cheering rooters was he a part, and how many spring plays and fall shows counted him among their audiences! His appreciation was always sincere, no one ever saw him bored or disinterested. Each year the cadet hops, the dinners, the celebrations are new and thrilling experiences to the boys and girls, to him they were a familiar part of his routine, but each group has always found him a jolly and sympathetic mixer. No summons to the office ever struck cold terror into the heart of any Cen- tralite. If the matter were one of slight importance, a certain lurking twinkle behind those shell-rimmed glasses and an ill-feigned severity were speedy reassur- ance. If the occasion were one of real seriousness, then his quiet gravity and dignity gave him admirable command of the situation. The students instinctively felt his affection and kindliness toward them. and it was to this that they responded rather than to strict disciplinary measures, which he was not often obliged to take. Though not many students could put it into words, perhaps, the quality which drew Mr. Miller to them was the innate sweetness of his nature and his very real fellowship with them, which made him so anxious that Central's highest standards should always be maintained. For four years. now, Central graduates have carried away with them his part- ing good wishes. We, of the class of june, '29, are denied that privilege, and for that reason Auld Lang Synel' will be all the harder. Yet we have that which even death could not take away, the memory and associations of one who was the truest Centralite of them all. LEE ANNA EMBREY VII