Curwensville Area High School - Echo Yearbook (Curwensville, PA)

Page 17 text:

THE ECHO He was loyal to hls college and lxkewlse loyal to the schools he served as teacher prlnclpal or superlntendent He often remarked I wlll go to the verv llmlt of my best endeavor to promote the best mterest of my school The people of Curwensvllle recognlzmg thls elected him tlme after tlme wlth Increased emoluments and delegated to hlm Increased power IH the conduct of thelr schools He was one the of best loved school men of hl day and genera tlon III Hls Frlendshlp for his Fellow Nlen Wherever he went he made frlends and retalned them He hungered for fnends He would go to the lnmxt for his friends and as lron sharpeneth lron hls frlends would go the llmlt for hlm He was the flrst to recognize the lmportanc of the word frlendshlp IU the Yellow Dog Fraternity whlle many of us thought fun was the potent factor and that the order was lnstltuted for fun A llttle nonsense now and then ls good for the best and WlSCSt of men Grant Norrxs always lnslsted that frlendshlp was the potent factor He was the first one to make use of the words of Rudyard Kxpllng calllng attention to the Importance of all workmg for the good of one and one worklng for the good of all For thls IS the law of the jungle As old and as true as the sky And the wolf that keeps lt wll prosper But the wolf that breaks lt must dle As the vlne entwlneth the tree trunk This law worketh forward and back That the strength of the pac IS IH the wob' And the strength of the wal IS ln the pac So well dld Grant NOTIIS show hls frlendshlp as an lndlvxdual for the pack that the pack lncreased by leaps and bounds untll more than Hve thousand men of Blalr County assembled at dxfferent tlmes at the call of Chlef Cur Norrls to do honor to Clan Alpine The marvelous growth of the pack can only be attrlbuted to the fact that rlendshlp has been the Chlef that sat at the head of the table of all the dellbera tlons of Blalr County Kennel of Yellow Dogs When Grant NOYTIS left Blalr County to take up school work at Curwens Vllle he orgamzed a kennel at that place that became a real CIVIC orgamzatlon securmg and lmprovxng a playground swlmmlng pool commumty center house for all txme for the old and young people of hrs natlve town Surely he was the Abou Ben Adhem of Curwensvllle and now smce we have met to do honor to hls memory as well as the other Yellow Dogs who have passed to the Great Beyond therefore we present the fOllOWlHg resolutlons If there s another world he llves ln bllss If there IS none he made the best of thxs We have no doubt about another world where the Splrlts of just men are made perfect And surely the Splflt of Grant Norrls IS wlth the splrlts of the other great lovers of mankmd Further be It resolved That whlle thls memorlal servnce of Yellow Dogs was called prlmarlly to honor the memory of nts Hl St chlef cur Grant Norris at thls time we desxre to honor also the rank and file of those falthful frlends and curs who have passed from the end of the trall ln this world to that great un known country plctured only ln our dreams or lmagmatlons our hopes and the DFOTIISCS of our Elder Brother the Mediator and Savlor of the peoples of thls wor d . . . 4, . . . 1 ,, r . 3 - . . .4 . . ,, . Q . . ,, ,, 44 - 1 - 11 . . . U . . ,, 1 U . . . 1 1 . L 1 If . . It 11 9 1 .lt - - 11 . . A - Y - v 1 1 1 1 , . 1 - na 11 u 1 11 - - , . as 1 - - - 1 1 - - 11 , . U . . . 1 ,, . . . . . . . 1 1 1 1 1

Page 16 text:

THE ECHO MEMORIAL TO GRANT INORRIS Grant NOTTIS was born sxxty years ago near the same place he dled Cur wensvllle Pennsylvanxa He was of Scotch lrnsh stock on both sldes of the house and mherxted all the traxts of that lndormtable race HIS forbearers came lnto that country when It was an unbroken forest and wlth axe and rlfle subdued It He had many of the qualltles of the frontxers man ln hls make up He loved the solltudes the chase the camp fire He had the ploneer s reverence for God for nature for schools It IS a well known fact that the Scotch lrlsh ploneers when they went lnto a new country after they first bullt thelr rude log cabins next bullt a log church and then a log school house rlght by the church oftlmes they would use one of these bulldlngs for both purposes of worshlp and education We deslre to call attentlon to the three outstandlng factors that lnfluenced Grant Norris IH hls contacts wlth hls fellow men l His rellgxous llfe ll Hls school llfe III Hls Frxendshlp for his fellow men I Hls relxgxous llfe Man lS so constltuted that he must worshlp some Grant NOITIS bCllCVCd and worshlpped God as a great Splrlt prevadlng the umverse the Creator of the worlds thelr suns moons and satellrtes who put 1n operatlon the laws that govern them and who at tlmes may and does set aslde hls natural law ln order to make hls power manlfest to the children of men He was a member of the Methodlst Episcopal Church at one tlme a local preacher ln the same and at the tlme of hls death the teacher of the Men s Blble Class He beheved that the orgamzed church IS the best medlum that can be devlsed for the cultlvatlon and enrichment of the splrltual man He belleved that God was a Great Splflt He belleved ln the lncarnatlon that esus Chrnst was somethlng more than a good man that He was God H believed ln the resurrectlon of the body He could not explaln It who can3 Who can explam the mysterles of the Spmt anyhow3 The wxsest man that ever hved or ever w1ll hve can not analyze a thought or measure the power of the Spzrzt Then how futlle lt IS to reject the thmgs we do not or cannot understand3 ll HIS School Lnfe He was tramed for hls llfe work xn the common schools of Clearfield County and Allegheny College He was the Valedxctorlan of his class when he graduated from Allegheny College and while there won honors on several occaslons as class orator Hls mlnd was keen and analytlcal when he became a teacher and school admlnlstrator the pupxls and teachers wlth whom he worked were his most devoted followers recogmzlng ln hlm the ablllty of leadershlp of the highest order When he was Supermtendent of the schools of Braddock Pennsylvanla he was regarded as one of the ablest Supermtendents ln Western Pennsylvania and was urged by frlends to be a candldate for the County Supermtendency of Allegheny County but hls loyalty to Superintendent Samuel Hamxlton would not permit thls Hls pupils and hrs teachers were constantly ln hls mxnd and he was constantly planmng for thelr betterment He stressed the fundamentals of a school educatlon when hls puplls were exammed 1n these they were found to be exceedmgly strong l 4 thing. 'He creates his God out of his faith, his hopes, his desires. . J . ' . l ' . . ' e

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THE ECHO Therefore all brothers wrll stand whrle the names of these departed friends and loyal members of the pack are read and rf we have failed to secure any name or names thrs resolutron rs also dedrcated to hrm or them as the great unknown cur of the pack who as Rudyard Krplrng truly sard The strength of the pack rs rn the wolf And the strength of the wolf rs rn the pack Each rndrvrdual has helped to make thrs kennel the strong organrzatron rt rs whether he be leader or follower and now abrdeth farth hope and Iove but the greatest of these rs love Iove of God and love of cllow man Yellow Dog Memorial CommrtteewT S Davis Supt of Blair Co Chas R Bell Wm H Orr ohn Tate Robert W Smith GUESEQGF' WORDS FROM FRIENDS It rs drfhcult rndeed to apprarse the character and Irfe of any man There are some factors of lrfe that can be seen and tabulated There are srlent forces of rnHuence undrscerned by the spectator that mean much rn the strmulatron of farth rn others The total force and pressure of such a character as possessed by Grant Norris was beneficial to mankind He was built upon a large plan and hrs gifts were enhanced by a careful tramlng and drscrplrne that mcreased their value While we would grve a just estimate to hrs intellectual abrlrty hrs strength of Ieadershrp hrs platform power and hrs organizing capacity we belreve that the action rn others The unseen forces found rn hrm a pornt of expression a pornt of focalrzatron and through hrm manifested themselves to others These unseen forces that give value to Irfe found a vorce rn hrm and through hrmrncrted other Irves to growth and development Men appreciated his scholarship but they appreciated hrs frrendshrp and sympathy more If heaven s rrchest grft to earth rs a man strong and stalwart brave and unselfish we would express our gratitude for the opportunrty grven us to know Grant Norrrs and the prrvrlege to be asso crated wrth hrm Dr John C Collins Since my acquaintance wrth Professor Grant Norris I think I have met no one wrth keener mmd anywhere He could enter rntellrgently rnto any con versatron He was not a mrnd concerned merely with local affairs He thought of local condrtrons rn their relatron to world needs and condrtrons Wrth ease he could rrse the srghts of hrs vrsron and clearly see men struggling wrth therr tasks rn the drstant or as easily lower them and see the need for help among the ones rrght about hrm Grant drd not srmply teach school he taught rndrvrdualsl He knew hrs pupils all by name Their famrly hrstory drd not long remarn a closed book to hrm The envrronment of the chrld was always of interest and he soon acquarnted hrmself wrth rt for he knew the abrlrty of the puprl was largely determrned by rts surroundings Grant was interested rn the four fold lrfe of the chrld Hrs professron as a teacher clearly showed hrs rnterest rn the mental development the rntense rn terest he always displayed rn recreational lrfe was an evidence of hrs concern for I6 largest contribution he made to society was himself. He provoked thought and