Ripon College - Crimson Yearbook (Ripon, WI)

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In Memoriam On these pages—a few of the many expressions of love and honor for the memory of Dr. Jesse Fox Taintor. The Commencement program of 1935 is specifically dedicated to him whose gracious spirit these many years has helped so largely to make the commence- meint seasons a happy joyous festival. But even more we could remember that Ripon College with its joys and sor- rows—with its life ever re- newed in the life of those who enter and depart from its doors, is increasingly a memorial to him who loved and served and interpreted that college with unswerving loyalty and devo- tion. ✓O arrived.” Prof. Taintor at a ripe age has arrived, as he enters the world of mansional resources. We offer a toast to our beloved Dr. Taintor. a noble gentleman, a genuine Christian, an inspiring teacher, a de- votet! alumnus, a loyal friend. Silas Evans. AAA Prof. Taintor had that quick under- standing that kept him in step with the procession of youth. He could not grow old in thought or attitude. Who that ever heard his chapel talks can forget them? His whimsicality, his appreciation and his sense of fitness made them memorable. His friendship was not the kind that offers a crutch He expressed every- one to stand on his own merits and measure up to any one occasion. And who could fail to make a mighty effort to justify his expectations? Josephine Hargrave. '06. AAA And how did Prof. Taintor look, you ask? He was beautiful to look upon as part of the grace and charm and unfail- ing courtesy that marked his days. In the first place like a hero of old —27—

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Dr. Jesse Fox Taintor lirif htfr fan than '.saves hj autumn ttys A. Or the Crimson rose of June beside; Fadeless, stainless shall our Crimson show Kifaon’s hearts with loyal love aglow. We have tried at Ripon. as other colleges have tried for themselves to discov- er whether the many and varied experiences of the college life- its failures, suc- cesses. errors of judgment, struggles, out reaching may not also be crystallized into a single word that shall suggest the unifying constant element in its life. In these later days someone has happily fallen upon the epithet “the intimate college as best defining that element. . . . The phrase does suggest the very essence of the thing which was present with this college in its beginning and has been a constant factor in its life to the present day. . . . The intimate college should mean, and I think it does mean here, one in which the human relations between faculty and students always overshadow the academic relations. . . . The essential thing is to serve the highest interest of the student. . . This is true in any college, but as one reads the history of Ripon College, it becomes increasingly clear that this has been the purpose to which it has steadfastly held. Excerpt from “History of Ripon College.” JESSE FOX TAINTOR. A Word of Tribute to JESSE FOX T AINTOR There has passed from our Ripon community a man of marked influence. Prof. Taintor has been for many years, and by a wide circle, a man beloved. The Taintor home has ever been a cen- ter of hospitality and charm, and The Professor. was the radiant and genial host, for he regarded the community in terms of the home. In any group in which he might have been expected to be present, there was a sense of some- thing really missed when he was ab- sent. His was not the popularity of in- dulgent good will. He was often quite critical and independent. He had likes and dislikes, but loved through both. As Professor of English Literature, he had an art of creating in his pupils a breadth of interest, and above all. that so rare and essential sense of ap- preciation and admiration which is the parent of a continued life interest in lit- erature. He had a unique style. Style is often defined as personality. Emer- son says. “We teach what we are. not involuntarily, but involuntarily. It was very much so with Prof. Taintor. He looked and acted and imparted the part. If the student brought to the class any spark of interest, he fanned this spark into a flame. He taught his students to love to read. His was not the dry-as-dust manner of critical anal- sis. Old grads are today enjoying their evenings in good reading because of him. His pupils studied to satisfy a hunger of soul, and not merely to meet an academic requirement. We all loved him. Fie loved Ripon College, and the people of Ripon. He was an outstanding citizen of no mean city. Harvard college has a phrase of high praise. They say of a man, “He has —2(

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en days, he never grew old .“I don’t like to go to commencement any more.” said a classmate, “all my friends have grown feeble and old. all except jesse Taintor. The clear burning fire of his joyous undaunted spirit transmuted even his days of failing strength. His smile was a smile to give reassurance and renewed courage to the friends that he met—and all foik were to him potential friends. His clear blue eyes with whimsical twinkle—gave to the less gifted the priceless intimation of a realm of good cheer, quick understand- ing. sympathy, and beauty, deathless and ineffable. And always some of us will hear his gentle interpreting voice reading the lines of Saul he so loved. 'O Saul, it shall he a face like my face that re- ceives thee: a Man like to me. thou shalt love and be loved by forever: a Hand like this hand shall throw open the gates of new life to thee!” —Grace Goodrich. 06. Honors and rewards were justly his. and none more spontaneous and lasting than the affection he engendered in the hearts of those he taught. Of such is the Kingdom of Eternal Wisdom. —Ruth Gower. '11. My memories of Jesse Fox Taintor are very deep and very dear too deep for words to reach, too dear for them to express. Ripon cannot be the same without him but Ripon would not be the college it is had he never been and I like to think that just as we who knew him were touched to our lasting gain by his steadfastness of character, his bril- liance of mind, his charm of manner, so till coming generations of students will receive an impress, intangible but en- during, from that sweet spirit. Some things do not die. “The memory of the just is blessed. and so remains an heritage from the past, a bond in the present, a hope for the hereafter. Abbv Higgins Engelbracht. Dr. Taintor was not a mystical dreamer, or an other-worldly visionary but a very realistic inhabitant of this present world with its pressing cco nomic, political and social struggles and crises. Amid these noisy and su- perficial distractions, he found time and patient industry to cultivate the unseen and eternal wealth and beauty which most people were blindly passing by. He learned to uncover and impart to others the great messages of the Heb- rew prophets. There was born from above and within him that new life of the spirit, which spontaneously flows on unto eternal life. Hundreds of students loved his gen- tle spirit and caught the contagion of his interest in the treasures of English literature, poetry and art. Dr. Taintor was no controversialist. His mind was naturally conservative in theology, politics and social theory. Modestly and consistently he held to views which prevailed in his day. In- quiringly and cautiously he welcomed the relief of tension offered by silence and the new learning but he could nev- er be either a reactionary or a radical. He had an even tempered and triumph- ant faith in the eternal values of truth, goodness and beauty, and he bore an unfailing witness to that faith in the pulpit and the professor s chair. He supported that testimony by a consist- ent Christian character and a heart of love, which came as near embracing all sorts and conditions of men as any man 1 ever knew. His passing brings a pang of pain to hundreds of men and women who in their youth were warmed and uplifted by their contacts with this very genial and very human friend. By his cheer- ful comment and companionable ways he drew a goodly following into the upward way. where they faced fondly toward the things unseen and eternal. In them as in us all this momentary pang will be swallowed up in a victory song for one who has fought a good fight. —Dr. W. J. Mutch. —2 S-