St Paul Academy - Review Yearbook (St Paul, MN)

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In The early winTer oT I9I6, a young DarT- mouTh man who had been Teaching aT a small school in New l-lampshire accepTed an oTTer oT a posiTion on The sTaTT oT The SainT Paul Academy. l-le was never allowed To TorgeT ThaT he wroTe us ThaT he had had some experience in a dormaTory . How- ever, our leTTer inviTing him To come asked Tor his signiTure on a Torm oT accepTance, so The spelling honors appear To be even. In wriTing abouT him, his headmasTer said ThaT he exercised greaT ingenuiTy in mak- ing apparaTus in his laboraTory, Thereby sav- ing much money. ThaT TalenT grew and Tlourished during his ThirTy-Tive years aT The Academy. ln TacT iT was a legend ThaT any missing arTicle could be Tound in The labora- Tory, incorporaTed in a conTrapTion which would bring ouT The answer To The second decimal place, and ring a bell when The re- sulT was achieved. To The very end oT his liTe, he reTained ThaT charming, eager, youThTul enThusiasm which made him a su- perb and an inspiring Teacher. T-lis parT in The creaTion oT The School ThaT is now The Academy was greaT. Russ was versaTile. Too. A champion ski- iumper aT DarTmouTh, he reTained ThaT skill, and had many young disciples. In The winTer OT l9I7, he was TempTed by The TerriTying ski-jump on whaT is now Edgcumbe Road, and Tried iT ouT-successTully. For years he coached The B Teams in TooTball and baseball. An auThoriTy on sailing, he had charge oT a TleeT oT boaTs aT Camp Lincoln, on Lake T-luberT, mainTaining, insTrucTing, and building. During his eighTeen monThs in The Army in The FirsT World War, he devel- oped such skill as an insTrucTor in pisTol and riTle shooTing ThaT he was moved Trom camp To camp as a Teacher. ln ThaT Time, he rose Trom a PrivaTe To a FirsT LieuTenanT, and when he reTurned To us in January, I9l9, he eagerly Took charge oT The drill, which he developed in a way ThaT was original and characTerisTic. Some Teachers are liked, some respecTed, and some loved. We admired and respecT- ed Russ Varney, buT mosT oT all, we loved him. l'le had a rare combinaTion oT charm, loyalTy, genTle sweeTness, and sound sTrengTh oT characTer, TogeTher wiTh a sparkle oT youThTul enThusiasm. l'le was The oldesT in service and The youngesT in hearT oT all oT us. -John DeQuedville Briggs

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In Memoriam Russell F. Varney

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