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SIX YEARS AT SKS
Memories from an Alumnus
By Tom Delaney ‘58
…
I always, ALWAYS, felt that I
was in the presence of truly good
man and absolutely first rate
mind when I was with him. I
trusted him implicitly, as did we
all...The world is diminished by his
passing away….
—
Tom Donahue
Former Faculty/Staff
Memories of Herb from the
SKS Community
One of the giants of SKS in my
view. Humble, decent, honest,
unassuming, genuine, gentle,
compassionate—and a
quiet genius. Hard to imagine
that we will ever see the likes
of him again. A remarkable life
that touched many.
—
Stephen Duffy ‘71
SIX YEARS, THREE HEADMASTERS
and at least 23
trips to Peekskill to compete against either St. Peter’s School
or Peekskill Military Academy encompass my time on the
mountain. I continued the love which developed for The Storm
King School over the ensuing years with roles on the Board of
Trustees, The Alumni Association, rooting for “Cougars” (aka
Mountaineers) when its teams traveled to New England, and at
many rewarding Alumni Days.
Going to SKS opened my eyes to the world in ways that
otherwise would not have happened if I had stayed under the
mountain and just looked up at it instead of riding up in Doc
Dunn’s day student station wagon and, starting in 9th grade, as
a boarding student. It was not just the studies and the athletics
but the whole environment. Never a thespian, Mr. Picket made
me take parts in
Hamlet
and
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
;
while my wife of 49 years, Nancy Jo, can testify to my tone
deafness, Mrs. Krida insisted on my participation in the choir;
and to the disbelief of my suffering college nuclear lab partner,
Mr. Went actually had me interested in science.
The wonderful teachers at SKS are too many to mention, but
I must mention the three families who were there for all six years
[
SKS was a six year school at the time, starting in 7th grade] —
Dyers, VanDycks, and Sauers. Mrs. VanDyck was the 7th and
8
th grade teacher. There were only three students in 7th grade,
myself, Tom Scanlon and Mac Gaydon. Mac and his brothers
left at Thanksgiving but he made quite a name for himself as
the original “Slide Wah Guitarist.” Although never convincing
me that the better part of basketball was to pass and not shoot,
Mr. VanDyck was responsible for my attending Union College
where I lived with his mother in my sophomore year. I’ll never
forget the experience of having to get up enough courage to tell
Mr. Coleman that I was turning down Cornell! In addition to
trying to get me to learn Spanish and Latin, the Dyers took on
the thankless task of trying to teach me table manners. I had a
wonderful two years at Hickory Lodge where the Sauers took
me into the family. It was a little harder for him to teach me that
dy/dx was simply not a division problem where you cancelled
out the ds and divided x into y!
After my mother passed away, my father had considerable
financial difficulties and five younger children to raise. The
school offered one full scholarship to a Cornwall student each
year. Bill DeGraw had graduated so it was available. Mr. Boyce
and the trustees offered it to me. I have always been grateful.
Tom Delaney was recently elected as a trustee emeritus at SKS.
Herb Sauer
Herb Sauer
,
former faculty and
staff member of The Storm King
School, 1946-1985, passed away
on Friday, October 25.
A small excerpt from his
obituary: Herbert G. Sauer, 93, of
Falmouth, Maine passed away at
home. Born January 23, 1920 in
Elizabeth, New Jersey to Alfred
and Lucy Sauer.
Herb majored in mathematics
at St. Peter’s College in Montclair,
NJ. Drafted into the army a month
before Pearl Harbor, he met his future wife Tommye Miller at
Fort Sill, Oklahoma. They married Thanksgiving Day 1944 in
San Francisco, where he worked as a meteorologist during the war.
In 1946, Herb took a ”temporary” teaching position at
The Storm King School. He and Tommye stayed there for 40 years,
raising six kids and inspiring students and making lifelong friends
among neighbors, faculty and students. Herb taught math,
coached sports, dispensed college guidance, and was later the
director of studies, all while keeping up with his involvement with
the Air Force Reserves, and getting a master’s degree in Education.
Special note:
Fred Sopher ‘58 is inviting the 40 years of Storm
King School students during Herb’s tenure to join him in paying
tribute by raising money to name a classroom after him, as part of
the Capital Campaign: This is Our Time. Anyone interested can
contact Lynn Crevling via email at lcrevling@sks.org.
