When the news came, I was going through a stack of documents in a local history museum. At first, it felt like the appropriate place to be.
Monty Pope – my friend and my mentor – had passed away.
Several months ago, I wrote a post about his influence on my life. It did not nearly say enough, but I hope you will read it. Hopefully, it will give you some idea of how great a man he was.
A few days ago, my colleague wrote a heartfelt tribute to Monty. I hope you will also read his thoughtful words.
After hearing of Monty’s passing, the feeling hit that I needed to be somewhere else. Yes, I was surrounded by history, a subject that Monty loved, but, selfishly, I needed one more moment with him. This was not the place for that.
That is when I decided to go to school, the place where Monty positively influenced thousands of people. I went to one of the classrooms where we both have taught dozens of classes and sat in one of the chairs.
That is where the realization came that future students will not have the good fortune of those who came before. We will tell them the same history that they would have heard from Monty, but they will not be recipients of his kindness, his caring and his devotion.
I, like thousands of others, am fortunate to have known Monty and been taught by him. Hopefully, I can honor him by being the best history teacher that I can possibly be. However, I will never reach my goal of being as good as him.
Monty Pope was the best history teacher and one of the best people I have ever known.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
A great teacher changes the course of lives. I’m glad you had one of them in your world. It makes such a big difference. My condolences on your loss.
Thank you
That is sad news! At secondary school we had a Methodist Minister called Brian Keen who taught RI and I really liked him and always enjoyed his lessons. One day in assembly the headmaster announced that he had died suddenly. I was stunned.
That’s always a shock. This wasn’t sudden. He had been sick for a while.
I am sorry for your loss!
Thank you
I’m sorry for your loss, Rick. You were fortunate to have a great teacher in Mr. Pope.
“Hopefully, I can honor him by being the best history teacher that I can possibly be”. Yes.
Thank you. I try to do the things that he did.
I’m so very sorry for your loss. My heart goes out to you. From the way you describe him, I think that you wanting to be the best teacher you can be is what would have made Mr. Pope the proudest of all…and the way you reach out to all of us here with your words. Seems to me Mr. Pope’s legacy does indeed live on…
Thank you. He made an impact on thousands of people. If we all did half of what he did, then the world would be a better place.