How could I lose two heroes in the space of only 10 days?
Though both were well into their 90s, I grieve. I mourn the void they leave in my life and in the life of our community, nation and world.
Retirement be damned. They never quit standing strong as advocates, warriors for peace, champions for others, brothers in arms and the best of friends. If you care or ever cared about our schools, LGBTQ rights, child abuse, poverty, social justice, racial equality or the environment, they were your champions, too.
Boyer Jarvis, 95, former vice president of the University of Utah, died on March 28, followed by M. Donald Thomas, 93, former superintendent of the Salt Lake School District, on April 7. Their bodies wore out, but never their vitality. Reformers and revolutionaries to the end, they seemed to slip from perpetual youth to being gone.
Boyer and Don were fixtures at community breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, fundraisers and lectures. A lifelong hip problem caused Boyer to tilt slightly to one side, making him look shorter than he actually was. Don stood tall above the crowd. An unlikely pair, they shared much in common: a welcoming hand and warm smile, genuine praise for others, unbreakable determination, and a contagious joy in their work.
Both began their remarkable lives in humble circumstances, Boyer in Arizona, Don (christened Mario Donato deTomasso) in an Italian village. Their parents saw in their sons unlimited promise, pushing them to achieve. In turn, Boyer and Don, saw that same potential in everyone--young or old, white or brown, privileged or impoverished, loved or neglected, white collar or blue collar or no collar at all.
Their awards and accomplishments are too numerous to list here. Of note is that Boyer was the first and only man ever honored with a YWCA Outstanding Achievement Award for his advocacy for women. At the age of 82, he proudly led the Utah Pride Parade as grand marshall.
After serving as superintendent of schools in four states, Don later was a consultant to three governors, Mikhail Gorbachev and dozens of school districts. The Utah chapter of the NAACP honored this Italian-American for his commitment to civil rights.
As a teacher, I often asked my students why we so easily love the underdogs in books and movies yet struggle to care as deeply about outcasts among us. We had to confess that it is far easier to talk the talk than walk the walk.
Don and Boyer truly walked the walk. As heroes do, they gave voice to the voiceless. Boyer worked mightily to level the playing field for all people through policy change at the highest levels. Until just recently, Don continued to receive calls from strangers whose children of color faced discrimination at school. He went straight to the source of the problem — and got results.
When I was fired for resisting an unethical district policy, a parent asked Don for help. He believed teachers had the most important job in the world and stood unfailingly by my side — attending hearings, raising money for my defense, renewing my flagging courage — through the long march toward my final termination.
A trusted friend, he has become a role model for the rest of my life. Only after he died did I realize that if I had not been fired, I would never have met this moral giant. In spite of the lingering heartache at losing a job I loved, the opportunity to meet Don was ultimately worth it.
The ache I feel in my heart reminds me of the spring of 1968 when Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated a mere two months apart, plunging our nation into sorrow. Losing one of them was terrible enough, but to lose them both so quickly seemed unbearable.
Those were national heroes, but I have now witnessed leaders in my own city as compassionate, courageous, and tenacious as any I have ever known.
We live in a discouraging time. Political leaders shock and disappoint us. Despondency abounds. Yet in the bleakness, heroes and heroines walk among us. Seek them out, watch them. Walk arm in arm with them, and you will find renewed hope and strength.
Ann Florence
Ann Florence was a high school and junior high English teacher, embarking soon to teach in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
