I found out that Mr. Price passed away. Robert Price was a teacher for 43 years. He was an educator that stood out from the rest. You can read the letter he gave to his last group of students the year he was retiring.

I can’t remember very many specific lessons from high school. (For those trying to calculate, I was in the class of 1980) I can remember numerous things from Mr. Price’s class:

• I remember having to be able to identify dozens of animals by order, phylum, etc., after looking at specimens in jars around the class room
• I remember him using a huge ketchup gun, pretending to draw blood from a student and then eat it, helping to ease the fears of students who were dreading pricking their finger with a lancet
• I remember the weeklong discussion of “IT” (“you know,” he said, “everyone talks about doing it, getting it, making it…”). He took questions via a suggestion box all week, willing to answer any questions about sexuality. There was a paper bag available for rent for any who got too embarrassed.
• I remember the unit on ecology, when he turned down the thermostat, covered the windows with black paper and piled trash on the floor (mainly newspapers, but we found the dead fish under it all)
• I remember the nature walks along the river behind our school

When I’ve been asked over time to name my most memorable teacher, I repeatedly have pointed to Mr. Price.

Mr. Price was also the first openly atheistic person I was ever around. Having had a terrible experience with a minister as a child, he had turned his back on religion. He had his own unique views, suggesting that the various deities in different religions might actually have been aliens who visited the earth.

During his fight with cancer, his ex-students filled Mr. Price’s Facebook page with words of encouragement. It’s a funny thing to me to see how many mentioned they were praying for him. I wonder how that made him feel.

Or did he possibly come to believe during all those years? I certainly hope so. It’s sad to see someone who was so dear to so many pass from this earth without any relationship at all with God. I hope he got past his resentment and found his way to God.

Edit, 10:00 a.m. — I need to include what Chuck Smith wrote in the comment section:

Tim, Mr. Price was baptized a few weeks ago by my dear friend and former Pastor Carl Rohlfs in San Antonio.