tubaman
3 Time BoM
I just heard that my roommate from college died a few weeks ago. I am devastated by this news. He was such a great, fun loving guy. He was the type of guy that everybody liked. Bernard and I were both tuba players and pushed each other to be better musicians. Even though we were rivals so to speak in the tuba studio, we were best friends. We shared an apartment together for several years and best man for each other. When he moved out to Portland we didnt talk as much, but still kept in touch. I hadnt heard from him for a few months, so I called and his wife (he remarried when he moved out to Portland) told me he died of complications to knee surgery of all things. He threw a blood clot and died in the middle of a gig. At least he died doing what he loved best. I searched online for some information and found this story. Knowing his character, it does not surprise me at all that he was so beloved by his students. To top this, two days after he died, the house caught on fire in the middle of the night. Luckily Wendy was able to get Gabriel out and nobody was hurt. There was about 100 thousand dollars worth of damage to the house. Here is part of a story about him if you are interested. Please smoke a one of your finest for my friend Bernard.
The shocking news started circulating Sunday: Mr. Harvard had died.
E-mail shot around Northeast Portland, and telephones rang citywide. The da Vinci Arts Middle School principal, former Alameda Elementary vice principal and Madison High performing arts-music teacher, was 41 years old. He died of a cause that seemed incomprehensible for someone who appeared so physically fit: complications following a routine knee surgery, according to Portland Public School officials. Mr. Harvard, a New York native, arrived in Portland in 2000 and came to Alameda in 2003, after teaching at Madison and working as an administrative intern at Humboldt Elementary. By the time he left for da Vinci in 2006, he had brought music to a school without a music program. He taught chants to administrators, squeezed music lessons for kindergartners into his vice principal activities, and sang at schoolwide assemblies on Friday afternoons. Kids who were too old to sing wacky ABC songs sang along because Mr. Harvard's strumming guitar and smooth voice were infectious.
Despite his short stay, he left Alameda a legacy of stories.
There was the time he offered his band's services at the school's annual auction. The item was so popular it had to be divided among three competing groups of parents, raising $11,000 in less than five minutes.
Music mattered to him. He had performed professionally since age 16 and played in bands in New York; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Portland. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania.
He loved sports, too. There was the time his beloved New York Yankees lost the World Series, and he wore all black to school in mourning. He could remember the names of nearly 700 students -- and match parents to them. He was a male in a predominantly female field and an African American in a mostly white community. Yet he stood out for his personality, empathy and humor. He believed in art, too. There was the time Alameda parent Jannine Setter shot photos of his band, and they inspired her partner, Beren deMotier, to paint an acrylic portrait of Mr. Harvard for the school's art auction. Another parent bought the portrait and gave it to Mr. Harvard, who liked it so much he commissioned another to give to his mother.
Family was a priority. He told Alameda Principal Teri Geist he was raised by a single mother who worked several jobs to provide for him and his two sisters. He is survived by his wife, Wendy, and a 5-year-old son, Gabriel. Mr. Harvard hesitated taking the da Vinci principal's job because he worried it would detract from caring for his son, who is autistic, Geist said. "I am so heartbroken for Gabriel," she said. "He won't be able to have this wonderful daddy in his life, whose goal was to be such a participatory daddy because he didn't have one." Mr. Harvard took the middle school job though his first -- and only -- year as principal was not without bumps, including a student protest over proposed cuts. Still, he made an impact.
"He was a great listener," said Katie Brown, a da Vinci science teacher. "I was going through some personal problems at home when I went to see him, and people sometimes forget teachers are people, but he treated me like a person."
The shocking news started circulating Sunday: Mr. Harvard had died.
E-mail shot around Northeast Portland, and telephones rang citywide. The da Vinci Arts Middle School principal, former Alameda Elementary vice principal and Madison High performing arts-music teacher, was 41 years old. He died of a cause that seemed incomprehensible for someone who appeared so physically fit: complications following a routine knee surgery, according to Portland Public School officials. Mr. Harvard, a New York native, arrived in Portland in 2000 and came to Alameda in 2003, after teaching at Madison and working as an administrative intern at Humboldt Elementary. By the time he left for da Vinci in 2006, he had brought music to a school without a music program. He taught chants to administrators, squeezed music lessons for kindergartners into his vice principal activities, and sang at schoolwide assemblies on Friday afternoons. Kids who were too old to sing wacky ABC songs sang along because Mr. Harvard's strumming guitar and smooth voice were infectious.
Despite his short stay, he left Alameda a legacy of stories.
There was the time he offered his band's services at the school's annual auction. The item was so popular it had to be divided among three competing groups of parents, raising $11,000 in less than five minutes.
Music mattered to him. He had performed professionally since age 16 and played in bands in New York; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Portland. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania.
He loved sports, too. There was the time his beloved New York Yankees lost the World Series, and he wore all black to school in mourning. He could remember the names of nearly 700 students -- and match parents to them. He was a male in a predominantly female field and an African American in a mostly white community. Yet he stood out for his personality, empathy and humor. He believed in art, too. There was the time Alameda parent Jannine Setter shot photos of his band, and they inspired her partner, Beren deMotier, to paint an acrylic portrait of Mr. Harvard for the school's art auction. Another parent bought the portrait and gave it to Mr. Harvard, who liked it so much he commissioned another to give to his mother.
Family was a priority. He told Alameda Principal Teri Geist he was raised by a single mother who worked several jobs to provide for him and his two sisters. He is survived by his wife, Wendy, and a 5-year-old son, Gabriel. Mr. Harvard hesitated taking the da Vinci principal's job because he worried it would detract from caring for his son, who is autistic, Geist said. "I am so heartbroken for Gabriel," she said. "He won't be able to have this wonderful daddy in his life, whose goal was to be such a participatory daddy because he didn't have one." Mr. Harvard took the middle school job though his first -- and only -- year as principal was not without bumps, including a student protest over proposed cuts. Still, he made an impact.
"He was a great listener," said Katie Brown, a da Vinci science teacher. "I was going through some personal problems at home when I went to see him, and people sometimes forget teachers are people, but he treated me like a person."
