Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Mark McElroy was one of my favorite people to ever work with in all my years of teaching; I still tell stories about him to my husband. He was such a down to earth type of guy, and he never made you feel inferior, anxious, or depressed when you spoke to him.
I had many a great conversation with Mr. Mac—whether they were about work, life, or anything in between— Mark was the type to leader who made you feel relaxed. I guess that is because he did not think he was any better than you, or that he knew more than you did; rather, Mark was always there to help by lending his advice in a nonchalant way and assuring you that even if the sky was falling (or you felt like it was), it really wasn’t, and tomorrow would be okay.
With Mark, nothing was ever as “big a deal” as you made it out to be, and he had a way of building your confidence by calming you down and making you laugh. The stories he’d tell about his time in education should have been turned into a book!
He had an effortless sense of humor and could talk to anyone about anything. While I did not know his family, I recall an instance where I complimented a painting in his office; he proudly spoke of his daughter and discussed the art she made. “That’s the most expensive piece of art I own”, he joked, explaining that his daughter had made it in college. He seemed to be an attentive and loving father; these traits were recognized in his work life, as well, by all who had the pleasure to know him. He will be greatly missed. He is a the legend.
