Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/97177
Vince Cozzi Class of 1983 | Chair of Latin���s Board of Trustees I was talking to another alum the other day, a former student whom I had never met and who lives out of town. I asked her about visiting the school, which she rarely does, and she relayed to me a story about one of her teachers who told her that coming back to Latin is like coming home, and how touched she was by that notion. How fitting then, that we are gathered on this homecoming weekend to celebrate the life of Dr. Dolezal. Because if Latin is indeed like home, then Dr. Dolezal was the grandfather in this analogy (what else could he be?) ��� wise and kind, sporting his cardigan sweater and wearing a warm, welcoming smile, always so glad to see you. For many alums, Dr. Dolezal simply was the Latin School. For me, Dick represented everything that makes a school like Latin feel like a home to all of us. It���s why we have such a deep love for this school, it���s why we talk about it so passionately with anyone who will listen, and it���s why many of us return to the school to have our children sit at the feet of this school���s amazing teachers. It starts, of course, in the classroom ��� with the teaching, and the learning ��� where Dick was demanding, nurturing, caring, challenging, forgiving. As one of my classmates described it, he encouraged us to see ourselves not merely as students, but as scholars ��� even though it might take some of us years to figure out just exactly what that meant. And outside of the classroom, he was an adviser to students, a mentor and colleague to his fellow teachers, the person we sought for good counsel and wise advice. And he was always a stable presence. The paternal figure for an entire community. In attendance at everything. Supporting others. Always giving. So seldom asking for anything in return. And how comforting it was, how fitting of course it was these last several years to see him leading the faculty and staff in procession at graduation each spring. Randall mentioned that Dr. Dolezal retired last year, but I seem to remember that he tried to retire two or three times before that. That it was hard for him to retire probably reflects how hard it was for Dr. Dolezal to imagine himself without Latin. It is harder still to imagine Latin without Dr. Dolezal. Opposite page: young Richard Dolezal; notes on the Apocalypse. This page: Dr. D at graduation. ���Dr. Dolezal entered Latin���s upper school along with our ���66 class ... we will forever be the better for it! Not only because of what he taught us academically, but for the values he instilled in us, his fellow faculty and the Latin community. His passion for teaching and his commitment to each of us as individuals was his cornerstone, but his sense of humor and the twinkle in his eye are what made him the best of the best.��� ��� Rob Sills, Class of 1966 LATI N SCHOOL OF CHI CA GO 45