Doris Wise graduated at the top of her class at Ravenna Township High School in 1934 and spent more than four decades teaching in the same building where went to school.
She loved what she did and realized when she retired 25 years ago that she had become an institution of sorts, admitting that it was difficult to leave a profession that she said she had “loved, admired and adored” from an early age.
Miss Wise, who took pride in teaching “the basics” to second-graders in Ravenna for 47 years, died Saturday, July 11, 2009, at Robinson Memorial Hospital. She was 93.
She spent her entire career in education in Ravenna, where she began teaching at Ravenna Township School in 1937 after two years of classes at Kent State Normal College. She had worked her way through college by clerking at a dime store in Ravenna, where she earned $1 for a 10-hour shift.
The township school on West Main Street, now known as Rausch Intermediate School, housed students from first grade through high school. She initially spent an hour with each of the elementary grades, teaching whatever she was asked.
She was paid $600 for her first year of teaching – about $8,500 in today’s dollars — for her nine-month job. She received no pay during the summer.
There were 50 youngsters enrolled in her first class of second-graders, she recalled, about twice the size of today’s classes. At one time, when the Ravenna Arsenal was at its height, she had a class with 100 students.
She stressed “the basics” — reading, writing and arithmetic — to her first class and continued to do so throughout her career.
“I think my biggest purpose is to make sure that every child is able to read,” she said in an interview published when she retired. Even as times changed, she continued to focus on the building blocks of lifetime learning.
She enjoyed the challenges of teaching, especially students who otherwise would have received little attention in the days before special education. “The other teachers didn’t like to bother with them,” she said, “But I liked them. They were good kids.”
She joked that some of her students called her “Old Lady Wise,” a nickname she thought was humorous. “What’s the use in making a fuss about?” she said.
In addition to a modest paycheck, teaching in the Depression era required other sacrifices. Women who taught were paid less than their male counterparts and those who married lost their teaching jobs.
She chose to remain single, saying that she never found anyone good enough to marry.
In addition to teaching, she was active in her church, the First United Methodist Church of Ravenna, where she was a member of Miriam Circle and taught Sunday School for many years. She said that teaching Sunday School helped her to overcome her shyness and made her more effective with her students.
With her sister-in-law, the late Jean Wise, she was one of the prime movers of the Balloon A-Fair during its early years and was proud to have been selected as a grand marshal. She also was enshrined in the Raven Hall of Fame.
She also enjoyed playing the role of family matriarch with her nieces and nephews and their families. And she enjoyed being recognized by the generations of students who had passed through her second-grade classroom, including many who followed her into the teaching profession.
She reflected on a lifetime in education during a recent interview with the Record-Courier that marked the 75th anniversary of her selection as valedictorian of the Class of 1934 at Ravenna Township High School.
Drawing parallels to her own graduation during the Great Depression, she expressed concern about the prospects members of the Class of 2009 faced, but added that she hoped the economy would improve during their college years, as it did during hers.
Survivors include her brother, Harold of Ravenna; sister-in-law, Viola Wise of Rootstown; nieces and nephews. Her brother, James, died previously.
Calling hours for Miss Wise will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Wood-Kortright-Borkoski Funeral Home in Ravenna, where services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in Maple Grove Cemetery in Ravenna.