Local education fixture Raymond “Ray” Drysdale remembered
Raymond “Ray” Drysdale wore many hats in his 93 years, each one of a different variety, but he’s perhaps best known among Yumans for his work in education – the fulfillment of a lifelong dream infused with joy and passion that, even after his Jan. 9 passing, continues to leave a mark on the community.
A native of Colorado, Drysdale launched the initial three years of his teaching career in Nebraska and Wyoming. Having had his fill of frigid winters in the Midwest, Drysdale headed south to Yuma in 1957, planting roots that would grow deep and far-reaching, leaving few students’ lives untouched.
Drysdale was hired to teach social studies at Yuma High School, where he remained for 29 years.
“He soon became one of the most beloved teachers that ever taught at Yuma High,” said Drysdale’s daughter, Deb Drysdale. “All the cards and calls I’ve been getting from his former students are along the same wave: ‘I was in his class in 1975’ and ‘I graduated in 1976 and he was my favorite teacher’ and ‘I am a teacher because of your father.’”
One of Drysdale’s classes, known as “senior problems,” was a combination of psychology, civics and philosophy and a requirement for all Yuma High seniors to graduate. According to Deb, the class – which she, her sister and her brother all sat in as seniors – met in Snyder Auditorium and, despite its 7:00 a.m. start time, students seldom skipped it.
“He was very theatrical in his lessons,” said Deb. “I made sure I was in the front row, because even though he was my dad and there was a lot of eye rolling that went along with that, he was the funniest teacher – it was like Rowan and Martin every day. Nobody missed my dad’s class. He could just talk about anything and engage people; he was one of the ‘legends’ of Yuma High.”
If opportunity hadn’t come knocking and guided Drysdale toward a different chapter, he likely would have spent another 29 years in the classroom, Deb said.
Instead, he was appointed by the Yuma County Board of Supervisors to serve as the county superintendent of public schools. In the 15 years he held the position, Drysdale secured nursing, counseling and migrant education services for students in Yuma County’s rural corners, opened two accommodation schools and helped launch the annual Yuma County Teacher of the Year banquet.
Drysdale also served a 35-year stint as board chairman of AEA Federal Credit Union.
As the husband of the late Val Drysdale, a large proponent of the arts and founding member of the Yuma Area Art Educators, Drysdale also served as an advocate for local creatives.
“Their home was a museum of local artists’ work,” said Deb. “They were both quite instrumental in making sure arts had a prominent place in the city of Yuma.”
According to Deb, everyone who encountered Drysdale came away with the same feeling – that they had a place.
“He’d always tell us, ‘You have to treat everybody special, because you never know when something you say or something you did or didn’t do affects people,’” she said. “He dearly loved his friends, and he counted everybody as his friends,” Deb said. “But he had some very, very close ones, too. If you were his good friend, you knew who you were. He was one of the few grown men I knew who was always telling people he loved them.”
Drysdale’s philosophy on kindness – and his infectious joy – guided his work in the classroom, which eventually led Deb to pursuing a career in education that led her to Dysart and later back to Yuma as the G.W. Carver Elementary School Principal.
“I started thinking, ‘I’m graduating, what do I want to be? I want to be a teacher like my dad,’” said Deb. “He made it so fun and he just loved it. He loved going to school every day and he loved the interactions that he got to have each and every day. So I ended up being an educator for 41 years.
My dad would always get a serious look in his eye and say, ‘Your job is not only to educate the mind; your job is to educate the heart. You go for it and educate those kids’ minds at the same time you’re educating their hearts.’”
And that, she said, is exactly what he did day after day.
“He stressed humanity, he stressed democracy, he stressed diversity, he stressed just being kind,” Deb said. “‘Just be kind,’ he would say; ‘it doesn’t cost you anything to smile, not one cent.’ Every student he ever had will tell you, ‘He just made me feel special, he made me want to be kind to others.’ He couldn’t stand having joy without sharing it with other people – if he couldn’t share it, it wasn’t joy to him.”
The impact he had on students and the Yuma community at large through his vocational roles here that made him, at least from his children’s vantage point, one of the most popular men in Yuma.
“It was almost like you couldn’t go anywhere in Yuma without someone coming up to him saying, ‘Mr. Drysdale, I was in your class’ and ‘Mr. Drysdale, it’s so good to see you,’” Deb said. “When we were kids we would just roll our eyes because we knew we wouldn’t be able to leave for another hour, but as we got older we just learned to plan an extra hour wherever we’d go because he was going to encounter somebody. When you see others revere someone you love so much, it is a source of pride. It makes it easy to share someone like that with the community.”
According to Deb, while her father was known for many things – his service as an educator, a brakeman for the Southern Pacific Railroad, a Washington, D.C. police officer during the Truman Administration, his evocative storytelling abilities and his affinity for cocktails on the veranda – his legacy of spreading love and kindness surpasses them all.
“His legacy, if anybody wanted to follow it, was just be kind to people; listen to their side and just be kind,” she said.