Clara E Mergler was born on October 01, 1918 and died on March 22, 2001 at the age of 82. Clara last resided in Lynchburg, Virginia in Lynchburg City County. She taught math at FHHS.
Miss Mergler lived across the street from me in Hollin Hall. She was my 10th grade geometry teacher. The first class we had she started by saying the following: " My name is MISS Mergler, it rhymes with BURGLER, and I am an OLD MAID!" She never had anyone that I knew make fun of her after that statement. She was a very dedicated, some would say strict, teacher but fair and one of the kindest teachers I ever had.
Miss Mergler was the only teacher I ever had who took the time to understand how I learned. She understood that numbers were a language we shared. She inspired a love of math that I never understood before I met her my Junior year..
If you had a class with her, you had to be as impressed as I was, that she could make those perfectly formed letters and numbers, in a perfectly straight line, while writing over her shoulder. She only turned her back when it was something complex and she wanted it "perfect". I could never tell the difference, but I knew it mattered.
After I won the Safe Driving Rodeo that year, she hired me to drive her in that old Chevy ll down to Virginia Beach to visit her mother. On those trips, I learned that she had had a much more interesting life than any of us might have guessed. We became friends and I'll always be glad for that....
"...and I'm an old maid because I never got married" ! That was the terminus of first day greeting. An apparent 'war bride' , Ms. Mergler was impecably dressed and even accesorised with E=mc° earings. She always cleaned her glasses with crisp Ferderal Reserve Notes
When the unruly class became unbearable, this dignified woman would grab her thermos and leave the room to the sactuary, adjacent teachers lounge. I wish I had developed a love of geometry in h.s...something developed in my old age, re: star-gazing. Fair Well Clara.
David Clayton Beazley (1970)
Miss Mergler lived across the street from me in Hollin Hall. She was my 10th grade geometry teacher. The first class we had she started by saying the following: " My name is MISS Mergler, it rhymes with BURGLER, and I am an OLD MAID!" She never had anyone that I knew make fun of her after that statement. She was a very dedicated, some would say strict, teacher but fair and one of the kindest teachers I ever had.
Jim Pepper (1968)
Miss Mergler was the only teacher I ever had who took the time to understand how I learned. She understood that numbers were a language we shared. She inspired a love of math that I never understood before I met her my Junior year..
If you had a class with her, you had to be as impressed as I was, that she could make those perfectly formed letters and numbers, in a perfectly straight line, while writing over her shoulder. She only turned her back when it was something complex and she wanted it "perfect". I could never tell the difference, but I knew it mattered.
After I won the Safe Driving Rodeo that year, she hired me to drive her in that old Chevy ll down to Virginia Beach to visit her mother. On those trips, I learned that she had had a much more interesting life than any of us might have guessed. We became friends and I'll always be glad for that....
John Dennis McDonald (1971)
"...and I'm an old maid because I never got married" ! That was the terminus of first day greeting. An apparent 'war bride' , Ms. Mergler was impecably dressed and even accesorised with E=mc° earings. She always cleaned her glasses with crisp Ferderal Reserve NotesJohn Dennis McDonald (1971)
When the unruly class became unbearable, this dignified woman would grab her thermos and leave the room to the sactuary, adjacent teachers lounge. I wish I had developed a love of geometry in h.s...something developed in my old age, re: star-gazing. Fair Well Clara.
Christopher Niebergall (1970)
So sorry to hear of this. She was the best math teacher and I adored her as well as feared her.
RIP, Clara.