His hand-written note

 Published in the Idaho State Journal on August 15, 2021.

A couple weeks ago on the morning after my 30-year high school reunion, I gathered my coffee, the Sunday paper and my collection of cards and stationary. When I have an event like that, the build-up and hype can be so intense that I feel a harsh emotional crash when it’s over. That old-school quiet thinking and writing of “thank you’s” and “it was so great to see you’s” help ease the descent by bringing gratitude and warm fuzzies into focus. It helps the good times last a little longer and cement them in my brain, and I hope it does the same for those to whom I write.

This reunion was particularly grand because it combined the classes of ’91 from Poky and Highland. The classes of ’90 from each school also joined because they had to cancel their event last summer. Since I had gone to Hawthorne Junior High, my class split with most heading to Highland and fewer of us heading to Poky.  I had a blast reconnecting with junior high classmates as well as people from high school.

As I sat down to read the paper before writing cards, my mind was abuzz reminiscing about those six years of my education and the wonderful people who crossed my path. At the top of that list of wonderful people is Gail Siemen. Mr. Siemen was my principal all three years at Hawthorne Junior High, and on the morning after my reunion, he was at the forefront of my mind as I came upon the obituaries.

Mr. Siemen passed away two days before our reunion. I had to take a few minutes. I’m still taking a few minutes.

During my time at Hawthorne, I got the opportunity to work with Mr. Siemen on a few projects when I became student body president. Whenever we had assemblies, he would pull me aside to let me know the program and guide me through what to say in the microphone. Speaking to 900 fellow junior high students was terrifying. Mr. Siemen helped make it less so.

When I left Hawthorne and went on to Poky, I got a message in class my sophomore year to call Mr. Siemen. My ninth grade earth science teacher had died in a car accident. Mr. Siemen asked a few former students to come back to Hawthorne to share their memories of Mr. Terch in an all-school assembly. 

When the service began, the student body applauded the introduction of the first speaker. It was not an uproarious round of applause with whistles and cheers, but still a thunderous clapping of hands. I wasn’t sure that we should be clapping in a memorial service, so I looked to Mr. Siemen. He wasn’t clapping. He was agitated and it was one of the few times I noticed him not smiling. He jumped out of his chair after a few seconds.

Mr. Siemen not-so-gracefully took the microphone from the student speaker. He was kind but firm in explaining why we were gathered in the gym and acknowledged that while it is normally appropriate to offer applause when someone is introduced, it was not appropriate for that occasion.  The sense of being slightly scolded was edged out by feeling lovingly educated. A stern lesson to kick off a memorial service may not have been “appropriate” either, but seeing his instinctual need to educate and offer heartfelt guidance in those moments speaks to the man he was.

A couple years later when I was elected student body president at Poky, I got my very own mailbox in the office. The first official presidential correspondence I received was a hand-written note from Mr. Siemen. He expressed his well-wishes and faith in me. I hadn’t been a student of his for years, but he still thought about me. He still rooted for me, and he took the time to tell me in a personalized, intentional way. That gesture was powerful.

I continued to run into Mr. Siemen as I got older. He came to many of the ISU volleyball games I played in, attended many of the ISU Hall of Fame celebrations I went to, and seemed to need things from Fred Meyer at the same times I did. He was always quick with a bellowing “Hi, Billie!” or “Hi, Kid!” and a smile to back it up.    

Many will remember Gail Siemen for his kindness, positivity and educational leadership. Many will remember his athletic accomplishments at Idaho State, his steadfast Bengal-boosting or his role as a family man. It was sweetly poetic that I had a stack of blank note cards and a pen right next to me when I read about Mr. Siemen’s passing. With every hand-written card, letter or note I ever send, his inspiration and influence endure. I will always remember Gail Siemen for his hand-written note.