Letter to the Editor - Goodbye, Mr. Morimune

Editor,

On June 12^th, when Dick Morimune quietly, without fanfare turned in his letter of resignation to the Martinez Unified School District, we at the Junior High and Martinez as a community lost a true local treasure.  After 39 years of service to so many students, some of which boasted of parents and aunts and uncles knowing him, Mr. Morimune is suddenly gone.

We at the Junior High knew him to be a champion to students and a relentless supporter of teachers.  His quick steps made pathways of the heart from classroom to classroom.  He worked his magic on the troubled and failing student, the bright and curious as well as the quiet and shy.  He was more than a counselor-he was a friend.

Mr. Morimune deserves a final farewell likened to those given to Heads of State.  He accomplished more in one career than so many of us only dream of.  When the school bell rings on August 23^rd, 2011, it will ring with sadness and emptiness.  A void, impossible to fill will be the one Mr. Morimune leaves.  We are so much better for knowing him-we are so much stronger for the lessons he taught us.  We will never forget you Mr. Morimune.  You were truly the “Captain of our ship”.

Rosie Cady

Teacher, Martinez Junior High School