Friday afternoon marked the end of a 38-year career as an educator, mentor and friend at the Becker Middle School when P.E. teacher Steve Whitaker hung up his whistle for the last time.
But before that, his colleagues, friends and family had a chance to tell him what he had meant to them during his long career in the district, and they did so in some very affectionate and frankly hilarious ways during his “Goodbye Tea Party” in the BMS media center Wednesday afternoon.
His P.E. colleagues Gretchen Changamire and Scott Brake hosted the combined live-speaking and video retrospective of his career, including a collection of “Whit-isms” that have become famous over the years among his co-workers. But these paled in the face of the video tributes, including two in which actors portrayed the honoree in a series of highly-unlikely scenarios to the delight of the large crowd, and Whitaker himself.
Tyler Neidfelt, who will move into Whitaker’s position at BMS, played the legendary teacher in gray hair and costume, having perfected some key vocal inflections and gestures to pad his part. References were made to some famous traits, such as a mania for fixing hopelessly damaged athletic equipment, the high mortality rate of pens and magic markers in his hard-handed presence and his low-key but intensely competitive nature. Whitaker, deeply invested in golf, has won several state-level titles over the years, and plans to play often and coach as possible in the years ahead.
He also plans to work with charity groups such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Habitat For Humanity and Feed My Starving Children, as well as getting his “kid fix” from coaching youth basketball and golf, as the opportunity presents itself, he said.
Another video featured an actor wearing a superimposed “Whitaker” mask, dispensing this advice to a mildly bumped gym student: “It will feel better when it hurts less.”
A native of Silver Bay, Whitaker was a hall of fame athlete and coach at Bethel College before coming to Becker in 1980. In his 25-year career there, he coached cross-country, track, JV basketball and, of course, golf.
In addition to a host of friends and colleagues, Whitaker was joined at the party by his wife of almost 42 years, Letta, their grown children and seven grandchildren. Also speaking at the event were BMS Principal Nancy Helmer and Becker Supt. Dr. Stephen Malone, who was scheduled to present the customary brass school bell to the departing educator, a long-standing Becker tradition.
Friday morning Whitaker attended a special surprise dedication of the BMS climbing wall, which he created by fund-raising, designing and building what may be the tallest such structure in any Minnesota middle school, or anywhere, according to Brake.
