Former BHS teacher, Mr. Bill North, passed away yesterday, Sunday, February 24, 2019.
Bill was in Denver, Colorado attending a friend's retirement party, when he passed away. He was on an airport bus going to the airport to come back home when he suddenly passed away. He was 82 years old. Bill grew up in the 900 block of Cornell Dr. and was a 1954 Burbank High School graduate where he was a member of the Rifle Team.
He taught Social Studies and English at John Muir Junior High for 16 years from 1960 to 1975. He then taught Government and Economics for 21 years at BHS from 1975 to 1996 when he retired. He was also the Ceralbus advisor from 1986 to 1996. Many will remember Bill's use of "paper clips" for awards in his John Muir classes! Bill married his John Muir colleague, Mrs. Barbara Bullock, and they enjoyed many happy years together. Barbara passed away in 2005.
Bill continued living in Burbank, and had been doing well. Just last August he purchased a new Subaru wagon. Bill and former John Muir and BHS teacher, Clyde Richards, have been close friends over all these years. This is a sad day for Burbank.
"There's not a person there who doesn't love the guy," said Clyde Richards.
From Los Angeles Times, 1996
Bill North retired in 1996
Graduation Day had come and with it the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance." In royal blue caps and gowns, Burbank High School's Class of '96 marched down from the grassy slope above the Starlight Amphitheater to take their seats. Waiting on stage were school officials, their gowns all black and serious.
There was one exception. On the day after his 60th birthday, teacher Bill North had elected to wear the blue of a graduating senior. He was, in a sense, graduating for a second time from Burbank High, retiring after more than 37 years of teaching, the last 21 at his alma mater. Before too long, Mr. North, as the students call him, would step to the dais. The students stood and cheered in his honor.
First he asked everyone to say hi to his mother, Jeanne, who had watched her boy graduate at the Starlight in 1954. "Mom and I think this is so much fun," Mr. North said, "we're going to do this every 42 years."
Mr. North, local legend, is known for his wit, kindness and a unique talent for teaching. Ask around Burbank High and the testimony becomes overwhelming. Mr. North came from the same mold as the storied Mr. Chips. He is one of those beloved teachers who routinely rise above the call of duty.
And so there was Bill North at the dais in royal blue, reflecting on how Burbank High had changed in the 42 years since his first graduation.
And so, it was explained, there would be a presentation. To Mr. North's obvious surprise, an assistant principal stepped forward with a yellow firefighter's coat, marked with his name and the declaration that he is a No. 1 Teacher. Why a firefighter's coat? Everybody at Burbank High knows about Mr. North's fascination with firetrucks, about how he can even tell their sirens apart.
Graduation Day was, in fact, the crown of a series of events, large and small, that marked Mr. North's last few weeks. A retirement party was held at the Castaway restaurant in May, arrangements were made for the Burbank Fire Department to chauffeur Mr. North in one of its engines. About 200 colleagues and former students roasted him in tribute.
Mr. North can remember the moment he decided to become a teacher.
"I was a senior at Burbank High, sitting in a classroom that was dingy, with a long-term sub who was just terrible. And it dawned on me. I was thinking, 'I could do better than this.' "
He went to UCLA and absorbed the latest in educational methodology. At his first job at John Muir Junior High, Principal Bob Leland monitored his first few weeks of work.
"I was busy showing him all the fancy teaching techniques I learned at UCLA. He had a troubled look on his face . . . Finally, he said to me, 'Why don't you do it the way you want?' "And that just hit me. I realized, in this business, nobody had all the answers." And so Mr. North set out to do it his way.
"Forever Young" was the theme of Burbank High's commencement. The logical question was, why had Mr. North decided to retire?
"I'm just thinking it's time to do some other things. I wanted to leave teaching before I burned out and got a little funny--funny as in peculiar, you know . . . Some of them stay just a little bit too long."
Mr. North didn't put it this way, but it seemed he wanted to be like the athlete who retires as a champion, before anyone can say he's over the hill.
Retirement, he says, will give him more time for his hobby, woodworking. But there's also some talk that he'll drop by Burbank High from time to time. He's been the yearbook advisor the last 10 years; perhaps the staff will need some help next year.
It seems to be the kind of talk that no one wants to discourage, least of all Mr. North.
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For a teacher to be classified as a lovable living legend, it takes more than 37 years of effective instruction - it takes special talents. It takes an ear that can differentiate the sirens of a fire truck from a fire engine. It takes the ability to write co medic skits that skewer staff and students. It takes writing one's own textbook, but most importantly, it takes a gregarious , kind demeanor. Bill North possessed such gifts.
After his retirement in 1996 Bill was able to pursue his hobby of woodworking where he made many things. He would sometimes stop by Burbank High for visits and in 2008 he attended the Burbank High Centennial and that is where I met Bill North at the staff get together and he allowed me to take his photo.
Bill flew to Denver, Colorado for a friends retirement party. Bill almost cancelled his trip as he was concerned about driving in the snow and icy roads.
But he did go and the picture below of Bill was taken in Denver the day before his death and the day of his death.The other man pictured is part of the family Bill was visiting in Denver for this man’s retirement party, which Bill surprised some of them by attending. Bill made the wood base that he is holding as a retirement gift for this friend.
As word was received of his death, there has been an overwhelming of love, prayers and memories on facebook and social media from family, friends, fellow teachers and most of all his former students.As we say Good Bye to Mr. Ralph William "Bill" North, a Living Legend Who did it His Way!
THANK YOU! Mr. North
I worked on Ceralbus in '89, or was it '90? Can't remember, but I remember what a great class it was. It was a lot of hard work, but we were treated like responsible adults by Mr. North. A great man, who connected with his young students and mentored us. He will be missed.
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