Mr. Taft: More than just our principal!

Most of his students thought that, like all teachers, he had no life outside the hallways of Wagner. After all, it seemed that he was always there. I'll bet you'd never guess that Mr. Taft started out his career as an accountant at a lumber yard!

Born & raised in Rochester, New York, Bruce was an accountant in the family business - Taft Lumber. His mother was an elementary school teacher, which is where he probably got his inclination toward education. 

He graduated in 1955 from Saint Lawrence University, Canton, NY with a BS in Mathematics and Science and an MS in Education.  He was also a member of the varsity ski team, which really came in handy in the Philippines!

Following college, he spent three years teaching locally and completing his commitment as a US Navy Reservist and then joined the Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) in 1958.

Bruce met Patricia Murphy, a fellow DoDDS teacher, in Morocco, and they married in 1960.  Their son Rich ('80) was born in Turkey and daughter Suzanne ('82) was born in France. Spending the next 35 years as a DoDDS high school teacher and principal, they were fortunate to live in such exotic places as Morocco, Turkey, France, the Philippines, Japan and Korea.

Bruce’s longest assignment was the fifteen years (1967-1982) he spent as Asst. Principal and Principal of our Alma Mater, Wagner High. During his 28 year tenure as a DoDDS principal, it’s estimated that he handed out 3500 diplomas. 

Bruce retired in June 1992, while Pat continued to teach in Korea until she retired in 1994. They built their retirement home, the very first home they’ve ever owned, in Mesa, Arizona where Bruce was active as an instructor and regional coordinator for the AARP’s “55 Alive Driver Safety Program”, a national program that provides driver retraining to retirees. 

He is also an officer in the local chapter of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE), and served as a director of the American Overseas Schools Historical Society (AOSHS) until 2002. 

Bruce & Pat continue to travel extensively, often touring Europe and attending reunions of DoDDS schools and educators. 

A few folks submitted some interesting stories about Mr. Taft:

From Pat Schramm (Creative Writing & French Teacher at Wagner): When Frank and I first became engaged and hadn't told anyone yet, we were "secretly" looking at rings at the BX. At that moment, along comes Bruce Taft!  He stayed mum and shared our secret for a couple of weeks before we announced our engagement publicly. Frank often told people that Bruce Taft was the best principal that he ever worked with.  When we left DoDDS, we went to Ohio, where Frank became a High School administrator for the last 10 years of his career.  He says that he modeled himself after Bruce.

From Waddy Vining ('78):  I look back now and wonder why I wanted to graduate from school early. In retrospect, those were the greatest times in my life. I finished my senior year early and Mr. Taft let me graduate by myself in Jan. of  1978. It was wonderful, my friends and the faculty all were in attendance----what a great day. I was the top, middle, and bottom of my graduating class!

From Laura Gayles Stephens ('80):  The class of '80 decided to pull a prank on Mr. Taft during our graduation ceremony. Such a silly idea but soooo funny to us at the time. Each one of us (that was brave enough to do it) passed a marble to Mr. Taft as we crossed the stage and accepted our diploma. After a while, there were so many marbles, they began to fall off of the table. Needless to say, it got very noisy, the marbles were falling off the table, the teachers were trying to pick them up or kick them to the side so no one would step on them and Mr. Taft got redder and redder in the face.  

From Jose Hernandez ('80): I wanted say thanks to Mr. Taft for the support that he gave to all the students. I was a kid who hung out at “the park” or “Marlboro Country”, as many called it. I was in trouble a lot and I remember the time an SP followed me into the school hallways, hoping to pump me for information about some of my friends. Mr. Taft saw him detain me around the 100 wing and came up to find out what was going on. When the SP told Mr. Taft that he was just talking to me and being a friend, I’ll never forget what he said …he told him that I had enough friends and to leave the campus. I also remember that he gave us a heads-up before our senior trip, warning us that the SP’s would be searching the bus. I appreciated the fact that he was concerned for all the kids at Wagner, even the ones that got into trouble from time to time. 

Photos: 1) Mr. Taft in 1977 - love that white belt!  2) Bruce & Rich Taft at the 2006 San Diego Reunion   3) Bruce & Pat Taft with their grandson at his college graduation in 2015. 4) Mr. Taft handing Waddy Vining his diploma