Goodbye, Dear Teacher
A Friday Feature honoring Mr. Larry Hallum - from an Arvin High Bear who owes him a tender and particular debt of gratitude.
Papa Bear, you’ve left your cubs here and have gone on ahead.
We do know, though, that you’ll be eagerly awaiting each of us to join you.
Truly, eagerly…
But what on earth shall we do here on earth without you?
Mr. Larry Hallum was my high school Frosh Studies teacher, my Senior year Government and Economics teacher, and my Senior Advisor. And, he was so much more.
He died three weeks ago after a serious injury.
I graduated from Arvin High School many years ago, but he and I kept in touch via email and Facebook (FB). (Our last communication, in fact, was the 31st of January this year. He wanted to let me know that he had subscribed to The Lightshare Letters, this newsletter…it’s hard not to cry so I shall not fight it.) Ever since my Freshman year in high school, his has been a voice of unending kindness, encouragement, and support. And, I know that there are many, many more of my fellow Bears who feel exactly the same.
When you think of the qualities of the ideal teacher surely Mr. Hallum embodies them all.
He was mine. He was ours.
Mr. Hallum is ours.
Mr. Hallum Singing Arvin High's Fight Song
The video above link was posted on FB in September 2021 by his niece and fellow Bear, my friend Lorri Michael.
I shared Lorri’s video on my FB page and included this note which I’ve expanded just a bit here:
“This is our beloved Mr. Hallum, who loved and cheered on so many of us through our years at Arvin High School. When I was a Freshman, he invited my Native American Grandma to our Frosh Studies class to teach us about Yokuts Indians. [The Yokuts are a band of Native American tribes in California’s Central, or San Joaquin, Valley. Grandma was a docent at the local museum and taught many school children about the native peoples indigenous to the region. She was also a sketch and watercolor artist and my very best friend.] I remember she brought in her baskets and salt grass and her obsidian arrow heads and it was truly fascinating and great. She and Mr. Hallum became friends after that day and kept in touch with one another. Of course they did…
I was pregnant most of my Senior year of high school and incredibly sick with hyperemesis gravidarum, or pregnancy-induced nausea. I was also quite sad, coming to terms with the fact that my dreams were imminently and radically changing from applying to universities around the country to raising a child, a child who must understand how much she was loved, desired, and valued. It was quite the mental and emotional shift. Because of the depression, which along with the nausea had also contributed to missing a ton of school (I was even voted most absences!), I began to think about dropping out altogether. It was hard, that season of life.
But, in Spring of that year, even though still tremendously nauseous, I got dressed, went to school, sought out Mr. Hallum, my Senior Advisor, and asked him: if I caught up on all my coursework, did he think I could still graduate and maybe even with honors? (Lifelong words from Grandma still rang in my head, even while I lay on the couch at home: “I want to see that gold star on your diploma, Renate!”) Without skipping a beat, he enthusiastically replied, “Absolutely!” He gave me the encouragement - and the courage - to catch up in my classes and, indeed, to graduate with honors a few months later, at 8 1/2 months pregnant. I graduated 6th in my high school class, and after the ceremony I made a beeline to Grandma. Showing her my diploma - complete with gold star - was a defining moment in my life. Both she and Mr. Hallum believed in me so deeply and to such lengths that I found the ability to face the seemingly impossible, with fierce nausea and even fiercer despondency threatening to topple me. And, there is no doubt whatsoever that were it not for Grandma’s voice in my heart and ringing through my head and Mr. Hallum’s unceasing support and trust and belief in me, I would not have graduated .
Graduating from high school made all the difference for me, my daughter, and three years later, for my son. I went on to become a nurse and then a nurse practitioner, and I earned my doctorate in nursing in 2015. Mr. Hallum, in fact, took part in a survey I created as part of my doctoral work!
There are a multitude - thousands - of Arvin High Bears and so many others whose lives have been irrevocably and positively impacted by Mr. Hallum’s love. My story is but one of many…He loved his kids passionately and unabashedly. How many children - how many, I ask - need the kind of passionate and unabashed love he freely and continually gave his students, many of whom are you? How many lives has he saved, truly, because of his incredible, supernatural love?
I am tremendously thankful that he and I have remained in touch over the years. My love for him is more than I can express adequately here. I owe him so much... so very much…
Mr. Hallum, there are so myriad blessings I (and my children) have received because of your unfailing belief in me when I was a bereft and befuddled teenager. Thank you.
Your ever dedicated student, Dr. Renate Flynn
P. S. We’re for the red and white!!!
P. P. S. Go Bears!!!
Travel
There are many, many stories…But, I think it suffices to write that when, in about 2007 I finally said, “Yes,” to that niggling travel bug and began to take off, usually by myself, to different places I had dreamed of visiting, Mr. Hallum often travelled vicariously with me. As I look back on some of our email communications during those trips (I called him “Dear Teacher”) his messages were always, always teeming with delight:
“Renate Bear! I can't get the images of your trip to Europe with the rainy, lighted streets, cafe tables, enchanting views, and warm rooms out of my memory bank!”
“Wow! Renate! Super. Never been to Amsterdam or Paris. The ‘Seasoned’ travelers say: Paris is for ‘being’, i.e. just enjoying everything: cafes, music, nightlife, food, drink and places from history. London is for ‘seeing’: plays, musicals, and famous places. Wish I could hitchhike!”
“Renate, fabulous adventures, young lady from Arvin, ‘The Beautiful Garden in the Sun!’ [Garden in the Sun is Arvin’s town motto.] I love it, simply love it! It's amazing you captured it all so vividly. Cheerio, Sweet Lass.”
“Renate Bear, Amazing again. Wow! It's all so fascinating…You can be whisked away to another world, almost another time, another culture. I think you were like a ‘cultural sponge’ and exhilarated by it all...the rain, the transport, the lights at night, the accents, the languages...ahhh...dream, dream, dream...the rain beating down outside, snuggled under warm covers after a superb day, a hot cup of tea, coffee or chocolate, a Mona Lisa smile on your face of immense pleasure at what you have done, seen, heard, felt, smelled, breathed, and sensed! Ahhhh!”
See? My dear teacher came with me! I imagine him, because of his love for me and his love of travel, sitting back, closing his eyes and dreaming about the places we were travelling together. With that ever-present smile…
I realize this moment that one of the constants in my life has been that smile.
And, when in one email I mentioned how growing up with few resources helped me to deeply appreciate, I thought, all that I was viewing while travelling, Mr. Hallum agreed: “Renate, your introspective view of the places you've been to is the fascinating part. Yes, I have been to the British Isles...Scotland and Ireland were the most interesting...and I went to the hometown of James Herriot, the country vet from ‘All Creatures Great and Small’...Scandinavia, so clean and the people blue-eyed and vibrant...Germany and Denmark...not to Paris [but he did visit later I saw]...nor have I gone to the Alps or southern Europe...Have seen much of Mexico...and I had an ‘all expense paid tour of Southeast Asia...but it was mainly a walking, trekking, and running trip...concerning our lack of ‘extras,’ you're correct. Not having too much when young helps you to appreciate our many blessings when older...”
Vietnam
I had the opportunity to speak to some nursing and medical students in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2011 and Mr. Hallum and I were in regular communication while I was there. (“WOW! WILD! WILD!…THE COUNTRYSIDE IS BEAUTIFUL…MY LAST VISIT I DIDN’T GET TO ENJOY THE VIEW”) When I thanked him for his service in Vietnam, he poignantly responded: “Renate, Thank you, thank you... and I especially accept your thank you on behalf of two of my good buddies in Recon: Bobby Shepherd of New Jersey and Harry Garrigus of Tennessee, Killed In Action, near Duc Pho, South Vietnam, 1969. Sitting here, thinking... remembering...Bobby just turned 20 and Harry was about 22. I was 25; they called me, ‘Grandpa,’and ‘Okie Lar’...Another time, another world...almost another person...42 years ago...now, I'm 67. They'd catch me now. Larry Vernon” [No, they wouldn’t, Dear Teacher.]
And, in another email, while I was still in Vietnam, he shared further, “I WOULD LIKE TO GO BACK; HOWEVER, LIKE WWII VETS GOING BACK TO NORMANDY, OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE, OR THE PACIFIC ISLANDS, I DON'T KNOW HOW I WOULD REACT...IT'S A DIFFERENT EMOTION...HOW ALL OF US JUST WANTED TO GET OUT AND GO HOME WHICH WAS OUR FONDEST DREAM... VIETNAM WAS CAUGHT BETWEEN US AND THE VIET CONG OR THE NORTH VIETNAM ARMY...AS IN ALL WARS, THE CIVILIANS SUFFER...THE WAR WAS A CHESS GAME WITH VIETNAM AS A PAWN IN A WORLDWIDE STRUGGLE BETWEEN US AND THE USSR AND CHINA. THE SOVIETS HAD TAKEN EASTERN EUROPE AND CHINA HAD SUPPORTED N. KOREA VS. S. KOREA...INDO-CHINA FELL AND THE FRENCH WERE KICKED OUT OF PRESENT DAY VIETNAM, LAOS AND CAMBODIA. THE USA MOVED IN TO TRY TO STEM THE COMMUNIST ADVANCE COUPLED WITH THE VIETNAMESE NATIONALISTIC MOVE FOR INDEPENDENCE . WE SUPPORTED THE NON-COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT AS WE HAD IN GREECE, TURKEY, AND S. KOREA. LIKE COMMUNISTS, NON-COMMUNISTS ARE NOT ALWAYS THE BEST PEOPLE WE HAVE SUPPORTED...AND NOW, WE TRADE WITH RUSSIA, CHINA, AND VIETNAM. IT AMAZES ME THAT I BOUGHT A JACKET MADE IN VIETNAM. SO, THERE'S HOPE FOR ME. OUR COUNTRY CALLED, I BELIEVE MY COUNTRY HAD THE RIGHT TO CALL ME, AND I ANSWERED THAT CALL LIKE MILLIONS OF OUR YOUTH. TWO OF MY GOOD BUDDIES IN MY RECON UNIT DIED THERE...BOBBY SHEPARD, 20 YEARS OLD, AND HARRY GARRIGUS, 22 YEARS OR SO...IT'S HARD TO REMEMBER THEM WITHOUT A TUG AT MY HEART..I GO OVER THAT WAR ALL THE TIME...I PRAY BOBBY AND HARRY'S SACRIFICE WAS NOT IN VAIN...OUR PEOPLE HAVE GIVEN SO MUCH OVER OUR HISTORY TO HELP OTHERS; HOWEVER, WE'VE MADE MISTAKES...BUT I BELIEVE SO MUCH MORE GOOD THAN BAD...”
(And, now, thinking about his words, and countries as “pawns,” my heart goes to Ukraine, where I’ve just completed my second medical mission… “As in all wars, the civilians suffer.” Indeed, Dear Teacher. Indeed.)
And, my response to his email: “Oh, thank you so much, Dear Teacher, for sharing your heart! In addition to wanting to share and serve here, I hoped desperately to learn about a war that I was too young to understand when it was occurring. Remember Freedom's Foundation? Remember Rhonda Eddy, Nati Vasquez, and I were selected to go to Washington DC? Well, we saw the Vietnam Memorial on that trip and it is now permanently etched on my brain and if I ever go back, I will look for your friends and pay tribute to them. THANK YOU for filling in some of the history for me. I so want to understand (as much as is possible). We were actually in Halong Bay over the weekend and I had the opportunity to speak with a Frenchman who has an interest in history (and fortunately speaks very good English). We talked about the Indochine War and the ‘American War’ [I learned on that trip that the Vietnamese call the Vietnam War the ‘American War’] and the intentions of each, how the French fight was to keep their colonial strongholds yet our fight was against the philosophical ideal of Communism, a much bigger more abstract goal. I too pray that your friends did not die in vain. I don't understand yet, but I am trying while I am here. I brought a book with me that I checked out from the library: Last Night I Dreamed of Peace. It is the diary of a young female North Vietnamese physician who was killed during the war. So, I shall also try to comprehend her point-of-view...
We have another 5 days here and in that time, between attending lectures, I hope to go to the Hanoi Hilton [where John McCain was imprisoned] and the Museum of the American War. I am not sure what I will find...
Dear Teacher, I wish there were some way this visit of mine to Vietnam could bring you some sort of comfort. I hope that my communication with you does not just dredge up horrendous memories but that it helps to redeem and validate somehow. Although I know next to nothing about the Vietnam War, I considered that perhaps a group of American nurses coming to share new ideas with Vietnamese nurses, physicians, and students would somehow symbolize a desire to forgive, a letting-go so to speak, on both sides. But that I'm sure in large part is naivete.
My love to you, Mr. Hallum. Thank you for helping me to understand contextually what was going on. I'll learn more, understand better.
Love, Renate”
And he poignantly responded: “Renate, thanx so much for your sensitive and understanding response to my note to you. When you return, you'll be able to help me in my quest to know more about myself and the war. Love you, Larry Vernon”
And, now, as I think about it, he has reunited with his buddies, whom he loved and remembered all his days…
What a homecoming Mr. Hallum is having!
Larry Hallum Shares Stories from Vietnam on SoundCloud
Maybe in heaven I’ll come close to being able to express to him all that’s in my heart…
In the meantime, there’s another celestial reunion which is inducing lots and lots of joy: He and Grandma I’m sure are having loads of fun talking California and Yokuts! (Is there obsidian in heaven? Salt grass?) How they both loved to laugh! And they loved talking California history together!
Family and Friends Remember Larry Hallum (a report from a local news station in Bakersfield, CA)
Mr. Hallum Singing The Ice Cream Song (this is from his niece, Marianna Thome Eastwood, who caught him singing a song he made up about the different flavors of ice cream when he worked at Disneyland's Carnations Gardens in the Summer between his college years.)
A Son’s Poem
The day after Mr. Hallum died, his son Ryan could not sleep, so like his father before him, he wrote a poem. (I have either forgotten or did not know what a prolific and gifted poet Mr. Hallum was!) Ryan and his twin brother, Drew, were born the same year as my daughter, Jacque. I remember Mr. Hallum talking about his wife’s pregnancy at school, while I was pregnant, too. “Hmmm,” I remember thinking, “our children will be the same age!”
Ode To A Fallen Bear
There once was a Bear with thick graying hair who lead cubbies up a mountain path.
He had done it for years, cubs tugging at his ears, rascals all, but he was loyal to the task.
He did it with joy and a big toothy grin, but his knees did bother him now and again.
At the trailhead he gathered the ornery bunch, clear-eyed and eager.
They seemed a bit hesitant, so they looked to their leader.
“Follow me”, the ole’ Bear said. He was big, strong and fast.
They set out on the rugged trek. Each step more certain than the last.
They gazed in awe as their wee paws tracked along through his impressions,
And along the way the Bear did convey a worthwhile lesson.
“Fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith. What do you want to hear when you meet your Maker face-to-face?”
Oh, they bemoaned his silly jokes and anecdotes, and story-telling songs.
Mile after mile that Bear did talk, he seemed to go on and on.
Their confidence grew as they pushed through the scrub and sagebrush. But the cubbies were startled when Papa Bear’s warble suddenly changed to a hush.
The wise ole’ Bear with glimmering eyes turned to address the pack,
“You go on ahead." And with bowed head, he nudged them on the back.
The cubs dashed on and crested the ridge, alight in glorious sun.
With heart high, the Bear stood behind, admiring the vista hard won.
“Well, cubs, you made it. Think I’ll take a rest.” Oh, but the cubs they did doth protest.
Running to their Papa Bear, they leapt into his arms, surrounded by strength and love.
And Papa Bear, holding them there, thanked the Lord above.
Well done Bear, well done. You are faithful, true and brave. Rest now, Papa Bear. I, the Lord, will save.
In Memoriam
Larry Vernon Hallum was born in Bakersfield, California, on September 4, 1943, to Minnie Ethel Downum and John Vernon Hallum. His parents migrated to Bakersfield from Stidham, Oklahoma, his mother taking a Greyhound Bus across the country with his then 18-month-old sister, Jonnie Mae, to meet her husband, who had already gone ahead to find work. The Hallums settled first at the Pomeroy Jewett Ranch, and then upgraded to Royal Street in Arvin. Soon, John and Minnie welcomed children Carolyn Sue, Virginia Ann, Larry Vernon, and Barry Lee. Larry often referred to himself and his siblings as “C.I.O.s” (California-Improved Okies). They attended the Nazarene Church in Arvin where Larry accepted Christ at the age of eight.
Larry attended Arvin Union Elementary as a child, where he began honing his "gift of blab", winning the Henry Greve speech contest in 1957 representing Haven Drive Junior High School. Larry graduated from Arvin High School in 1961, where he was enthusiastically involved in student government (Senior Class vice president) and played B Class football and varsity tennis.
After graduation, Larry attended Bakersfield College for two years, where he received the Bakersfield Lions Club Scholarship and played tennis. For his bachelor’s degree, he turned down a full-ride scholarship to Stanford University to follow his roots and return to the University of Oklahoma, Home of the Sooners. He was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha Christian Fraternity there and would always send his papers home for his older sister, Ginger, to type for him. He completed his student teaching in Norman, Oklahoma and received his bachelor’s degree in history and political science in 1966.
Upon the completion of his degree, Dr. James “Fizzer” Young offered Larry a job at Arvin High School, but he initially turned down the role. Dr. Young had to call in the “big guns” (Larry’s father, John), who convinced him to take the position.
In 1969, at age 25, Larry volunteered for the draft to fight in the Vietnam War, answering the call like his brother Barry, and was enlisted for two years. He served in reconnaissance in Duc Pho, South Vietnam, earning the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and the rank of Sergeant E-5. He was given leave to go home to be with his ailing father and then finished his tour stateside. In Vietnam, Larry adopted the nickname Okie Lar, which stuck with him for life. Later in life, Larry spoke of his time in Vietnam, sharing stories of the young men who lost their lives fighting alongside him. Larry and his son, Ryan, honored these sacrifices as part of the October 2022 Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., during which they visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall.
After completing his tour, Larry returned to Arvin High School for good. Larry’s lasting impact on and investment in students is immeasurable. Throughout a teaching career spanning over 40 years, Larry taught thousands of students, often multiple generations. He taught frosh studies, world civilizations, geography, US history, government, and economics in Room #20. He led Academic Decathlon, Mock Trial, and started his beloved Constitution Team (head coach 1987-2003, assistant coach 2004-2023)). He directed the All-Senior Follies for 28 years. He took great pride in his school and made learning the school alma mater and fight song a requirement in his classes. In 1998, he was honored to be the first recipient of the Jim Burke Teacher of the Year Award. He was also named the Arvin Chamber’s Citizen of the Year and was given the Key to the City of Arvin. Larry retired from teaching in 2004 and was selected as one of the 100 Outstanding Alumni of Bakersfield College.
Larry was also a consummate coach – of football, tennis and even a season of baseball. He taught his frosh-soph “cubbies” a lifetime of valuable lessons, sometimes sending them on a run around the "big tree". As the loudest voice on the sidelines and in the crowd, Coach Hallum was always there to cheer on the athletes. Larry was also a stat keeper for over 20 years, bringing his famous “Hubba Hubba” to the games and always ready with a “GO BEARS!” Once a Bear, always a Bear!
In his personal life, Larry met Brenda Sue Golightly, daughter of Calvin Wesley and Fairy LaWanda Waldon, at a Bible study in 1975 and they were married in 1977 at First Presbyterian Church, standing room only. In 1986, the couple welcomed their sons, “two for the price of one” twins, Drew Jonathan and Ryan Wesley. Larry was their biggest fan, attending any game, concert, or performance in which his boys participated.
In 2017, Larry received his favorite title of “Grandpa” with the birth of his granddaughter, Abigail Kate. Grandson Wesley Christopher would follow in 2020. Larry and Brenda often drove from Bakersfield to Anaheim and back in one day, just to spend the day with their grandkids. Family was everything to Larry. He was a Hallum Family “expert” and always enjoyed gathering his many nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family together for any occasion. And, as many friends can attest, he had an uncanny ability to make everyone feel as if they were part of his family too.
Larry leaves behind his beloved wife of 46 years, Brenda Golightly Hallum, sons Drew Jonathan and Ryan Wesley (wife Katherine Devine), grandchildren Abigail Kate and Wesley Christopher, sisters Virginia Scarbrough (husband Lawrence) and Jonnie Stracner, along with countless nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and thousands of students who he adored.
In death, Larry joins his siblings Carolyn and Barry, parents, in-laws, and so many others, at the feet of his Lord and Savior, Jesus. As his granddaughter says, he has been reunited with pets Max the cat, and dogs Babe, Pumkin, Blue, and Aussie, and is now enjoying his favorite pastime: a sunset walk on the beach. We know that he is rejoicing with his Heavenly Father and bringing his big team spirit and bear hugs with him. We cherish the thought of Larry greeting us all someday with huge hugs, kisses on the cheek and light in his eyes, welcoming family. What a homecoming that will be!
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to the Larry Hallum “Spirit of Arvin High School” Memorial Scholarship. Please send donations to KHSD Educational Foundations, 5801 Sundale Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93309. In the memo section, please write “Larry Hallum.”
A Celebration of Life will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 1705 17th Street, Bakersfield, CA 93301 on Saturday, May 20, 2023, at 11:00 am. Reception to follow.
Larry will be laid to rest at the National Cemetery, 30338 E. Bear Mountain Blvd., Arvin, CA 93203, at a later date. Details to follow.
Arvin High School Alumni Association will be hosting a memorial in the fall of 2023. Details to follow.
(With gratitude to Katie Devine Hallum.)
Thank you for everything, Dear Teacher. I will miss you so very tenderly. There is a place in my heart that is all yours. Thank you for loving us so authentically and truly. And thank you for your tremendous impact on the trajectory of my life, the lives of my children, and the lives of so many others.
With all my love, Renate Bear
The Friday Feature is a weekly or biweekly series highlighting a remarkable artist or work of art.
When we have the tremendous blessing of an exceptional teacher who unceasingly molds and nurtures us with great love (truly he used love as his tool of choice to sculpt and shape us), who cheers us on and bolsters us up long after our time as his student has ended, who never forgets our names, who makes each of us know we are loved, desired, and valued, then we ourselves cannot help but become works of art.
And we learn how to do to others what has been done to us.
In this regard, Mr. Larry Hallum, my Dear Teacher, was a more prolific and masterful artist than Michelangelo himself.
The beauty he wrought multiplies. And it will never end. Exponential ripples.
Dear Mr. Hallum,
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Your legacy lives on…
Beautifully written. Thank you for sharing!!♥️