Former Oxford teacher and school board member Gerda Frost Houck, of Port Huron, passed away Wednesday, March 19, 2003. She was 91.
Born in Denmark, Houck taught English, French and history at Oxford High School for more than 40 years and served on the school board from 1956 to 1960.
“She was a very precise person,” recalled Roger Oberg, former Oxford teacher (1941-61) and district superintendent (1961-1978). “Everything had to be in its place. All the i’s dotted and t’s crossed.”
“She was an excellent teacher. Very intelligent. She was very warm and very compassionate. A good Dane,” Oberg said.
“We (students) liked her,” said Bill French, a 1940 OHS graduate and former student of Houck’s. “She was easy to get along with. Very personable.”
“Some of us guys liked her because she was tall and trim. Nice-looking,” French said. “You know how boys are in the 11th and 12th grades.”
“She was a great teacher. One that was interested in her students,” remembered Bob Clack, also a 1940 OHS graduate and former student of Houck’s. “She was real good with the kids. If they were having problems with their work, she’d help them iron them out to get it done. I liked her real well.”
“She was a very thorough, concerned teacher,” said James Ricketts, another 1940 OHS graduate and former Houck student. “She was always very helpful to all the students. She was a very caring, nice person and conscientious. Everybody that had her liked her.”
Helen Smith, a 1950 OHS graduate, said Houck was a “good school board member” who “really cared about the kids and cared about education.”
“As far as I’m concerned those are the two most important things in this country,” Smith said.
Smith described Houck as a “very nice, kind person” and a “wonderful woman.”
Houck is preceded in death by her husband Harold Houck, whom she married December 8, 1945 in Oxford.
She is survived by her sons David (Lynn) Houck of Marysville and Alan (Tharen) Houck of Cleveland, Ohio; four grandchildren Dr. Christopher Houck, Kellilyn Houck, Lindsay Houck and Sarah Houck; and nephew Kay (Joyce) Hansen.
Memorial services were held Saturday, March 22 at the Pollock-Randall Funeral Home in Port Huron.
The Rev. Arthur J. Habermehl officiated.
Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider Blue Water Hospice.