By David Fleet

Editor

Goodrich

-After more than 12 years as high school principal, two tours of active duty in the Middle East and a battle with cancer—David St. Aubin has endured

“I’m a walking billboard for perseverance,” laughed St. Aubin, 56. “We have had a lot of success here at Goodrich and that will continue. We always have things to work on here. We want to become better and better every year. We are moving forward.”

St. Aubin will step down as high school principal this June. The board of education is currently seeking a new principal.

“My career has been about me serving others,” he said. It’s been my whole life.”

The son of educators, St. Aubin worked with the children of migrant workers in high school, went into the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps at Western Michigan University, and obtained a master’s degree in educational leadership from Eastern Michigan University after teaching at Genesee High School. St. Aubin has also coached, and served as athletic director, assistant principal and principal at Bentley High School before assuming the role of principal at LakeVille High School.

In the fall of 2004, St. Aubin came on board to replace longtime GHS Principal Kenneth Andrezjewski, who would retire in January 2005.

In October 2008, St. Aubin was called to active duty and served a year in Iraq. His mission then was to help train Iraqi soldiers so they could provide better security for their own nation.

During his stint in Iraq he delivered the final message to 2009 GHS graduates via satellite from a bunker in former Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein’s palace near Baghdad Airport. St. Aubin was joined by Stephen Colbert, host of the Colbert Report, broadcasting live.

“Be proud to be an American, be proud to live in the land of the free, just don’t take these things for granted,” said St. Aubin to the graduates on two screens in the high school gymnasium.

“Remember, others like our Iraqi friends don’t have the same freedoms. So see these things as a gift, take advantage of what we Americans have and excel on your own terms, excel on the freedoms that you were given.”

St. Aubin returned to the U.S. on Nov. 25, 2009 and resumed his duties as GHS principal in January 2010.

In May 2011, St. Aubin announced his return to active duty to serve a year-long stint in Afghanistan beginning that July.

St. Aubin returned home August 2012 after completing nine months of active duty as part of forces stationed in Afghanistan and returned to school that fall. He has been awarded two Bronze Star medals, a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service, for his actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“When I was in Iraq training national police it was a different mission,” he said. “Then I was with Iraqis everyday, ate their food, trained with them—it was a very different objective. This time it was more of an operational mission, more combat-oriented. The Taliban would move across the seam between the Helmand and Kandahar provinces where the Army has a regional command. It’s an enemy in the shadows, they look the same as any Afghan.”

With the battles in the Middle East behind him, St. Aubin then took on personal challenges at home.

In April 2016, he was diagnosed with stage IV lymphoma.

“I had cancer a year-and-a-half before I was diagnosed,” he said. “I got an MRI in April and the doctor stuttered and told me I have cancer. They confirmed that with a PET (positron emission tomography) scan—the test checks the whole body for diseases. My whole body just lights up—it was everywhere.”

He was treated at the Flint-based Genesys Hurley Cancer Institute and completed his treatment, which included chemotherapy and radiation, in February 2017.

“It’s in remission now,” he said. “My survival is all about attitude. I survived two combat tours and I’m not going to let cancer beat me either. It was not going to happen. I’m tired and have some side effects, but I’m pretty good. You just don’t get rid of it.”

“My retirement is not due to the cancer or any part of my professional career here or anywhere. Rather, I’m just ready to take on some new challenges and a new career.”

David and wife Theresa moved to the Traverse City area earlier this year.

“My new career plans will focus on teaching leadership classes in the Traverse City area at Northwestern Michigan College. I taught military classes at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,” he said. “My dream job is to be a park ranger somewhere.”

“Thank you to everyone who was praying for me and giving me positive thoughts, along with my support system— my family, wife, kids and close relatives. My wife was a rock. I put her through a lot— Iraq, Afghanistan and cancer. The community members and many past students have reached out to me—it means so much. I truly believe in the power of prayer. When people pray for you, there’s real power behind that.”