Frank H. Longstreth

Frank H. Longstreth

Frank H. Longstreth was a pillar of the Western Reserve Academy in Shaker Heights. Born to an old Main Line Philadelphia family, he did graduate work at Penn after service during Word War II in the Marine Corps, whose lapel pin he proudly wore on his crisply tailored blazers and suit jackets. He came to Western Reserve in 1948 and stayed as a teacher and campus fixture for 44 years. Known across campus as "Stretch," he was as handsome and well-dressed as a Gentleman’s Quarterly model, even when his white hair gave him the aquiline appearance of our national symbol. He was devoted to Broadway show tunes and college fight songs, along with a quiver full of barbed lines from old movies, all of which he employed to encourage and amuse his students both in the classroom and the athletic fields. He was honored by CAMWS as a Teacher of the Year. He died at the age of 86 on March 19, 2008.

— Ward Briggs