Yearbook Photo
Yearbook Photo
To the many people who knew former Batavia High School teacher and principal Glenn Young — from family and friends to students and colleagues — he served as an inspiration. He made a difference as a favorite teacher and fair administrator.
“This man was an amazing person to work with and for. I have nothing but respect for him,” Burton Howell said. “My thoughts and prayers are with the family and I remember so fondly him telling everyone about his nephew that might get drafted from Arizona and how cool that story ended up.”
As a former Batavia resident and BHS graduate, Young grew up on a dairy farm outside of Potsdam before that and joined the Army after he graduated high school. He served in Germany during the Korean War and worked his way through college at Potsdam University as a police officer for the city of Potsdam.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1964, he took a position at BHS as a history teacher. In 1985, he became principal of the school until he retired 10 years later.
Glenn Young died Dec. 27 in Tucson, Ariz., where he lived during retirement. He was 91.
There were certain things about Young that Howell isn’t likely to forget, he said, such as the sound of Young’s cowboy boots coming down the hallway: they announced his arrival before he ever showed up. He also talked about how excited he was about his nephew John Fina, a tackle at the University of Arizona when the boy was being considered for the NFL draft.
“It was awesome when he got drafted by the Bills, and even better when he had a remarkable career here,” Howell said. “My fondest memory as a teacher with Glenn as my principal was at a parent meeting where the parent began attacking me. Glenn literally stood up between me and the parent and told them they would never speak to one of his teachers that way, and dismissed me. As I walked away, I heard him tear into the parent about how his teachers wouldn’t be treated that way.”
He had nothing but good words for this former administrator, Howell said. Former Board of Education President Patrick Burk shared a similar sentiment in that Young "was always kind, inclusive and welcoming.”
“I was honored to work with him as a member of the Board of Education,” Burk said on a social media post.
Batavia school teacher John Kirkwood also posted, adding, “You were a difference maker for the Batavia City School District, and you will be remembered fondly by those who had the pleasure to work with you.”
Former student Cheryl Kowalik told The Batavian that Young “cared about the students and staff he worked with.” He was an excellent teacher and principal, she said, and was an educator who made learning fun.
Another former student, current school Superintendent Jason Smith, credits Young as a bridge for Smith’s longtime friendship with a foreign exchange student from the 1980s.
“My best memory of Mr. Young was when he met with me in his office in early December of my junior year in 1988 to discuss a foreign exchange student at BHS, who was also a friend of mine. He was having difficulty at his present home placement, and Mr. Young was looking for ideas, somehow knowing we were friends,” Smith said. “The following week Hiro Yamabe moved in with my family and I on Elm Street for the rest of the school year.
“That conversation initiated by Mr. Young about Hiro resulted in a wonderful 37-year friendship,” Smith said. “Hiro, my family and I are so grateful to Mr. Young for showing such kindness and caring, as Hiro would have likely returned to Japan, and instead, it led to a wonderful and special friendship.”
There were a number of things that came to mind for Ginny Tiede when she thought of Glenn Young, though her clearest memory was of him patrolling the halls of BHS, walking “very softly in his cowboy boots.” He also had quite a green thumb, planting clumps of white birch in the courtyard and converting his home porch into a year-round automatic vegetable watering system.
“We visited him and Rosemary at their home in the foothills near Sabino Canyon in Tucson several decades ago,” Tiede said. “There was a hummingbird nest in the frame of their basketball hoop. Glenn liked to go hiking.”
Apparently, Batavia High School had carved out a spot in his heart just as he had impacted that community. He shared many memories with his grandson on return visits to Batavia after his retirement, Dawson Young said.
“My grandfather lived an amazing and accomplished life,” Dawson said in an online post. “My grandfather loved Batavia High School. In his time there, he told me how he had helped build the courtyard adjacent to the cafeterias; that courtyard was named ‘The Glenn’ in honor of him. My grandfather talked very fondly of several teachers he had hired and worked with. My grandfather was close with many teachers and former students at the school.
“He would tell me his experience every time he returned to Batavia; he would walk down some of the streets and be recognized and admired. He was a remarkable person and I am so extremely proud to have had him as my grandpa,” Dawson said. “I love you, Grandpa, so very much. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and for being an inspiration to me.”
Glenn Young is survived by a brother, Dale Young of Spring Valley, Ariz.; a sister, Carol Sullivan of California; a son Douglas Young of Clinton, Ill.; and daughter Vicki Hoover of Springfield, Ill.; a son, Mike Young of Longmont, Colo.; and a son, Jeffrey Young of Tucson, Ariz.
