By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post

St. John’s Military School has a special place in the hearts of the Duckers family and its closing is especially poignant.

“It is hard. It was the place I grew up, and it was my parents’ lives and legacy,” said Sarah Duckers, whose father, Keith, was president of St. John’s from 1967 until he retired in 1993.

After 131 years, the fixture anchoring the north end of Santa Fe, will close at the conclusion of the current school year. Commencement for this year’s senior class is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Jack Vanier Hall.

“He would have been devastated,” Sarah said of her father. “I am glad he is not around to see it happen.”

Keith Duckers died in 2007 at the age of 79. A plaque on a bust of Keith Duckers, which is located on the campus teardrop, reads “St. John’s was his life. A friend to cadets and alumni. A gentleman to everyone. A man blessed with insight, compassion and vision.”

Sarah, now a lawyer in Houston, Texas, said her father joined the St. John’s staff around 1950. When Keith married Elizabeth Wohlgemuth in 1956, they lived on the St. John’s campus until Keith retired.

“Their first home was on the top floor of Vail Hall,” Sarah said.

Vail Hall was destroyed by fire in November of 1978.

“We actually went back into my Dad’s office while they were still putting out the fire (but had it under control) to get out papers and memorabilia,” Sarah said. “There was a great fear the tower on the northeast corner would fall. As it turns out, it took many hits from a wrecking ball months later to bring it down.”

For Sarah, St. John’s was home from the time she was born until she left for Houston after law school. For her, being a girl at an all-male military school was the norm.

“I never knew anything different, but it often was like we lived at my Dad’s job,” Sarah said. “We ate our meals in the mess hall with the cadets, awoke to Reveille and lights out at Taps, played by a cadet on the bugle. For many years, Thanksgiving coincided with Parents’ Weekend, and we would eat Thanksgiving with the cadets and their families at the 4-H Hall.”

Sarah likened living at St. John’s to “living in a lovely park.”

“My mom worked hard to make sure the campus grounds and our yard were beautiful and took great pride in the landscaping, flowers, trees, etc.,” she said.

The campus grounds weren’t all that received Elizabeth’s attention, however. Sarah said that her mother, who worked as a professional journalist, “also wrote the school paper, The Skirmisher, for many years, did press releases about the school and students, and also taught religion and etiquette classes.”

Additionally, many school events, including trustee meetings and graduation events, were hosted at the Duckers’ home, she said.

Some of Sarah’s fondest memories were of the many people of St. John’s who she encountered throughout the years. And while there were too many to mention them all, Sarah did tell of a few.

“Col. Paul Kellogg is still my idea of a hero, a great American and a true Marine. His annual tribute to the flag was awe-inspiring as he stood there in his dress white uniform. Col. Remy Clem, my dad’s predecessor as head of the school, was such a kind, gentle man with great vision. Dean “Smokey” Chiles, who was in charge of maintaining the school the grounds, would have a “wild game feed” every year just before Christmas, when he and his co-workers and friends would all cook up the venison, duck, pheasant, quail, etc., that they had bagged during hunting season and would serve it up to friends of the school in the maintenance building. Russ Guernsey, who was a survivor of the Bataan Death March in WWII, would go out with the cadets every spring on a rattlesnake hunt. He was a fascinating man and another American hero,” she said.

For Sarah, another fun memory of her time at St. John’s was when Up the Academy was filmed there in 1979.

“That movie came at a much needed time after Vail Hall had burned. The fees paid to film on the campus helped pay to rebuild,” she said. “Watching it now is like a walk down memory lane of so many familiar faces.”

Sarah, herself, even made an appearance in the punchbowl scene!

Over the years, St. John’s played an important part in many lives.

“Military schools like St. John’s provided kids with a structure and discipline that often was lacking where they came from, or that they wouldn’t accept from their parents. Also, the smaller class sizes and individualized education helped kids who just got ‘lost’ in larger schools,” Sarah said. “My parents’ legacy, along with so many others who were there over the years, is the success stories of kids who were on the wrong path or who were falling through the cracks, who became good students and great citizens.”

Sarah said she believes there is still a need for schools like St. John’s to provide discipline and education.

“Sadly, boarding schools in general, and military schools in particular, are no longer in favor with most parents. Some of it, perhaps, is the trend toward more “helicopter” parenting. Certainly, the cost of private boarding schools in today’s economy is also a factor,” she said.

Sarah said she wasn’t surprised when she heard St. John’s is closing.

“Wentworth and Missouri Military School have already closed, and SJMS had done well to last a little longer and fight the trend. I am thankful to the many great supporters of the school over the years, particularly the Vanier family,” she said. “I am happy to hear an Old Boys Association has been formed to preserve the school’s records and history, and I hope people in Salina will help support that.”

As for how she wanted St. John’s to be remembered, Sarah succinctly replied, “as a place that made a difference in so many young men’s lives.”