WHEN LONDONDERRY High School teacher Bill Howard died suddenly May 2, his students wanted to memorialize him in the right way. So they called Dunkin' Donuts.
"He drank at least, I don't know how many extra-large iced coffees a day — cream only," his wife, Glenda, said. "He loved iced coffee."
Howard taught math in the special education department and was beloved by his students, said Alan LaBranche, special education case manager. Last week, Howard's students raised nearly $957.24 selling iced coffee at the high school in his memory.
"I thought it would be a good thing to do as a civics project, and also it gives the kids a little bit of closure," LaBranche said.
The money will pay for a granite bench in Howard's memory to be placed in the high school's memorial garden, where several other benches have been dedicated to students and staff who have died.
The bench itself is also an appropriate way to remember Bill Howard, his wife said. He loved to garden, Glenda Howard said last week as she finished planting the last of a group of perennials her husband had bought during April vacation in Pennsylvania.
He especially loved sunflowers and morning glories, and he watered the garden he created at the family's Manchester home before and after school every day, she said.
"I'm only doing this garden because I know how much he loved it," she said.
The students were hoping to raise about $500, but the additional funds will likely be used to purchase more plants or flowers for the garden, LaBranche said. The iced coffee was donated by Joe and Rosa Correia of Dunkin' Donuts in Londonderry, he said.
In return, several lucky special education students will remember Howard for helping them after his death.
The Howard family — including sons David, Aaron and Seth — requested that, in lieu of flowers, mourners make donations to the Londonderry High School special education program. They have received nearly $3,000 for scholarships.
In the 36 years the couple was married, Bill Howard did not bring work home often, his wife said. When she and her son David went to the high school to help with the fundraiser and see the garden, she was flattered by the outpouring of support.
"We were just amazed, really, that he was so well thought of at school," Glenda Howard said. "We didn't have any closure at this point, so for us it was nice to see the kids and to see them interacting."
"The special education department is really like a family there," she added.
I am sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle Autumn rain.
When you wake in morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circling flight,
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die.