It was an ordinary day. Wednesday, February 17 and I had just sat down to look at the morning newspaper. As I reached page A9 I had to do a double-take when looking at the first photograph displayed in the "Obituaries" section of the newspaper. There in the upper-right corner was a face I had seen many times in the past. Actually, knew her as "Shenna...Queen of the Jungle." Miss Nolan was my French teacher in high school for two years as well as my Homeroom teacher.
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| Mrs. Joan Nolan Bergan |
The newspaper had her name as Joan Nolan Bergan, but I knew as soon as I looked at the photograph that it was Miss Nolan. In 1961, when I was a senior in high school, schools in the state of Pennsylvania were required by law to have a reading from the Bible every morning during homeroom period. Miss Nolan assigned readings based on alphabetical order of our last name. She also would allow anyone that didn't care to read the Bible to find someone in homeroom to read it for them. I often read the Bible a couple of times a week, but I got paid to do it. 25 cents was my going rate in the 1961-62 school year and there were quite a few people who would pay me to read the Bible for them. Miss Nolan didn't care, or at least I don't think she cared. I had Miss Nolan for French, both in my junior and senior years. I was, at best, a "C" student, but it didn't matter as long as I could be in her class. She was beautiful! My buddies and I couldn't figure out why she wasn't married, since she was so good looking.  |
| Miss Joan Nolan, 1962 |
The obituary told that Miss Nolan had gotten married in 1965, three years after I had graduated from high school. She reminded many of my friends and I of a young actress by the name of Irish McCalla who played "Shenna, Queen of the Jungle" in the black and white movie called "Crash in the Jungle" which was shown in movie theaters in 1956. In my junior year of French, Miss Nolan found a class in France that wanted to be pen pals with students in the United States. My class thought it would be interesting, so we were asked if we wanted a girl or boy for a penpal. I chose a girl and before long I had a new French name, Raoul. My French pen pal's name was Zoē. We sent letters back and forth for two years until I finally got to meet her on the beach in Atlantic City in 1962. I wrote a story about our meeting which you can find by typing French pen pal in the white box at the top left of this story. After graduating, I went to nearby Millersville State Teacher's College and five years later I was back at Manheim Township as a teacher. At that time I found out that Miss Nolan had changed her name to Mrs. Bergan. I assume that just about every student who ever went through school had favorites that they remember the most. One of my all-time favorites was Miss Nolan. And, when I read of her death today I was saddened. Her obituary photograph showed a more mature Miss Nolan, but it still was her. Her two-column, half-page story told of her life as both a teacher as well as wife and mother. To me she will still be remembered as the teacher who helped me get through French class with a passing grade and as the beautiful teacher who still, to this day, will always be "Shenna, Queen of the Jungle." It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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