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Elinor (Lin) Chuha
1933-1997
A native of Johnstown, PA, Lin was born 9 February 1933.
She was one of the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Chuha.
After
graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, she taught in Ohio and
Johnstown before joining our DoDDS family. She once remarked that her
teaching in Ohio, where two different classes met in the gym at the same
time- and neither one was a P.E. class, was good preparation for life
with DoDDS.
Lin began her overseas teaching career in 1960 at
Lakenheath H.S. where her classroom was close to the runway. When the
jets took off or landed, recitation had to stop momentarily. In 1962,
after two years in England, her two-year leave of absence was up and she
was packing to return to Johnstown when she was offered a transfer to
Wiesbaden, Germany.
General H.H. Arnold High School was to become a second
home, for she remained there teaching French and English until her
retirement in 1997.
Lin was an integral part of life at Wiesbaden
High. Her quiet smile welcomed and calmed students and friends alike.
She participated unassumingly in the activities which do not bring the
recognition and applause of the crowds. She volunteered for crowd
control and ticket-selling for track and for wrestling. Her noon hour
was spent day after day working with the team for the Brain Bowl. She
took trips with the French Club to Paris and later was instrumental in
the formation of The Melting Pot, a club for students of all the
languages, but also open to students of diverse nationalities who
attended Arnold. Her extracurricular work did not receive the extra
pay, but it built self-confidence in her students through achievement.
Lin’s enjoyment in her teaching and mentoring of her students precluded
any desire for “promotion” which would take her out of the classroom and
away from the daily contact with young people. She was an active member of the Wiesbaden chapter of the Overseas Federation of Teachers.
Lady
Lin shared her love of beauty and art with her husband, Jack. Together
they searched for and found antiques for the apartment that they had
made into an inviting refuge. When Lin retired in 1997, her
“two-year sabbatical” had turned into a thirty-seven year DoDDS career.
She and her husband, Jack Esztergalyos, arrived back in Johnstown
shortly before her death on 11 September 1997.
Prepared by Barbara M. Edwards (former teacher at HH Arnold HS).
Originally published on the AOSHS site.