Ron McDaniel and Jolynn Johns engage in conversation with others about the late Art Marben’s “board of education” paddle during a tribute for the iconic, longtime administrator at Tracy Area High School on Monday morning. Hundreds gathered to pay their respects for the man who many call “a legend.”

TRACY — To those who knew him, the late Art Marben was one-of-a-kind.

At a life remembrance celebration for Marben on Monday morning at Tracy Area High School, people described him as a phenomenal ballplayer, decorated Marine and remarkable teacher, coach and administrator. Even more importantly, they said he led by example and was a caring and invested people person.

“He ruled the school,” speaker Cal Ludeman said. “He was the headmaster, the principal. Everybody respected him — either out of fear or simple respect — and he earned all of it. He was very self-disciplined. He showed up every day and he rewarded you with either a smile or a frown. And you cared about how Art Marben thought about you as a student. I think the teachers would say the same for them.”

Ludeman said Marben, who was an educator at Tracy School for more than 30 years, stressed teamwork. Marben died in July at the age of 95.

“He was just that kind of leader,” Ludeman said. “You will find some students who, unbeknownst to a lot of other people, owe some of their lifelong success to that kind of nudge in direction that Art Marben would’ve given them. He was one-of-a-kind.”

Tracy Area Elementary School teacher Gale Otto knew Marben through coaching.

“He was one of the guys who hired me — he and Vernon Grinde and Leo Sebastian,” Otto said. “Those were three great people. They were pillars in the school and community.”

According to Otto, Marben was quite impactful.

“I don’t think you can know Mr. Marben for less than 1 minute and not know what to think of him,” Otto said. “He was just a leader from the beginning. He was the kind of leader that you want in a school. He was supportive of the faculty and coaches. And he was always there for the kids. Even if you didn’t know it right away, after you left this school, you knew Mr. Marben wanted the best for you.”

John Coulter, who taught history, geography and political science at TAHS for 35 years, said Marben was a great boss.

“He made you feel so important,” Coulter said. “He made you feel like you needed to be there at your best every day. I had no idea I was going to stay here this long and build a career here in town. And if you talk to other teachers, they’ll probably tell you the same. It was amazing — a real privilege to teach for him.”

Former student Ron McDaniel said some students learned the hard way back then, when corporal punishment was not only acceptable but also expected.

“The board of education was applied to the seat of knowledge,” McDaniel said in reference to the wooden paddle he said Marben used to straighten out behavior. “That’s what he’d say about using it.”

Speaker Gary Sandbo, a 1964 graduate, joked that Marben’s stellar baseball career prepared him for dealing with mischievous students.

“He was quite the disciplinarian,” Sandbo said. “When you got sent to his office, you’d instantly regret whatever it was that you did. He’d say, ‘OK, Gary. Grab your ankles.’ Then he’d deliver the ‘board of education.’ And he was a very good hitter.”

Longtime guidance counselor Chris Kamrud said he thought he knew the meaning of tough love, but that Marben demonstrated it better than anyone.

“Art put tough love into practice,” Kamrud said. “He cared deeply about students. He cared so much that he would make sure to interrupt destructive behaviors that he saw. And I think you’re all familiar with the fact that Art had to use his famous paddle to deter some of those destructive behaviors.”

After quite a few snickers from the crowd, Kamrud said the great thing about Marben was that he never held a grudge.

“He could paddle somebody at 9 in the morning and by noon at lunch, he’d be talking to that student about the fish biting at Lake Shetek or about the game that evening,” Kamrud said.

Kamrud said he was honored to be chosen as emcee for the community tribute.

“I was pleased to be asked because Art Marben was like a father to me,” he said. “He was my hero, a true legend. He had an incredible influence on people, and especially me. I was truly blessed to have worked with Art every school day for 15 years. And I looked forward to it. I liked my job. And a big reason of that was that I got on board with Art Marben.”

Roger Trulock, a former phy-ed teacher and wrestling coach in the district, had a similar respect for Marben.

“My father left my family when I was 5 years old,’ Trulock said. “I kind of searched for father images and I had four of them. Mr. Marben was the last one, when I came to Tracy, right out of college. It was my first job, and he kind of took me under his wing.”

Trulock said that as an administrator, Marben knew where to draw the line.

“If you crossed the line, then there were consequences,” Trulock said. “But then he’d wipe the slate clean again. That’s what I adapted as well. Kids still talk to me to this day. I started in 1967 and there were kids who you hoped would turn the corner and most of them did. Like Art always said, ‘Kids aren’t bad’ — there might be about 1-2 percent that don’t make it — but most of them are good kids. They just needed a little direction.”

Kamrud brought up a common thread for most people who knew Marben.

“Being Christians, we all understood how Jesus used parables to help us better understand how best to live our lives.,” Kamrud said. “Art also had parables, only we called them Marbenisms. And I’m sure you’ve all heard many of his Marbenisms.”

Kamrud gave an example of when a student would come to Mr. Marben and say he missed a B by one point and that the teacher refused to raise his grade.

“He’d probably say, ‘Well, that’s just the way the pickle squirts,'” Kamrud said. “Or maybe: ‘That’s just the way the cookie crumbles.'”

Shirley Anderson and two of her siblings graduated from Walnut Grove, but four of their siblings were TAHS grads, so she knew a lot about Marben.

“I had a couple of siblings who had some difficulties with teachers,” she said. “He was very fair with the students. He was really good. He’s the best principal they’ve had here.”

Mary Rosengren Molitor agreed.

“He encouraged everybody,” she said. “Nothing slid by. He watched us, but he cared about us and he loved us. We knew that.”

Molitor said she had just recently attended her 50th class reunion.

“We were the Class of 1968,” she said. “Our reunion went very well. We had 49 of us out of 101. We lost 10, so there were more than half there. That was impressive.”

Becky Averill recalled her favorite senior class memory, from 1968.

“We had an undefeated football season and we had this rivalry between Marshall and Tracy,” Averill said. “We ended up defeating Marshall 40-0 and someone — I can’t point fingers — took the 40-yard line from the Marshall football field.”

Ludeman said “somebody” took that Marshall 40-yard marker and brought it back to Tracy and hung it up over a building downtown.

“Then someone came to Tracy and got the 40-yard marker and took it up to Marshall and hung it up downtown,” he said. “A superintendent or principal at Marshall informed Mr. Marben and we had a little meeting. He balled the seniors out for this kind of behavior. Then at the end of the meeting, he said, ‘But it was really good work.’ That’s what I remember. Of course, Marshall was our biggest rivalry.”

Tribute committee members included: Otto, Dan and Mary Snobl, Averill, Kamrud, Anderson, John and Muriel Coulter, Clint Peterson and Gary and Jolynn Johns.

Peterson also served as the community band director for the event. One of the outstanding songs performed was the “Gallant Marine March.”

“He truly was a gallant Marine,” Peterson said of Marben.

Marben was married to his wife Carmen for nearly 68 years. While she and their daughter, Brenda Barry of Tucson, Arizona, were unable to attend the tribute, their sons Michael and Kurt Marben were present.

Kurt Marben thanked everyone in attendance for celebrating his father’s life.

“We were fortunate to call Tracy home,” he said. “Our mother can no longer travel, but she would be, like us, overwhelmed by the support.”

Mike Marben spoke about his dad’s service to his country during the Battle of Okinawa, which was the last major battle of World War II and one of the bloodiest.

“This led him down a path of service to others,” Marben said. “He lived by the code of ‘honor, courage and commitment.'”

Above all, Marben said his dad had a passion for people.

“He wanted people to be their best,” he said. “He never held onto any bitterness. He believed people deserved forgiveness. He challenged them to lead purposeful lives.”