The Circle Completes
After graduation in May of 1965 I headed to Belmar for the summer. My running career had fizzled at Seton Hall. All that was on my mind that summer was the fact that a 22 year old young man without a draft deferment was likely to be in a rice paddy in Vietnam in a couple of months. So I spent the summer at the shore drinking, chasing girls and betting at Monmouth Racetrack. I picked up part time jobs from local tradesmen I met at Gallagher’s bar. My buddies and I had rented a bungalow for the summer. Since I was the only one without a full-time job, I was alone in the house for the whole week. Weekends were kind of crowded and wild, usually a party that was ultimately broken up by the Belmar Police. So I was fancy free and not thinking one day into the future. I stopped home for a few days sometime in August and my dad and I had a conversation. He said, “Robert,” he always called me Robert, “didn’t you graduate from college this year?” I answered, “Yes, I did.” He said, ” Don’t you think you should be looking for a job?” I told him that I was expecting a draft notice any day. He said that while I was waiting I should be working also. He also told me that Uncle Joe, Dad’s brother who owned a Tavern in downtown Jersey City, knew a fellow who was principal of Lincoln High School in Jersey City. Charlie Fitzpatrick had told Uncle Joe he would be able to help me get a teaching job at Lincoln High School. So Dad and I stopped down at Uncle Joe’s bar to make arrangements for me to meet Mr. Fitzpatrick. The following conversation occurred when I was ushered into the principal’s office at Lincoln High School two days later.
Mr. Fitzpatrick, “Hello Mr. O’Rourke. Welcome to the staff of Lincoln High School. What subject do you teach?”
I was floored.
I answered, “My major certificate is in social sciences.”
Mr. Fitzpatrick said, “We don’t have an opening in social sciences. What else do you teach?
I said, “My minor is in English.”
He said, “We’ve got an opening in English. Report to room 100 and meet your new department chairwoman, Miss Wing. I hope you will enjoy teaching at Lincoln High School.”
I had a job! This was the most common way to get a teaching job in Jersey City in the 1960s. It was all about who you knew. I never filled out an application, had an interview or signed a contract. That is how I became an English teacher at Lincoln High School for the next seven years. Without my prior knowledge, it turned out that this job came with a bit of serendipity. Because I had a teaching position in an inner-city school, I was considered essential personal by the Jersey City Board of Education. At their request, I received a draft deferment (2A) from the Jersey City Draft Board annually for the next seven years. As a result I never did receive that draft notice in the mail. Thank you Dad, Uncle Joe, and Charlie Fitzpatrick.
For the next four years I lead the life of a single, 20-something guy. Then I met and married my beautiful wife, Arlene, in 1969. We built a chalet in the Pocono Mountains, and she convinced me to pursue my master’s degree. By 1970 I had a MS in Political Science. It was then that I began submitting applications to schools throughout New Jersey for a new teaching position. There was one school on top of a hill in Hunterdon County that we had passed numerous times while visiting Arlene’s family in “the country”. North Hunterdon Regional High School contacted me for an interview and ultimately offered me a contract to start teaching social science. After lengthy consideration, we decided to make the move to the country. This was a big step for 2 people who had lived in the city for their entire life. In the summer of 1972 we started a new adventure in our life story.
During this 7 year period I continued to be very interested in running. I worked out on a semi-regular basis. With my brothers I annually attended the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden and never failed to show at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field, Philadelphia.
During my second year on the job in North Hunterdon the head track coach position became vacant. I applied for the job, was interviewed and hired. Every time I look back at critical events in my life, I’m amazed at how the puzzle game together. The principal of North Hunterdon High School at the time was it a man named Bill Compton. He was a former football coach and very much interested in athletics his whole life. In seeking this position I was up against two very talented and experienced gentlemen named Pat Pinto and Ed Lavan. They were applying for the head position as well. Both of them had been track coaches for a number of years. They clearly were more qualified for the job than I was. But Bill Compton told me he selected me for the position because I had run in college. He thought someone who had competed at that level would be better qualified for the position. So, I guess all those afternoons of running at Seton Hall had a payoff after all. In the spring of 1974, I became the Head Boy’s Track and Field coach at North Hunterdon High School. I held that position for the next 28 years. Thank you Mr. Bill Compton and Coach John Gibson.