Rick Rizoli - The Rivers School

Mida van Zuylen Dunn
A CELEBRATION OF LIFE: May 19 at 10:00 a.m.
By CHRISTINE MARTIN
The Rivers School lost an
iconic member of the
faculty with the passing
of French teacher and librarian
Mida van Zuylen Dunn on
November 28, 2011. Mme. Dunn,
who graduated from Simmons
College in Boston in 1967, began
teaching French at Rivers in September
1969, covering the full
range of courses from Introductory
to Advanced Placement French. Mida Dunn with colleague Paul Licht in 1998
“Mida was a wonderful colleague,
mentor, and friend,” said Melinda pleasure to find a fellow European on
Ryan, fellow Rivers language teacher. the faculty. Mida had a style and sophis-
“Kind, generous, and witty, Mida was a tication that was a great addition to the
dedicated teacher who gave freely of her school’s language department. As a
time and of herself to her boys, her colleagues,
and her school. She was a won-
A strong believer in lifelong learning,
colleague, she was always a delight.”
derful teacher who held her students Mme. Dunn was the recipient of several
accountable for their French lessons but Rivers faculty enrichment grants to study
she was also warm and approachable French literature in Belgium as well as the
with a lively sense of humor.”
Spanish language in Madrid. After concluding
her tenure as a French teacher in
Emblematic of that humor were the
croquet tournaments she would organize 1986, Mme. Dunn continued on as a parttime
assistant librarian at Rivers, where
on campus, often with outlandishly
costumed participants.
she enjoyed working with librarians
Mme. Dunn was born in Dungu, Debbie Petri and Mary Everett.
Belgian Congo in 1924, grew up in Brussels, “After more than 42 years of friendship,
and served with the Belgian Red Cross I got to know Mida very well,” reminisced
during World War II. She went to Ottawa former faculty member Jack Jarzavek.
after the war as personal secretary of the “One of her special gifts was a prodigious
Belgian Ambassador to Canada, then memory for facts, dates, and arcane information.
That was why she was an excellent
moved to New York as personal secretary
of Paul-Henri Spaak, first President of the reference librarian, always ready to direct
United Nations General Assembly. She students in their term projects.”
lived with her husband Jack and family After her retirement in 1992, Mme.
of three in Colorado for a number of Dunn became a member of The Rivers
years before moving to Newton.
School Corporation in 1995 and was later
“When Mary and I first came to Rivers named an Honorary Trustee of the Corporation.
She was the mother of John-Peter
in 1981, it was the completion of an emigration
from Europe via Canada,” said ’70, Christopher ’76, and Jacqueline Dunn,
Richard Bradley, former headmaster. “We and proud grandmother of nine grandchildren.
were still quite European so it was a real
In 1996, Mme. Dunn established
the Mida van Zuylen Dunn
Award for Teaching, an annual
award highlighting excellent teaching
by a young faculty member.
She funded the establishment of
a second teaching award in 2010.
The awards “recognize and honor
teachers who, through the caring
practice of their craft, instill in
students a love for learning.”
“I was very humbled and flattered
to receive this award in the
spring of 2003,” said Language
Department Chair Cathy Favreau.
“I had been teaching Middle School Latin
at Rivers for four years and for 14 years
overall, and this recognition affirmed
that I was upholding the values and goals
I had set for myself in this profession. It
was especially dear because this is an
award established by a former teacher.
The fact that Mida cared so deeply about
both Rivers and teachers and honored
both through the establishment of this
award has always impressed me.”
“After her retirement, when I would
see her over tea, a movie, or an excursion
to see other friends, I discovered Mida’s
almost total recall of her students and
their accomplishments in her classes,” recalled
Jarzavek. “Since I worked in alumni
relations for almost twenty years, I would
bring up names of former students and
invariably, if Mida had taught them French,
I would hear a full report on their growth
as language students. The more I knew
Mida, the more facets of her personality
and talents I discovered. She was indeed
a very remarkable person whom I shall
dearly, dearly miss.”
20 • Riparian • Spring 2012