Eric Marsh will retire after 37 years at Tekoa

Eric Marsh, Tekoa school’s band director of 37 years, will finish his last day of teaching June 10, wrapping up a life-long career. His wife, home and life teacher Connie Marsh, is also set to retire in the next few years.

Of his time at the school, Marsh said what he enjoyed the most was getting to know his students. Watching their lives progress from the fifth grade until graduation was always a pleasure, he said.

“The advantage of teaching at a small school is you get to start with the students in the fifth grade and stay with them all through high school. When you lose a senior, it means something because you’ve watched them grow,” Marsh told the Gazette in an interview May 27.

In 1974 everything came together for Marsh. He graduated from the University of Idaho with a B.A. in teaching music and was hired as the band director at Tekoa the same year. He also married his life-long sweetheart Connie that year.

Marsh was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago and fought it for eight months in the hospital, making a good recovery. He returned to the classroom and continued teaching.

He has trained and drilled the school’s band classes for the annual Lilac Parade in Spokane every year for 37 years. For two weeks every spring, he coaches his students on how to turn corners as a group and how to march in time to a drum. A town committee creates the town float, which follows the Tekoa band through the major Spokane parade.

“Usually, depending on the weather, we get outside and start marching around corners. We try to get the drum cadence better as we play. It takes a couple weeks of practice,” he said.

Marsh, who graduated high school in Orofino, coached junior high football and basketball his first few years with the school. For about 10 years he worked a side job as the school’s computer coordinator and also served as the traffic safety advisor until parts of the program were cut.

As his career at Tekoa went on and on, he has taught not only the children of some of his former students, but also the grandchildren of some of his former students. It’s a legacy that is always rewarding, he said.

He and Connie raised two children in Tekoa, Robert and Samantha.

“It’s a great place to raise kids,” he added.

After retirement, Marsh has many plans. Aside from his hobbies of riding his motorcycle, playing golf and wood-working, he’d like to help his son finish his house.