By Emily Herman
Staff Writer

After 45 years, Jeffrey “Harry” Holcombe is retiring from teaching acting and public speaking, directing plays and organizing the J. Walter Reeves Speaking Contest and the Declamation Contest.

As the longest serving teacher in the school’s history, Holcombe estimates that he has directed about 120 plays since arriving at Peddie in 1968, including many years of faculty productions.

“I never expected to be here for my whole career,” Holcombe said. “I was convinced I was only going to be here for maybe five or six years.”

Although Holcombe had dreams of becoming a professional director, he found himself becoming more and more comfortable at Peddie over the years.

“Teenagers to Harry Holcombe are like a medicine,” he said. “When I’m around kids, I never think of how tired or sick I am.”

Many people who have worked with Harry have said that Holcombe’s continuous passion and enthusiasm for theater has inspired them.

“I always marvel at the way he still gets excited about every new school year and each production just like it was his first,” Director of Theater Elizabeth Sherman said.

“I don’t think I will ever meet anyone who is as passionate about theater as Harry is,” Isabel Wittman ’13 said. “He has taught me to take risks, to never care what anyone thinks about what I do and to be as loud as I possibly can.”

Emma Watkins ’14, who grew up on campus, said that Holcombe has a special place in her childhood memories.

“I can remember when I would go to Swig with my mom [Art Department Chair Cathy Watkins] and hear his familiar laugh echoing down the hallways,” Watkins said. “His outgoing nature and unwavering kindness makes Harry not only a great teacher and director, but a friend.”

At a special chapel held in his honor on May 10, teachers shared personal reflections and stories from alumni.

“Harry is a formidable teacher and he has been an even more formidable friend…He inspires us to step up and try something different,” French teacher Linda Geldmacher said, telling humorous anecdotes about how Holcombe convinced her to step outside her comfort zone by taking up skiing and acting in faculty plays.

Alumni agree.

“Harry’s passion, exuberance and love for teaching is most infectious and vibrant,” said Roger Durling ’82. “He taught me the most important lesson: to be happy with the way you are, to listen to your inner voice and to allow that voice to be heard loud and clear, not matter how imperfect it may sound.” Math teacher Betty Tennyson shared these thoughts and many other similar sentiments from Holcombe’s former students with the community.

Cathy Watkins concluded the ceremony by discussing the legacy Holcombe will leave behind. “…once in a while, there is a remarkable teacher whose impact endures, so that people who never studied with him, who never even met him, are still affected by his good deeds. These rare educators lend shape and character to the school, become integral to its mythology, so that their influence reaches the farthest corners of the campus and lingers long after they have departed its halls. My friend Harry Holcombe is one of these exceptional teachers,” Watkins said.

Holcombe will retire to his home on the Jersey Shore where he hopes to relax and possibly volunteer with community theaters, while still making time to return to campus to visit with former colleagues and students, and to enjoy Peddie drama productions – not from backstage or on-stage – but as a member of the audience.