Harry True, former Fryeburg Academy headmaster, dies at 80 [05/16/2008]

Harry True, former Fryeburg Academy headmaster, selectman and state legislator, died Thursday morning. He was 80.Current headmaster Dan Lee reported True's passing to alumni Thursday afternoon. "We have no information regarding services at this time," Lee wrote. "In the meantime, the Academy's flag flies half mast in silent tribute to a man who gave so much of himself to our school."Lee later in a phone interview praised True for his love of young people. "For 10 important years, Harry True was the heart, soul and conscience of Fryeburg Academy," he said. "He left his imprint on this institution and influenced the lives of hundreds of students. His generosity, spirit and interest in the young will never be forgotten."Rachel Andrews Damon, Class of 1976 and current director of alumni and public relations for Fryeburg Academy, called True a true Raider through and through. "Mr. True made huge contributions to Fryeburg Academy helping define who we are today," she said. "He brought in students from all over. Kids who had nothing. Fryeburg Academy became their home and Mr. True became their hero. They, in turn, gave Fryeburg Academy their loyalty. Mr. True was a wonderful coach, mentor and a great humanitarian. I will miss him very much. He was a great hugger and I'll miss those especially." Damon wrote the following in the school's magazine "Scenes" on True last fall. "There are few connected with Fryeburg Academy that can rival the history of Harry 'Pinky' True. As a former headmaster, teacher, athletic director and coach, 'Mr. True' has imprinted many hearts of Fryeburg Academy students. He has shown, by example, his commitment to diversity and has instilled a love of this school in many. He has a huge family of friends and former students who make up his fan base. This writer included."True was born Nov. 7, 1927. He grew up in Gorham, Maine, the son of Vivian and Frank True, with nine brothers and sisters. His family also took in cousins in the 1930s when there was a pneumonia epidemic in Maine.True served in the U.S. Navy beginning in 1945. He was stationed aboard aircraft carriers and specialized in the electronics field. He went to college on the GI bill. He was one of the first nine people inducted into the University of Southern Maines Hall of Fame.He met his future wife, Sandra (Colwell) True, during his senior year at University of Southern Maine through a mutual friend from Waldoboro, Maine. "We fell in love immediately," True once said, and they were married in 1954.His first job was at Porter High School (now Sacopee Valley High School), teaching grades 8-12. He was at Porter High for nine years and then went to Gardiner Area High School for three years. In 1964, he "came home" to Fryeburg Academy."Although the Trues had no family or any previous ties to the area, True said, "It clicked for me. I taught with a lot of the older, great teachers like Clarence Walker, Cliff Gray, Buck Austin, Andy Welch, Scott Kelly, Ruth French, Harold Sanborn, Lonnie Godfrey, Jack Gordon and Ralph Larrabee. Ralph and I were the horseshoe champions. We beat all the kids. I used to sing with Mr. Petillo. All the teachers really helped me. I felt very much a part of the academy family almost immediately. I learned an awful lot from everybody here and made a lot of lifetime friends."He became the first assistant headmaster under Phil Richards. He was also athletic director and basketball coach. He became the headmaster of Fryeburg Academy in 1979.Scott Kelly, Class of 1953, worked with True during his entire career at Fryeburg Academy and once said of his friend, "Pinkys success is because of his uncanny ability to know how to assimilate a town student, a bus student and a dorm student into a team, albeit in the classroom or on the athletic field. He has a gift for being able to go into peoples homes and understand them. It made no difference to him what walk of life they came from. He has a respect for people. He was in the middle of the ghetto, he was in Northern Maine, he was on Indian reservations and everywhere else in between. He always looked for, and found, the best in people."Jack Gordon, assistant headmaster under True, knew him for over 50 years."I think the biggest thing about Pinky is, first of all, his compassion and love for his family and for all the students he ever had and most of the people he came in contact with," Gordon once said. "He is a very emotional person. The academy became a growing family to him starting with his own family, to include his students and his teams. He had a great deal of feeling for people, there is no question. He brought kids here from everywhere. He engineered all of that. From the reservations, to the Scholl Foundation, to the Boys and Girls Clubs all over the country, to Bermuda. He would remember kids he ever had and would always greet them as if they were the only ones. He is a real people person."Sandra and Harry True had five children. Denise (Class of 1972), Sherry (Class of 1976), Kathy (Class of 1978), Mark (Class of 1982) and Paul (Class of 1988) Sandra True still works at Fryeburg Academy as the secretary in the dean's office. "I consider myself to be one of luckiest persons ever," Harry True once said. "The things I have had the opportunity to do have been incredible. I was fortunate to have the teachers and coaches Ive had in my lifetime. I copied them. As a teacher and administrator myself, I think its important that you learn all facets of the schools youre going to run. It was important that I learned to get along with young people and to share the things they felt were important. I think it made for a better relationship. Ive been very lucky and most fortunate to have my family and my wife. She gave up being a teacher so I could travel around the world and work with kids. She went to college for two years but gave it up to raise our family and support me. As a mother and wife, shes been perfect. Well, almost..."