Former Students Give Teacher a Gift of Memories

AUBURN, Wash. —  Gertrude Murphy arrived at her birthday party in the passenger seat of a 1915 Model T. She stepped out onto a 20-foot red carpet.

And she remembered every one of more than 100 former students from Lester who gathered to celebrate her 94th birthday.

“It’s such a joy to see them,” Murphy said.

The picnic at an Auburn park became a reunion of sorts for Lester, the little railroad town that used to exist on the Stampede Pass rail corridor.

Murphy has outlived both the school, which closed in 1958, and the town.

Each of the former students wrote down a memory about Murphy and talked about her effect on their lives.

“I think she molded our character,” said Matt Fioretti, a first-grade student in 1933 after his family moved to Lester from Italy. “Her patience and compassion were an inspiration to me in my growing-up years.”

Under Murphy’s guidance, Fioretti received help from a cousin in learning English. By Christmas of his first year in the U.S., Murphy said, Fioretti knew enough to advance to the fifth grade.

Three former students, including Fioretti, organized the party.