Teacher’s Work Habits Were a Valuable Lesson in Themselves : Education: John Santschi taught at San Pedro High for 48 years and never missed a class until he had a heart attack last fall. His former pupils will honor him in retirement next month.

Until he had a heart attack last fall, San Pedro High School teacher John Santschi had never missed a class.

That’s something, considering that Santschi started teaching at the high school in 1945. For 48 years, he wore a neatly pressed shirt and a tie to school each day. And for 48 years, he addressed his students as “Miss” or “Mister,” demanded that they give their best, and won their respect.

“He was my absolute favorite,” said Rejeana Martinez-Adair, class of 1993. “He took pride in teaching, and he always tried to work with you. If someone was sleeping in class, and we might be talking about the government’s deficit, he’d say, ‘That’s why we have a deficit, people like Mr. Smith sleeping on the job.’ ”

Said Shari Tipich, class of 1981: “He is an institution.”

When he retired in June at the age of 76, Santschi said he wanted to keep it quiet. But battalions of former students, ranging from teen-agers to retirees, decided to plan a retirement bash to be held Sept. 24 in San Pedro.

“I didn’t want a big fuss made, but since they were going to do it, I said let’s do it during football season,” Santschi said.

A widower, Santschi lives a block away from Cal State Long Beach. He seems ready for business even at home, with his plastic pocket-protector holding two pens.

His apartment is filled with reunion plaques, cups and glasses from Ohio State University, where he wrestled and played on the 1939 Big 10 championship football team, and mementos from the Navy, in which

he served from 1942 to 1945.

He also takes great pride in his two Lincoln Continentals, one a 1961 model, the other a 1974--both in mint condition.

Santschi met his wife, Mary Jayne Hiatt, in 1942, while serving at Camp Pendleton near San Diego. He was on his way to talk to some promoters about becoming a professional wrestler.

“She talked me out of it,” he said.

Three months later, he married her.

The couple bought a home in San Diego, and Santschi remained in the Navy until 1945. That year, he applied to the Los Angeles school district for a teaching job--and started at San Pedro High on Oct. 1.

The students then, he said, were “highly cooperative,” and they all knew each other.

“They went to Cabrillo Beach together, they knew each other from church. Back then, going to Cabrillo Beach and going to church was a big deal. And at school, the students knew they were there to work.”

Until 1951, he taught life sciences and coached the football team. He spent the next 42 years teaching U.S. government, American history and economics. He also earned a master’s degree in education from USC.

During his tenure, Santschi says, student discipline slid noticeably. The problems, he said, began in the Vietnam War era, when students used anti-war protest as an excuse to misbehave.

“You get a couple (of students) yelling, and then the rest of the sheep go right along with them,” he said. “That’s all it takes, a couple of lunkheads tired of school, and the rest will follow.”

Santschi attributes the discipline problems to a declining commitment to education by parents and teachers.

“The last class I taught was probably the worst class I had in the history of my teaching career,” he said. “About 15 of them were good students, but I had to fail 27. I wanted to go out giving everyone at least a decent passing grade, but I couldn’t do it.”

Throughout his career, Santschi refused to join the teachers union.

“I always thought teaching was an honorable profession. Going out on strikes disrupts the students’ education. You hear the union people say, ‘We’re all for the student.’ But if they were all for the student, they wouldn’t go out on strike.”

Years ago, he said, teachers didn’t complain about how little money they made.

“What we really need are dedicated teachers, not the ones who are just concerned about how much they’re going to get paid, waiting for the 3 o’clock bell to ring,” he said.

Santschi’s former students say he stood out among the other teachers at San Pedro high because he genuinely cared about them.

“Other teachers would just send (misbehaving students) to the office, but he wanted to make sure everyone stayed in class,” Martinez-Adair said. “He treated us with respect.”

Former students also talk about how Santschi let them into his personal life, often talking to them about his Ohio State reunions and his cars.

“He was always so thoughtful and kind,” said Tipich, who now works as a free-lance mural artist. “I think he always kept his rigid standards, but he paid attention to everyone. His classes were fun. He taught seriously, but with a sense of humor. He brought a new meaning to American history.”

Santschi has been giving five $100-dollar scholarships to graduating seniors for the last five years in memory of his wife, who died in 1988. Because there were so many deserving students this year, he said, he gave out fourteen $50 scholarships.

Santschi and his wife had no children of their own. But for nearly five decades, Santschi says, he has felt like a father.

“The (students) at the high school,” he said. “I adopted all of them.”