Paul is the only person I always referred to as my mentor. I have had a love of many types of music all my life. When I arrived at Mercersburg in the fall of 1967 I was very “wet behind the ears” and immature. Thru the next 4 years interacting with Paul thru Glee Club, Octet, and living on his floor for 3 of those years, I grew so much as a person because of my constant interactions with him. With regard to music, Paul taught me so much about why I liked music – teaching me about musical elements like overtones, harmonics, and key-changes among hundreds of others. Paul’s sense of humor was legendary and was perhaps his greatest teaching tool. Paul would give little life tips that many of us carry with us to this day. I was recently talking with a fellow Octet member who told me that his career managerial style was formed years earlier when Paul told him that it was OK to get angry as long as you remained fair towards that person thru your anger. He gave examples of how this advice had helped him many, many times. Paul and I were once talking after an Octet reunion practice and he summarized my sense of humor by telling me in a few short sentences how he thought my mind worked – not to be repeated in this format. Trust me, he was dead-on.
Those of us who were fortunate enough to be in his Octets simply worshipped the man. The 2 Octet reunions that he organized remain the 2 best reunions or anniversaries I have ever participated in during my entire life. The reason for this was that they allowed you to truly “go home again”. If you go to a lacrosse reunion, for example, you quickly realize that age is not allowing you to equal the nostalgia that you remember in quite the same way you did when you had the first experience. At an Octet reunion, we practiced like crazy for a couple of days and then performed on Saturday night for the school. The experience was identical to any Octet performance, or practice, or B.S. session I had while I was at the ‘Burg. The music was still there. The performance anxiety and then the reward was still there. Most of all the love was still there and it flowed directly thru Paul’s heart. I shall miss him more than any other friend I have ever had and remain so lucky and proud to have been Suerkenized for life.
Be at peace, Paul, and save me a 2nd tenor spot in the choir you are currently directing,
George Alter ‘71
P.S. I still want the baby-solo on ‘Their Hearts Were Full of Spring.”
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Mr.Suerken loved words. One word he could not stand was "interesting" because he felt it was a useless adjective. I was on the spot if he found that word anywhere in an assignment. Mr. Suerken thought my writing was in need of work. I worked on my writing and became a better writer. I am certain that my improvement only mirrors that which can be expected from his more than one thousand students at Mercersburg. I feel sorrow. David E. Coy '77 PG
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