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  • John Warman, beatae memoriae
  • Michael Kubik, Marissa Krmpotich, Elliott Rebello, and Judith P. Hallett

Hodie et mirabilissimum hominum et optimum magistrorum celebremus qui omnibus musica diligenda, fabulis apportandis, linguis antiquis docendis praestitit.1 Educatio est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolit academia in oculi via,2 aliam in fluminis cygnorum3 ripis universitas, tertiam domicilium sapientiae quod in septentriones velut arbor aevo spectat.4 Eruditione perfecta, hic breve tempus in vicinali caupona egit eburibus titillandis, ostendens artem quam apud suam academiam et in templis trans urbem per suam vitam partiebatur. Olim aquila, semper aquila5, regressus ad almam matrem cognitus dilecto titulo Doctoris, ut robor diuturnum communitatis remansit. Discipulos ex operibus Ciceronis Vergilique Caesarisque aliorumque XLIX longos annos docebat. Quin etiam, velut cives Athenenienses theatrum suum pro Baccho nominaverunt, hic tot opera scaenica produxit ut scena academiae suae nomen huius superbe tulerit. Hic fulgens Apollo liberali animo mollique natura primam ovationem post mortem umquam scriptam nunc accipit. Dilectum ab nobis in memoria beata, Plaudamus igitur John Warman.

Today let us acknowledge both a remarkable man and a superlative teacher, who surpassed so many in his love for music, his theatrical productions, and his teaching of ancient languages. His education started at Gonzaga College High School, continued at Georgetown University, and concluded at the University of Toronto. After completing his formal education, he spent a short time playing the piano at a local restaurant, a talent that he continued to share throughout his life both at school [End Page 579] and at churches across the city. Once and always an eagle, he returned to his alma mater to teach. Known by the endearing title of “Doc,” he remained a long time pillar of the Gonzaga community. For forty-nine long years, he used to teach his students from the works of Cicero, Vergil, Catullus and others. Furthermore, just as the citizens of Athens named their theatre for the god Bacchus, he directed so many plays that the school’s theatre now proudly bears his name. This shining Apollo, a man of generous spirit and gentle nature, now receives the first posthumous ovation ever given. Let us now applaud Dr. John Warman. [End Page 580]

Michael Kubik, Marissa Krmpotich, Elliott Rebello, and Judith P. Hallett
University of Maryland, College Park

Footnotes

1. Caesar Bellum Gallicum 1.1.1: Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se differunt. Warman not only taught Caesar, but famously also climbed on his desk every year, brandished a bronze eagle, and shouted Desilite commilitones, nisi vultis aquilam hostibus prodere (Caesar IV.25).

2. Gonzaga College High School is famously located on I Street; its students are known as the “men of Eye Street.”

3. The Potomac River was originally the “Patawomke,” or the river of swans. Georgetown University lies on the banks of the Potomac.

4. University of Toronto, whose motto is velut arbor aevo. Caesar refers to the septentriones several times in Bellum Gallicum 1.1.

5. The nickname of the Gonzaga sports teams is the Eagles.

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