by Jennifer Reece
Reporter
Hudson -- Known as "Stretch" or "The Silver Fox" on the campus of Western Reserve Academy, Frank Longstreth was a popular teacher and track coach for 44 years.
He died March 19 at Hamlet Village in Chagrin Falls at 86.
WRA Headmaster Henry "Skip" Flanagan last saw Mr. Longstreth a couple of weeks before his death when he and another colleague went to visit their longtime friend. They passed the time singing Broadway show tunes and college fight songs.
"We were doing one of the things he loved best," Flanagan recalled. "He was absolutely in his glory."
According to Flanagan, Mr. Longstreth came to WRA in 1948 and retired in 1992.
He grew up in the Philadelphia area and received his bachelor's degree at Princeton University before serving as a Marine during World War II.
After the war, Mr. Longstreth obtained his master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania. He taught at The Haverford School in Pennsylvania, which he had attended as a young boy, before leaving to join WRA.
"He was a superb classics teacher and he is well-known for being one of the all-time great track coaches nationally from a prep school standpoint," Flanagan said.
Mr. Longstreth was a dominant track coach in Ohio in the 1950s and 1960s, Flanagan said. A track event at WRA is named after him.
"He went to almost every summer Olympics after the war," Flanagan said. "He counted among his friends some of the world's foremost track and field coaches."
He rode a bicycle around campus with a plate that read "The Silver Fox" -- his nickname at WRA.
Chris Burner, a WRA graduate who will succeed Flanagan as headmaster in July, called Mr. Longstreth his favorite teacher in a February 2008 interview with Hudson Monthly magazine.
"Between my junior and senior years, I traveled with 'Stretch' and six other students through Italy," Burner said. "It was those relationships with teachers that led me to return to the school."
Not only was Mr. Longstreth an active member of the staff at WRA, but he also was very involved in the Hudson community.
At one time, he was a member of the Hudson Players, Flanagan said.
"He was an avid performer and singer, and performed in musicals and plays," he said.
He had a reserved booth at Kepner's Tavern on Main Street with his own name plaque because he was a frequent customer, said Flanagan.
Flanagan said Mr. Longstreth will be missed by many.
"He was an avid traveler, a worldwide traveler," he said. "He was quite a scholar and helped many, many students for generations with his teaching and his advising."
Mr. Longstreth is survived by his companion Carole Bowden; children Helen Murphy, Frank H. Jr., Kimber and Lucy Longstreth; stepchildren Elizabeth, Samuel, Victoria and Anne Shepherd; and 16 grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Cynthia; brother, W. Thatcher Longstreth; and Nella Cameron Downward.
Donations may be made to the Frank H. Longstreth Scholarship Fund at WRA, which was established several years ago by the alumni of the academy.
A memorial service is being planned in June to coincide with WRA's alumni reunion weekend.
E-mail: jreece@recordpub.com
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