In
Memoriam
Anne I. Remis
Dec. 29, 1914 – March 27, 2008
Anne
Irene Remis, author and pioneer teacher of the disabled, passed away peacefully
on March 27, 2008, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Utica, NY. She was 93.
Interment
will be on Tuesday, April 1, in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Clinton, following a
funeral Mass at St. Mary’s Church at 10:00 am.
A private viewing will beheld at 8:30 am at Heintz Funeral Home, 10 E.
Park, Clinton, NY 13323. For details, call 315-853-8434.
Her
Life
Miss
Remis was a lifelong resident of Clinton, NY and a member of St. Mary’s Parish. She was the daughter of Frank and Anna Jurcisin Remis, and the beloved
sister of the late Dorothy Harvie, and brothers John, Francis, Stephen, and
George, She is survived by a sister-in-law, Grace Remis Jones, and more than
100 nieces and nephews spanning four generations.
Educated
in the Clinton schools, Miss Remis received her Bachelor's Degree in 1935 from
SUNY Oswego (then called Oswego State Normal School) and her Master's Degree in 1949 from SUNY College for Teachers at
Buffalo (then called NY State Teachers College), majoring in the education of
physically-handicapped children.
She
began her teaching career in a one-room, “little red country school house” with
a single student, but soon moved on to a regional center for developmentally
handicapped children where she taught young adults in every area, including
music, drama, dancing and academics. Sadly, after two and a half years, she
contracted tuberculosis and had to abandon normal activity and retire to bed
rest.
She
spent the next 10 years at the famous Trudeau Sanatorium in Saranac Lake, N.Y.
She wrote about this experience in a chapter she contributed in 2002 to a book
about Trudeau called “Portrait of Healing” by Victoria Rinehart, Ph.D.
(North Country Books, Utica, N.Y.) She
wrote: “No doubt my years at Trudeau were also deeply formative for the work I
was eventually called to do.”
Her
Teaching Career
In
February, 1949, as part of an endowment to research and teach children with
cerebral palsy, she received an appointment to help establish a demonstration
school for research in cerebral palsy at the Edith Hartwell Clinic in LeRoy,
NY, under the auspices of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and
Dentistry. It was there she did much of her early work in developing techniques
for teaching multiply-handicapped children.
In
1953, she accepted a position in the Rochester City Schools (Schools #5 and
#29). Her approach was “to teach with firmness and affection because there is
no alternative, without love, to effectively teach handicapped children to cope
with problems.”
She
also supervised student teachers from SUNY Buffalo and conducted classes for
multiply-handicapped children at Columbia University summer sessions, as well
as leading in-service work for New York City teachers of Special Classes in
1955. She retired from active teaching
in 1978.
Miss
Remis was a member of the New York State Retired Teachers' Association and
Rochester Teachers' Association, alum of SUNY College at Buffalo, and a member
of the Clinton and Saranac Lake historical societies, Friends of the Lutheran
Homes, and New York State Right to Life. In retirement, she volunteered her
services at St. Mary's School in Clinton and tutored children at her home. She also studied and played piano, a
life-long love, under the direction of Mrs. Barbara W. Newlove.
Miss
Teach: Handwritten with Love
Her
book, “Miss Teach: Handwritten with Love,” was published in 2004 by The
Movement for a Better America, Mt. Freedom, NJ, “as a testament to the power of
what one person can do to leave the world a better place for today’s children.”
Her
lifelong friend, the late Winifred Fletcher, wrote in a foreword, “Read this
book and laugh and cry and wonder as I did . . . Anne Remis has given a
detailed account of how one teacher resolved the many problems facing such an
educator – at times by sheer ingenuity, and at times by clear-headed
application of the principles of education she herself has learned . . . The
result is a valuable resource for today’s young teachers.”
The
book was the fulfillment of Anne’s cherished dream -- a history, as seen
through one teacher’s eyes, of that early period in the late 1940’s when the
field of special education was in its infancy. Among her achievements were
developing an early version of today’s electronic communications boards
designed to help the disabled develop aphonic communications skills, as well as
a companion guide for teachers. Her first book, a manual on "Aphonic Communication for
Those with Cerebral Palsy", was published in 1960.
Miss
Remis’ ultimate achievements were personal in the difference she was able to
make in the lives of her students. Some went on to successful careers in
writing, social work, education, and marketing.
Her
book was written painstakingly over a period of about three years. She would draft chapters in longhand on
yellow, legal-size pads and send them to her niece, Anne Howard, in New Jersey,
to review and edit. Initially, the hope was that the ms. might be published
privately in an edition of 200 copies just for family members. Anne passed the ms. on to her husband,
Dennis, a retired journalist with more than 50 years of editorial and marketing
experience.
He
recalls: “One day I realized that, with a little more work, this could make a very
publishable book that could inspire a lot of people. Educating children with
disabilities is also very much a life issue, and that was what the Movement for
a Better America was all about.”
So
far, over 1200 copies have been sold or distributed – six times more than
initially contemplated, and the book has been received very well by parents and
teachers of children with disabilities as well as by libraries in colleges with
education programs. “Our goal is to inspire and encourage parents with disabled
children as well as young teachers entering this difficult field,” Howard said.
The
Howards’ daughter, Elizabeth, who teaches children with disabilities in
Colorado, wrote an introduction to the book.
In it, she said, “I remember the stories that I heard from my mother
about Aunt Anne as I was growing up. Some of the stories I heard about her, no
doubt, sunk deep into my young brain and had at least some influence on my
career choice."
Royalties
from “Miss Teach” go for the benefit of children with disabilities
through CP Rochester, a non-profit organization in Rochester, NY, serving children with a wide
range of disabilities. In 2006, CP Rochester inducted Miss Remis into its Wall
of Honor.
Copies
of her book are available through this website, or via email at: mba4life@aol.com or by mail from The Movement for a Better America, Inc., PO Box
470, Mt. Freedom, NJ 07970. Suggested donation is $10, plus $2.50 for
shipping.
Speakers
are also available to speak about the book and related life issues, or to
conduct workshops for individuals and non-profit organizations interested in
self-publishing their own books.
