CASHS janitor gets honorary diploma at retirement
CHAMBERSBURG - Richard Statler thought he was being recruited to clean up a simple spill - one of many calls he deals with as part of the job as custodian at Chambersburg Area Senior High School.
Upon reaching the stage he was directed to, Statler instead was met not with a mess, but with cheers and applause. Staff members he had come to know well stemming from his 28 years with the district cheered him on as he took the stage to receive a graduation cap and honorary diploma.
Having dropped out of high school 50 years ago, Statler found himself receiving a standing ovation as he moved his tassel on his cap from the right to the left - signifying his symbolic graduation.
"It was a total surprise," Statler said. "I don't know how they kept it from me."
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At the end of his junior year in 1966, Statler quit high school after being told he would have to attend summer school. He admits he wrote his own notes to get out of going to class and estimates that he missed 30 to 40 days of school his junior year.
"I just didn't like school," Statler said.
Instead of completing his education, he entered the workforce, and landed a job at a Sunoco service station in Fayetteville, where he pumped gas, changed oil and inspected cars. He left that job after 25 years when it became a self-service station.
By November 1987, he found himself back in the Chambersburg school district, working as a substitute custodian at the former J. Frank Faust Junior High, thanks to the help of Dick Bender, an assistant principal. Fourteen months later, he was employed full-time as a custodian at the high school - the same high school he previously claimed to not like.
Statler was part of the grounds crew, responsible for mowing, trimming, and lining the athletic fields.
"Whatever I had to do," Statler said.
In addition to being a custodial staff member, Statler also loaned his vocal abilities, performing the national anthem before home basketball games.
"I'm probably the only custodian around here who does that," Statler said.
In his 28 years on staff, Statler made friends with both students and teachers alike, earning affectionate nicknames such as Ritchie Rich, Uncle Rich, and Pops.
One memory that stands out to him was the time he lost an arm-wrestling contest to a fellow custodian - a woman - and had to wear a skirt the next day. He recalled modeling his new attire while walking into the office of the principal, who enjoyed razzing Statler and set up the arm-wrestling contest and came up with the punishment in the first place.
Statler also spent time with the learning support students, helping them learn life skills. To this day, he still hears from students who graduated from Chambersburg. If a student came to him with a problem that Statler could help solve, he did, whether it involved buying the student lunch or helping them get proper clothes for the cold winter.
"I've always had a soft spot for children," Statler said.
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That soft spot was on display in the spring of 1994. Statler promised a student he would be at his graduation, and upon seeing him, the student burst into tears. Statler was able to keep his promise despite having to go to the hospital prior to the ceremony and leaving the hospital in a wheelchair.
Throughout all of his 28 years on the job, Statler kept his head down, going about his job and assisting students and teachers when he could, never once asking or demanding for recognition for what he did.
"People like that are invaluable," CASHS principal Buddy Chapel said. "This faculty is going to miss him greatly."
In addition to setting up a graduation ceremony for him, Statler's colleagues - even some who had already retired - went even further by contributing to a fund for him to go on a cruise. He had told everyone that he would like to go on one when he retired.
Secretary to the principal, Gloria Weagly, and psychology teacher Susan Shuff were the ones that came up with the idea to give Statler his diploma and raised the funds for his cruise.
"It was my pleasure to present that to him," Weagly said. "He's a people person. He likes to be sociable."
Calling him a "rare gem," Chapel said Statler is the type who wants to do good but doesn't want the recognition that comes with it.
"I'll never have the heart Richard has," Chapel said. "No one has a heart that big. You could search for a long time, it'll take you a while to find someone with his heart."
Chapel revealed another nugget that opens another window into who Statler is. After the surprise graduation ceremony, Statler went around to each and every classroom and thanked each teacher for what they had done for him.
"This has been my whole life, this place," Statler said. "It's going to be very sad when I leave."
David Barr, 717-262-4752