“He Did”
Words and music by Gordy Pratt
with Ms. Schlup’s 4th Grade Class
©2010 Gordy Pratt
Chorus
He was a fantastic teacher
He tried to make a difference and he did – yes he did
He was born in Wasta in nineteen forty one
Small town growing up he had a lotta fun
In elementary school he was a trouble maker
The first in his class to make an airplane out of paper
All the kids in his class said: Would ya make me one
It seemed like forever till he got’em all done
They used up all the construction paper teacher was mad
To make it worse the Superintendent was his Dad
Chorus
High school in Spearfish ‘n’ college at BH
Working at the clothing store and Hillcrest Café
He knew what he wanted to be at an early age
He graduated ready for the teaching stage
He taught science and math to over 2000 kids
Found out what every student’s potential is
He told’em they could do anything they wanted to do
And he let’em know that he knew they could do it too
Chorus
Now you’ll find him cruisin’ in his fifty five
His arm around Judy his beautiful wife
Man he loves to give that Model A a crank
Playin’ guitar and singing All Around the Water Tank
Chorus
My name is Lyle Berry. I was born in 1941. I lived in Iowa as a young child and moved to Spearfish when I was a sophomore in high school. I have fond memories of growing up with my younger sister during this time period. It was a great time to be a kid! I enjoyed playing basketball and baseball. While my memories of school also include a bit of mischief, I realized later on in life, that several teachers made an impact on my decision to be a teacher.
After listening to my peers in high school, I knew that I wanted to work at the Hillcrest Café Drive Inn. It was an exciting place to work and I have great memories of my first job. Later, I worked at Spearfish Clothiers and enjoyed that job too.
I was very lucky to have several friends who were musicians. We started a musical group in 1964, as a group of guys who enjoyed playing guitar and singing together. While the members of the group varied over the years, we were last known as Lyle, Doug, and Paul. We enjoyed the many years of entertaining the people who came to hear us play. I still enjoy playing my guitar and singing my favorite old classic, “All Around the Water Tank.”
I enjoyed my teaching career. It was refreshing to be around people who have a lot of potential. I tried to let my students know, that by working hard, you can do whatever you want. However, you need to be around people who also believe this! I retired from teaching in 2000.
My family is very close to my heart. I have been married to my beautiful wife, Judy, for 37 years. My son, Matt, lives in Nashville and enjoys music like I do. My daughter, Courtney, lives in Spearfish, and owns Berry’s Best Desserts. This is a “sweet” place for me to hangout!
My hobbies, music, old cars, and working on my house, take up a lot of my time, now that I am retired. I love helping my friends and family by doing painting jobs for them. It is relaxing and you can see that you’ve made a difference when you have finished. When Ms. Schlup’s students asked me what final words of wisdom I wanted to share with them, I simply told them you can do what you want to in life, so get working on it!