A much loved member of Gibault Catholic High School’s foreign language department will not be returning this year, marking the end of an exceptional career in education.

Pat Hurst was born and raised in Waterloo, and she said that aside from a semester in Spain and a year spent in Missouri shortly after getting married, she’s stayed in this community all her life.

She stuck to Catholic education all throughout her academic career, attending Ss. Peter & Paul Catholic School, Gibault and Saint Louis University.

It was at SLU that she received her higher education in foreign languages, specifically French and Spanish.

Her degree was notably missing any classes on education, as Hurst’s plan in the beginning was to fulfill her dreams of traveling by taking a job that would put her foreign language knowledge to good use.

“I wanted to go into the travel industry or some kind of business where they would send me places, and I could use my language that way,” Hurst said.

Her plan received some adjustment after graduation, however. 

Though she did find a position at a business in St. Louis making use of her foreign language degree – focusing far more on French than Spanish – she eventually found herself drawn back to her old high school.

Gibault had been left with a sudden vacancy after the resignation of a foreign language teacher and the school’s principal, Fr. Ed Hustedde, decided to reach out to the alumna to briefly step in – a situation that would occur with some frequency in the years that followed.

“Gibault called and said their language teacher had left, like, two days before school, and they asked if I could fill in,” Hurst said. “So I filled in for a couple months, then got married, had kids, and it happened again.”

This was the start of Hurst’s education career. As she described it, she got into teaching “kind of sideways.”

With her husband also serving as a teacher elsewhere, Hurst found herself working in both the Waterloo and Columbia school districts for a time, largely serving as a substitute teacher before getting her certificate thanks to courses at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

This time in Hurst’s career also saw her return to Gibault for brief periods of subbing, though she would eventually get a full-time position as the school’s Spanish teacher in 2000.

She explained that her interest in the school came largely due to familiarity as a graduate as well as the fact she knew quite a few faculty and staff members there – including former English teacher Joan Tepen.

“Gibault is home, and I knew a lot of people there,” Hurst said.

During her 23 years at Gibault, Hurst took on a variety of responsibilities beyond teaching, also directing school plays and musicals for a few years. That was something she was intimidated by but nevertheless happy to do given her love for the drama department during her own time there as a student.

She also ended up serving as assistant coach of the school’s Scholar Bowl team alongside longtime coach Sister Elaine Freund.

Though her involvement with the team began with her simply observing her daughter’s participation, Hurst would later end up swapping titles with Freund as the sister stepped away from the school.

Hurst recalled being especially impressed by students she worked with in Scholar Bowl who would somehow lack confidence in their ability despite being able to answer questions Hurst was utterly bewildered by.

All her time working with students, particularly as the main foreign language teacher for most of the school’s graduates during her tenure, left Hurst with a great appreciation for her profession – even if she didn’t get the opportunity to be as mobile as she had wanted growing up.

“I really wanted to travel, and I wanted to use my language in real life, but then I fell in love with teaching,” Hurst said.

She steps away from Gibault now largely due to her family, as she has a 2-year-old grandson to dote over, and her husband – retired for nine years now – has waited some time to enjoy retirement with her.

Hurst’s colleague Freund spoke to her dedication and passion for education.

Freund recalled the numerous occasions when she was happy to offer a student extra time for an end-of-day test or to simply work with them on any problem areas.

“She could have been a nurse. She’s so compassionate,”  Freund said.

Freund further described Hurst as “conscientious and creative,” adding she was willing to have her students participate in class in a variety of unique ways.

Looking forward to her retirement, Hurst said she is especially eager to spend time with family and enjoy her new free time.

She added, however, that it’s the schedules rather than the teaching itself that she hopes to move away from. She expressed hopes of stopping by Gibault or her daughter’s – also a teacher in the area – first grade class to help out with students when she can.

“All these little house chores that I’ve been putting off for years, but mostly hanging out with family and doing some traveling,” Hurst said. “I’m looking for a way to kinda keep my hand in, and I would like to find a way to go up to Gibault and help out a little bit.”