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Kenneth C. Trotter, Lower Merion teacher

"Wherever you are, Mr. Trotter, I'm sure things are 'solid and groovy,' as you used to say in class," recalled one of his students.

Kenneth C. Trotter, 87, formerly of Merion, a longtime educator in the Lower Merion School District.
Kenneth C. Trotter, 87, formerly of Merion, a longtime educator in the Lower Merion School District.Read moreFamily Photo

Kenneth C. Trotter, 87, formerly of Merion, a longtime educator in the Lower Merion School District who taught in two schools he once attended, died Saturday, June 17, of heart failure at the Quadrangle in Haverford.

Mr. Trotter's first job was in the Marple Newtown district, but he accepted a teaching position at Ardmore Junior High School in 1956 and stayed on until the school's closing in 1978. (The building was razed in 1992 and the school was replaced by a new Lower Merion High School in 2010.)

Mr. Trotter taught a wide array of subjects — mathematics, German, history, English, world cultures, and Russian. He found an excuse to introduce the last of these as an extracurricular activity following the launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957, his family said.

After the school day ended, Mr. Trotter was a familiar sight on the athletic field, running backward in front of the runners as he coached the boys' track team in the 1960s and 1970s. He also could be found in the school auditorium, guiding students through rehearsals for the original spring musicals that he and a colleague, William Gray, wrote.

When Ardmore Junior High School was shut down, Mr. Trotter moved on to Bala Cynwyd Junior High School, where he taught from 1978 to 1981, and then to Lower Merion High School from 1981 until he retired in 1993. He had attended both.

Mr. Trotter was an influential, much-beloved figure, according to postings in an online memory book.

"Wherever you are, Mr. Trotter, I'm sure things are 'solid and groovy,' as you used to say in class. What a wonderful teacher," wrote Haley Miller, Lower Merion High Class of 1992.

"Mr. Trotter was my teacher for two years in the 1960s, and he left a lifelong impression," wrote Grace Bonanni Cowan of Norristown. "He was an outstanding teacher and made going to school fun. In the 1980s, we began corresponding by letter, and most recently, I visited him at the Quadrangle. He was still the witty, intelligent man I remembered. He will be missed."

"I, also, was a student of Mr. Trotter's," wrote Alice Bliss of Indianapolis. "I always remember his energy and jovial nature. Ardmore Junior High was very fortunate to have had him."

Born in Philadelphia to Kenneth Trotter and Malvina "Billy" Holcombe Trotter, he grew up in Merion. He attended Bala Cynwyd Junior High — now Bala Cynwyd Middle School — before graduating in 1946 from Lower Merion High.

He studied at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, until 1950, when he enlisted in the Navy and began a tour of active duty as a radio mechanic aboard a destroyer in the Atlantic. In 1954, Mr. Trotter was honorably discharged and resumed his education.

He graduated two years later from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science degree in education. He later earned a master of science degree in education, also from Penn.

In 1954, he married Anne Patricia Hargadon. She died in 2014, shortly after the couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Apart from his role as a teacher, Mr. Trotter "gave back to the community" in other ways, his family wrote in a tribute.

He played the keyboard at the annual Christmas sing-along at the Narberth train station that preceded Santa's annual arrival on the Paoli Local.

He and fellow teachers Leonard Murphy and Pauline Foster formed the musical combo Sentimental Journey, which regularly performed at area retirement communities. He also helped the Narberth Community Theatre as set-builder, musician and actor.

The Trotters spent 50 summers at their cabin on Stinson Lake, N.H. He taught the couple's three children to swim, discovered a passion for sailing, and honed his skills as a home remodeler by installing the plumbing and electricity for the cabin, constructing outbuildings, and outfitting the cabin with rooms and a loft.

Mr. Trotter also served as president of the Stinson Lake Association and regularly called out the numbers for the weekly bingo games at the group's community center.

He is survived by children Mark, Julia, and Kit Markle; four grandchildren; and a sister.

Services were Saturday, June 24.

Donations may be made to the Lower Merion Scholarship Fund via www.lmsd.org/community/partners/lmtsf, or the Southern Poverty Law Center via https://donate.splcenter.org/.