I just found out that Duane Barts, LTC retired, and professor at Troy State Univeristy (now Troy University) has died over the weekend.
Duane was probably the best teacher that Troy ever had; we were contemporaies; we started at Troy at almost the same time. In that period, we were part of a wonderful and …and, I can’t find the words just now, sorry.
His obit in the paper, my wife told me, took almost a full page. as it should. I don’t know why I am even mentioning this, what a rotten end to a day.
But I will say what a wonderful end to a magnificent life of doing whatever it took for his students!
There is so very much I would like to say about Duane, so very much, I just could not do it justice right now. His legacy is much better said by those whose lives he touched.
Thank you for bearing with me…i am just devastated right now…signing offf for now…
I’m sorry for your loss. Come back and tell us more when you can.
GT
Duane was a student’s teacher. He was a brilliant man, but very laid back and modest. He loved teaching, and he loved his students.
One of our benefits at Troy was signing up for classes tuition-free. So, I knew him from both ends of the podium; I took a class in C (a programming language) under him. He had an absolute gift for explaining things and getting the message across.
He was nice, he was kind, and he was completely approachable by one and all. His avocation was teaching, not research. He was never, never, a loose cannon like I sometimes was. He embodied all that is noble and good in teaching.
Yes, he was a professor. But most of all, and highest of all, he was a TEACHER!
This world is a much poorer place in which to live right now. Duane, you were, and are, the best ever. 
I appreciate your sadness at his death, but you do the right thing by celebrating his life. It might help you, and will definitely enrich us, if you can share some more stories about him.
BTW, I worked with a Troy graduate, by the way of Sweden, in the mid/late 1980s. Don’t know if he would have had any of your contemporaries as a professor. He was notable since you don’t often meet Swedes with heavy Alabama accents.
My cousin went to Troy State in the 80’s.
There is my tenuous connection.
It sucks when good people who do good things die.
Thank you all for your kind comments.
Yes, Troy State has branches all over the place, no telling where you’ll meet a grad.
I’ll close for now…but really, thank you all so much, the man meant the world to a whole lot of people. You are the best!
