(Photo from Ole Miss)
- In his new book, Reardon provides a nostalgic, winsome, wise, humorous, heartbreakingly true chronicle of his experiences during a legendary career at Ole Miss.
Thomas Joseph “Sparky” Reardon remembers driving straight on two-lane Highway 6 from Clarksdale to Oxford, through a prolonged muggy summer rain shower in late August 1968. With “Hey Jude” blaring from his eight-track cassette, he and his roommate rolled onto the Ole Miss campus, unloaded their meager belongings at old Baxter Hall, and enthusiastically began a new chapter of their young lives. Despite the milestone, there was no fanfare and no parents in sight on move-in day. “That is the way we did things in those days — simple and no frills.”
That same forever-young-at-heart, Sparky retired as Dean of Students in 2014, having been a key player in the University of Mississippi’s history for at least 36 of the past 57 years. His recently released memoir, The Dean: Memoirs & Missives, is a nostalgic, winsome, wise, humorous, heartbreakingly true chronicle of his experiences during a legendary career. Alongside his personal account are the events and the real people whose lives intersected Sparky’s — and the monumental impact each had on the other.
Storytelling comes naturally to Sparky. His Irish father, Tom, was a gregarious personality who constantly regaled his family with endless stories, frequently inserting the words, “To make a long story short,” to which Sparky’s Sicilian mother called out from the kitchen, “Please do.” The Reardons shared a sense of humor that drew in others and made their Clarksdale home a welcoming place for their children’s friends. It was the hub and hangout for Sparky’s friends during those high school years.
Early in the book, Sparky shared a story about a Little League baseball coach who humiliated him in the aftermath of a lost championship game. His Major League ambitions immediately died. A few years later, in ninth grade, he suffered a career-ending injury in football. With that mishap, he suddenly had “an abundance of spare time.” He soon gave up his athletic pursuits and became a voracious reader.
Sparky read literally everything from the great American novels to popular magazines like The Saturday Evening Post and Sports Illustrated, and newspapers like The Commercial Appeal and The Jackson Daily News. His knowledge of the world beyond Clarksdale enlarged his understanding of life and people. It is not surprising that his love for reading eventually led to a passion for writing.
Sparky credits his “all-time favorite teacher,” Sister Frances Miriam, who taught English at St. Elizabeth Catholic School in Clarksdale, for opening the door to a writer’s creative power through figures of speech, such as metaphors, similes, and alliteration. The good sister also gave Sparky his first taste of teaching when she enlisted him, as an eighth-grader, to lead a class of fourth- and fifth-graders who were about to become altar boys. From Sister Frances Miriam, Sparky likely picked up a certain nurturing mindset along with a keen insight into a young person’s potential. Perhaps it was Sister Frances Miriam who caused Sparky to become the mentor he became to so many students during his time as Dean.
Although Sparky began at Ole Miss as a prelaw student, he quickly discovered that he had little interest in the subject, and his grades reflected this fact. What he did enjoy was his social fraternity. Sparky is first and foremost a “people” person. As social chairman of the fraternity during his sophomore year, he was called into the office of the Student Activities Director, who “really let me have it.” It appears that the Phi Delta Thetas may have violated a few university regulations during a recent party. As the director droned on about the offenses, Sparky had quite a personal epiphany.
“I thought somebody had to do the job this guy was doing.”
There had been a violation. Now there was accountability. The encounter was a teachable moment. Sparky knew that, and as he was being reprimanded, he also decided he wanted to become the Dean of Students one day.
Be careful what you wish and pray for. Sometimes, you get it!
Sparky checked himself out of the prelaw track and enrolled in secondary education. How many parents over the decades have thanked God for Sparky Reardon’s decision?
When he graduated in 1972, Sparky went back to his hometown of Clarksdale to teach at Lee Academy. He planned to teach for three years while pursuing a master’s degree at Delta State before applying for an administrative position at the University of Mississippi, where he hoped to eventually advance to the position of Dean of Students. Of course, that decision also meant pursuing a Ph.D. But he would think about that when the time came. His Ph.D journey is a story in itself. You will find it in the book.
Lee Academy was a good training ground for Sparky. He not only taught in the classroom but also advised the student newspaper, coached junior high football, advised the student government, and directed the senior play. He laughs, saying, “I did everything except I did not learn to drive the bus…on purpose!”
“I learned more about myself than I taught in terms of dealing with young people,” he says.
In those years, he spoke candidly and realized, in a deep, soul-altering way, that teenagers can be incredibly fragile. Sparky observed those who were bullied, the bullies themselves, the hard workers, the slackers, those with dangerous life patterns, and more. He saw past the veneer and tried to understand every student from a holistic perspective. Every one of those 16-, 17-, and 18-year-olds taught him something important that equipped him in immeasurable ways during his years as Dean of Students at Ole Miss.
Perhaps Sparky’s most painful preparation for his duties as Dean was his personal losses. His large, happy family was dealt unspeakable grief when his 15-year-old sister died in a car wreck in December 1972, and again two years later when his older brother, “Speedy,” a pharmacist, was shot to death by a disturbed young man while he was simply working in a drugstore.
At the University, where tragedy can strike in the middle of blue skies and “Hotty Toddy” days, the Oxford coroner eventually had Dean Sparky on speed dial. There were overdoses, accidents, and heartbreaks of every kind, involving students Sparky often knew well, and many situations where he had to call parents and deliver devastating news. His friends and colleagues say that Sparky handled situations like those with grace and indescribable empathy. He was authentic. He totally understood the pain that came with loss.
Sparky explains his compassionate gestures this way, “The people who loved me in those times taught me how to love others.”
One of Sparky’s renowned attributes is his notable ability to remember people’s names. He admits to his own name game system.
”I put great value on using people’s names,” he says.
He always made a conscious effort to repeat a person’s name several times when he met them for the first time and to repeat the name when he said goodbye. His intentional effort to put a name with a face underscores the value he places on every individual he meets.
It is no surprise, then, that Sparky, when asked about his most significant accomplishments and legacy, would say, “I would hope that every student I encountered in a student organization, in a classroom, or in a session in my office left feeling better about themselves than they did before we met.”
A lucky few of us get to dream a dream and then to live it. Sparky Reardon is among the few. He not only snagged the job he aspired to win, but he also made a difference in the lives of so many along the way. How did he do it so beautifully?
He answered with borrowed words from Eddie Robinson, the longtime football coach at Grambling State University.
“It’s easy when you like what you do, with people you love, in a place you want to be.”
In retirement, it is no surprise that Dean Sparky has not totally departed his alma mater. He is often invited to speak to a group, particularly the freshmen who might miss the Ole Miss aura altogether without meeting an ambassador like Sparky. He lives at Plein Air, slightly beyond the city limits and Oxford’s historic square. Sparky’s deep Catholic roots take him to daily mass at St. John’s Catholic Church. He enjoys a weekly lunch group and a monthly poker group. In between his “anchored” activities that frame his days, he enjoys a front porch and the many friends who share with him their stories, their laughter, and the best slices of life.
Read The Dean. You will thank me for the tip. Pick up a copy at an independent bookstore if you can. Lemuria in Jackson, Gumtree in Tupelo, Novel in Memphis, Square Books in Oxford, or Main Street in Hattiesburg are just a few of Mississippi’s local bookstores where The Dean can be found.
Marilyn Tinnin
