Stubs, East’s greeting angel

October 23, 2009
Filed under Student Life, Uncategorized

Alex Justin Stubbs was loved by all those around him for his enthusiasm, politeness, and daily exclamations of “Good morning!” These qualities were so pronounced, in fact, that teacher Beverly McDonald knew just the right job for Stubbs.

“He would have been perfect as a hotel greeter,” said McDonald.            

But Stubbs, a 21-year-old who would have graduated with the current senior class, passed away on September 11 after an unexpected seizure. McDonald, Stubbs’s teacher for all of his eight years at East Meck, did not learn of the news until the following Monday. Though she was not scheduled to work that day, she immediately drove to school after speaking to Stubbs’s grandmother, Judy.

While all of Stubbs’s teachers were heartbroken, it was particularly difficult to tell other students of their classmate’s death.

“They were sad, but it wasn’t quite clear to them,” said McDonald.

One student, after hearing about his friend, stood up and announced, “When I see Alex tomorrow, I will shake his hand.”

Stubbs, categorized as Moderately Intellectually Disabled, was enrolled in the Special Academic Curriculum. When he entered high school, he could not cross his legs or fingers, and refused to look people in the eye. But Stubbs was never known to say a harsh word.

According to McDonald, “He was a role model about being willing to try new things.”

Over time, this perseverance paid off, as little by little, Stubbs overcame his physical disabilities. McDonald, who described her role as a combination of teaching and “co-parenting,” remembers a pivotal moment at the annual Family Feast. Stubbs, standing next to his grandmother, finally looked straight into the camera for a picture.

Stubbs competed in the Special Olympics in bowling and track and field, but his true love was wood crafting. Stubbs owned every CD from Norm Abram, an American carpenter famous for the PBS series This Old House, and his room was wallpapered with plans from Abram’s television program The New Yankee Workshop.

 “He knew everything there is to know about tools,” McDonald declared.

If Stubbs had graduated in June, he would likely have lived with his grandmother and grandfather, Judee and Randy Windham, in a small cottage behind their house. Stubbs would have been somewhat independent on the property, and McDonald believes that working as a hotel greeter would have made him happy.

Though Stubbs’s absence remains painful for both his teachers and fellow students, McDonald told Mrs. Windham that she is confident that Stubbs’s dreams still live on in heaven.

“He’s the greeting angel,” McDonald said.