Former students reminisce about McClatchy High’s first principal
By LANCE ARMSTRONG
For most students who attended C.K. McClatchy High School during the years 1937 to 1962, the name Sam Pepper is synonymous with the school itself.
Pepper, a Denver, Colo. native and World War I veteran who moved to Sacramento in 1928, was present for the school’s dedication and opening in 1937 and so many other events, including the school’s first graduation ceremony and the 1948 championship football game against Sacramento High School.
And even after his retirement, he would delight former students by visiting with them at various McClatchy reunions.
Despite his death a quarter century ago at the age of 87, Pepper, who resided at 871 42nd St. with his wife Hattiebell and his children Robert and Sheila, continues to be a fond and very much alive topic among many alumni of the school.
Echoes through time
Donna (Machado) Hodson of the Class of 1956 recently shared her remembrances about Pepper.
“He was not just a wonderful principal, he was also a wonderful man,” Hodson said. “He was just always a friendly, loving, giving, sweet and very nice man. We never heard a harsh word out of that man’s mouth, but yet he had that school under control all those years he was principal. He came to anything that he was invited to and he was always there to cheer you on or back McClatchy. He loved McClatchy just as much as we did.”
Hodson added that Pepper was known to show his school spirit through his attire.
“He always had a red tie and red socks and he would always pull his pant leg up to show us that he had those red socks on,” Hodson said.
Rosalene (Correia) Nielsen of the Class of 1955 said that Pepper was responsible for choosing the school’s red and white colors.
“He told us one time that he picked the colors for McClatchy, because he thought they would show up against the green grass better than any other colors,” Nielsen said.
Like many other alumni, Nielsen has fond memories about Pepper.
“(Pepper) was just a really nice guy,” Nielsen said. “He knew everything that was going on in that school. If someone was not doing well, I would see him walking down the hall with his arm around the guy’s shoulder and when someone did really well, you would see him there shaking the guy’s hand. He was just always all over the place. He was just a great guy. I don’t know anybody who had a principal like him.”
Nielsen said that in appreciation of Pepper, some female students at McClatchy would knit him argyle socks, scarves and of course, red ties.
Friend, mentor – and funny
For some of McClatchy’s earliest students, having Pepper as a school principal was a longtime tradition, considering that prior to his arrival at McClatchy, at separate times, he served as principal of Newton Booth and William Land elementary schools and California Junior High School – now California Middle School.
“We had the same principal all through our school years, starting with kindergarten to junior high to high school – Sam Pepper,” Espigares said. “He was an excellent principal. He was (about 6 feet) tall and just a wonderful man.”
In addition to his time working at Sacramento schools, Pepper was an instructor and athletic coach at a school in New Mexico and a superintendent of schools in Oregon.
Lee Watters of the Class of 1947 said that he mostly remembers that Pepper was notorious for telling “dumb jokes.”
“He was a good principal, but mostly what I remember about him is his dumb jokes,” Watters said. “I do remember one of those jokes that he told. It went like this: These two guys are out there and here comes a whole flock of ducks. One guy says, ‘I wonder how many ducks are up there’ and the other guy says, ‘Well, there are 206 ducks up there.’ The first guy say, ‘Well, how do you know there are 206 (ducks)?’ The guy that told him how many ducks that were there said, ‘Well, I counted the legs and I divided by two.’ And that was a Sam Pepper joke.”
When asked how he has remembered the joke for so many years, Watters said, “He told the same jokes a lot and he told that one quite often.”
James Wycoff of the Class of 1950 said that Pepper would use his humor during school assemblies.
“There is only one line that I remember (Pepper) using with any frequency at an assembly,” James said. “He would say, ‘And the winner of this contest gets a year’s supply of dental floss.’ It was just a phrase he’d use to see who was paying attention.”
James emphasized, however, that there was much more to Pepper than his humor.
“Sam Pepper was well liked by the student body and I never heard a discouraging word about him,” James said. “He had a sense of humor, but he also had a sense of (respectability). He was in charge.”
James’ sister, Carol (Wycoff) Laquaglia of the Class of 1942, said that Pepper had a very unique, professional demeanor.
“(Pepper) was a man who commanded respect just by looking at him and by the way he carried himself,” Carol said. “Sam Pepper always came across as being very nice. You never saw him bawling anybody out.”
Memories of the man
John Gardner of the Class of 1956 said that the students’ respect for Pepper generally affected their behavior in a positive manner.
“That was back in the days when you respected the principal of the school,” Gardner said. “He had a way of communicating that if you messed up big time, he was very disappointed in you. And somehow that carried a lot of weight. The kids really looked up to him.”
Carol said that her mother, Alice Wycoff, who was the assistant manager in McClatchy’s cafeteria, spoke fondly about Pepper.
“She said that Sam Pepper used to come back there for something to eat and kid with (the cafeteria workers),” said Carol, who was later married to McClatchy teacher Nicolai Laquaglia, who worked at the school during Pepper’s tenure as principal. “He was just a different person and people respected him.”
During his time at McClatchy, Pepper had a philosophy about school and education that he described as follows: “The purpose of school is to help develop personality and develop proper traits and habits. These furnish the students with the central knowledge and skills to continue their education or to help them to cope with future life. The function of any school is to prepare any student for life.”
Ted Morris, who served as the student body president of the Class of 1955 during his senior year, acknowledged that the success of McClatchy and its students was very important to Pepper.
“(Pepper) just had a tremendous feeling of honor to the school,” Morris said. “The image of McClatchy was just paramount in his goals. He kind of felt that the students who left there were a reflection on him and he was always proud of the students who went on to the university to further education.”
In addition to his dedication to McClatchy, Pepper traveled extensively with his wife and was a member of American Legion Post 61, the Comstock Club, the Host Lions Club, Provident Masonic Lodge No. 609 and the Scottish Rite Bodies.
Committed to students, school service
In celebration of the life of Samuel Albert Pepper (February 15, 1897 to May 29, 1984), a special memorial was held in McClatchy’s auditorium on the morning of June 2, 1984.
Although Pepper no longer spreads his educational philosophy, friendly smiles and endearing “dumb jokes,” his legacy remains strong through the many McClatchy alumni who fondly remember him.
E-mail Lance Armstrong at lance@valcomnews.com.
