A Tribute To Cecil T. Cruce
(May 20, 1907 to May 10, 1998)
by
Don Harold Lawrence 
     How does one begin to express the grief that results after the death of a hero?
     Since I met him in 1957 when I began my freshman year at Milan High School, Cecil T. Cruce has been one of my heroes.  During those years while I was taking his math courses he had a profound effect on my life.  He communicated important truths and lessons of life.  He was constantly striving to motivate me and my classmates to think.
     Each day he led us to the doorway that leads into the Garden of Truth, and he challenged us to enter and encounter, experience, and embrace the great realities of the universe.  This is why I have always thought of him as a Gatekeeper in this Garden.  And, because I did go through that gate, my life was irrevocably changed.  That passage not only had an impact on my adolesence, but it played a crucial role in shaping my destiny in life.
     Through mathematical laws he taught us important lessons about life.  For  example, it is a fact that an equilateral triangle is a triangle that has three equal sides.  This was true a thousand years ago.  It is true today.  And it will be true for as long as time stands. Thus, there are unchanging certainties which we can believe!  And these certainties mean that there are dependable laws which govern the world and our lives.
     Mr. Cruce also enabled me to realize that behind these consistent and dependable laws and truths there has to be some kind of Supreme Intelligence, Someone who has thought all of this out, designed, and fashioned the universe with all its beauty, order, symmetry, and dependability.  Conclusion: God!
     He was a person whose character and moral integrity were exemplary.  And, due to the kind of person he was and the kind of life he lived, he set a positive example and became a proper role model.  He elevated all of our lives to new levels.
     He taught school for forty years, twenty of which were spent teaching Math in Room No. 4 at Milan High School until his retirement in 1972.  In 1961,  our Senior Class appreciated him so much that we dedicated the yearbook, “The Bulldog,” to him.
     I cherish the memories that I have of him and his wife, Maymie.  Conversations, visits, telephone calls, and letters, especially our holiday chats, are all among my fondest memories.
     Cecil T. Cruce, loving and devoted husband and father, was born on May 20, 1907, and he departed this earthly life on May 10, 1998.  It was one of the greatest honors of my life to discover that he had requested that I speak at his funeral.  He was buried at Cayce, Kentucky, on May 12th.