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MURRAY — Just a month before he died from leukemia, Rob Wilson was teaching his high school music students.
In fact, he was named this year's Murray City School District Teacher of the Year, but he missed the banquet so he could be with his students at their homecoming game as they played in the pep band.
Wilson died Tuesday after 21 years of teaching at Murray High School. According to the school principal, John Goldhardt, Wilson will be known for being someone who instilled excellence in his students.
Goldhardt said he was very positive with the students and had a passion for music and its importance in people's lives.
"He was one of the most incredible people I've ever known," Goldhardt said. "...He absolutely loved the students at the school, and then the students loved him."
Wilson was first diagnosed with cancer in 2009. He taught pretty consistently throughout his illness and even taught via Skype when he couldn't make it to the school, Goldhardt said.
"He just had a fun laugh and had a way of joking around and laughing with the kids, never demeaning any of them ever," Goldhardt said. "He was always a hundred percent positive with the students at all times."
He was also respected and liked by all the teachers and would talk and laugh with the custodians in the faculty room, Goldhardt said.
If there was a student in his class who was involved in another school event, he would make an accommodation so they could participate, because he wanted his students to have multiple opportunities in the school.
Emily Strobell, a Murray High alumna, took orchestra from Wilson and said Wilson always encouraged them and made them want to do better.
Strobell said she also took AP music theory from Wilson, and it helped her see a different side of him other than being their conductor.
"...He was cool because he wasn't ever not the teacher, but he was a teacher who you felt like you could talk to and relate to and not be like 'oh well they're my teacher, I can't talk to them,'" Strobell said.
Former orchestra student Katie Frandsen said Wilson "made the high school experience so good for so many people."
"...I mourn for the students who won't get that opportunity to have him as their teacher."
Students have shared memories on a Facebook page, Mr. Rob Wilson Memorial.
A couple of alumni students are hoping to organize a memorial concert for Wilson.
According to former student Richard J. Marsh, more than 100 people have agreed to play in the concert in less than 24 hours.
The school is also planning to hold a memorial service in the auditorium, where students will perform a lot of music, but a date hasn't been set yet.
Students have set up a memorial in his parking space, where they have put flowers and written messages.
