Southside mourns death of popular teacher

Southside Elementary’s roadside message board spread the sad news this past weekend.

The Southside community mourned the loss of fifth-grade teacher Tom Rado, who died July 18 at 64.

“Whenever I think of Southside, I think of him,” Southside teacher Angie Duke said.

Southside front office employee Rita Cook said Rado will be remembered for his two passions: teaching and airplanes.

Rado had model airplanes hanging from the ceiling of his classroom. He helped arrange for a B-52 to land at Okaloosa Regional Airport so Southside students could get an up-close look at the historic plane.

Cook cited a story from the past school year that demonstrated Rado’s impact on his pupils. She said a pair of former students now in college took time to come to Southside during a vacation to share lunch with Rado.

“We’ll miss him, and his students will surely miss him,” Cook said. “He was a really sweet man.”

Duke and her daughter, Hanna, paid daily visits to Rado’s classroom.

“Hanna looked up to him as a grandfather figure,” Duke said. “He was an awesome teacher, and this year it was our hope Hanna would be in his classroom.

“He was someone to look up to and someone I deeply respected. He will be sorely missed.”

Rado’s burial was scheduled to be held in Allegheny, N.Y., where most of his family resides. A local service was held at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, with Father John Cayer officiating.