Haywood H. Board, 84, longtime educator

Haywood H. Board, 84, of Wyncote, an educator in Philadelphia schools for 30 years, died of multiple myeloma, Friday, May 20, at Phoebe Wyncote Nursing Home.

Mr. Board grew up with 11 siblings in Rochester, Pa.

During World War II, he served in the Army in the Philippines.

After his discharge, he returned to Rochester and worked for a railroad. In 1948, he married Mildred Taylor. The next year, after the railroad laid him off, he and his wife moved to Philadelphia.

Mr. Board worked for the U.S. Postal Service, drove a cab for years, and held other jobs while pursuing a college education at night. He took courses at Temple University and at Howard University when he briefly lived in Washington. In 1969, he earned a bachelor's degree from Cheyney University.

He then taught social studies at Olney High School and later taught at Lamberton High School in Overbrook Park before returning to Olney, where he taught until 1988.

His passion was teaching, his daughter Rebecca Pringle said. After retiring from the public school system, he taught elementary students at Corinthian Christian Academy in Germantown for seven years and then was headmaster there for three years, until 2002.

Mr. Board was a member and chairman of the deacon board at Taylor Memorial Baptist Church in North Philadelphia before joining Corinthian Baptist Church in Germantown in the early 1980s. At Corinthian, he was a deacon, choir member, and Sunday school and vacation Bible school teacher. He lectured on black history to young church members and to senior members as part of the church's Happy Hearts outreach ministry. Former colleagues in the Philadelphia public schools often asked him to speak to students about black history, his daughter said.

An avid bowler, Mr. Board often scored a perfect 300 when he was younger and earned many trophies. He was always willing to teach youngsters to bowl in his older years and taught many nieces and nephews to drive, his daughter said.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Board is survived by daughter Kathy Hagins and four grandchildren. Another daughter, Natalie Brown, died in 1980.

The funeral will be at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 28, at Corinthian Baptist Church, 6113 N. 21st St., Philadelphia. Friends may call from 9 a.m. Burial will be in Rolling Green Memorial Park, West Chester.

Donations may be made to Life Choices Hospice, 200 Dryden Rd., Dresher, Pa. 19025.