Derick McIlheny

   We had several “characters” in Riley Hall, but Derick was my favorite.  Derick was from Texas and larger than life.  He was loud and clumsy and … well actually a dork.  But Derick fancied himself as a ladies’ man.  He had a swagger about him that was comical to see.  But he oozed confidence.  Derick wasn’t very smart and had to study hard for every “C” that he made.  He wanted to be an elementary school teacher.

   Derick had a great plan for picking up girls.  He had a giant golf sized umbrella, and on rainy days, he hung around the dining hall after lunch offering to walk girls back to their dorms.  But soon the girls were on to him.  Most would rather run home in the rain than walk with Derick.  Each fall, Derick had a new batch of freshmen girls who had no idea who he was.  He went to work quickly.

   Derick dated a local high school girl who came to church on the Sunday school bus.  But Sunday night, the church bus didn’t run, and Derick was without his girl.  No problem.  Derick left early and rode the city bus to downtown where he changed buses and rode to St. Elmo, where his girl lived.  Then they both rode the city bus back downtown to get a transfer back to Highland Park in time for church.  The route cost Derick 12 tickets to and from church, but no worry - at least he had a date on Sunday night.  Derick had to hurry after church to make the return trip because the city buses stopped running about 9 PM.  Often, on his way back to school, he would get stuck downtown at 9 PM and have to use a taxi to get back to school.  A small price to pay to be with his girl.

   Derick ended up graduating from college and then with a master’s degree, he taught bilingual elementary school in Texas.  Not too shabby!