an. 24, 1926 – March 29, 2011

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Frank E. Ratliff Jr., 85, who taught English to generations of Palo Alto high school students, died Tuesday, March 29, 2011, after a short illness.

Memorial services were Saturday, May 7, 2011, at Unity Palo Alto Community Church in Palo Alto.

Mr. Ratliff was born in Natchez, the son of Frank E. and Blanche Ratliff. After graduating from Natchez High School in 1943, he served in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946 and again from 1949 to 1952. Between deployments, he attended Mississippi State University where he was a member of Sigma Chi Order.

He earned his bachelor of administration in journalism at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State.) He said that it was his war experience that made him want to become a journalist. He received a master of administration in history from University of California Berkeley in 1956. A longtime local resident, he moved to Palo Alto in 1962.

After two years at Truckee High School, Mr. Ratliff taught at Cubberley High School from 1957 to 1962, then served as an advanced programs consultant to the Palo Alto Unified School District fro 1962 to 1964, and was instrumental in designing the progressive humanities curriculum for the English and social studies programs at Gunn High School. He taught at Gunn from the school’s opening in 1964, until his retirement in 1988, serving in his last two years at Gunn as a mentor to other teachers. During his nearly 30 years of teaching, he received a number of awards, grants, fellowships and other recognition. He was an active contributor to a number of professional associations, holding various leadership positions in local, state and national teachers’ organizations. His areas of special interest were composition; American and British literature; Greek mythology, drama, literature; and film studies. He spent a number of summers enriching his professional knowledge and experience, including two summers as principal of the AIF’s Royal Academy of Music in London.

Mr. Ratliff had a lifelong interest in theater and film, and was an enthusiastic supporter of dramatic productions at Gunn. He also wrote screenplays. He was a member of the American Film Institute, past president of the California Arts Society and a longtime subscriber to the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the San Francisco Early Music Society. After retirement from full-time teaching, he continued to teach at Foothill Community College. He also became an accomplished watercolorist and continued his regular travels to London to visit with friends and attend theater. In 2007, Mr. Ratliff moved to Channing House, where his classes on Shakespeare and other favorite topics were very popular. He also played in costumed melodramas.

Mr. Ratliff was preceded in death by his parents and one sister, Sarah.