‘Our community is broken.’ Lower Richland mourns loss of beloved assistant principal

The Lower Richland High community is mourning the loss of a long-serving and beloved assistant principal.

William “Bill” Martin, who worked at Lower Richland High for 27 years, died last week, school board members announced at a recent meeting, where he was given a moment of silence.

Martin was initially hired as an English teacher at Lower Richland in January 1994 and was promoted to assistant principal in July 2008, Richland 1 spokeswoman Karen York said in an email. He worked for Lower Richland until early January 2021, York said.

Lower Richland alumna Ashley Winn remembers being “a nervous wreck” when she was in the 9th grade looking for her class when she bumped into Martin.

“I bumped into him in the hallway and the first thing that intrigued me about Mr. Martin was his voice. It was the deepest voice. It almost reminded me of the clear eyes, remember the clear eyes commercials? So I named him, I said ‘gosh you’re clear eyes’ and for the remainder of all the years we’ve known each other, up until the last time I saw him in the very start of the 2019-2020 school year, I always said ‘hey clear eyes.’ It was kind of like our inside joke.”

Today, Winn teaches in Richland 1’s EXCEL program, which aims to help “students regain their status for on-time graduation,” according to the program’s website. Even now, she credits Martin with helping teach her how to be a good listener and how to overcome her anxiety, she said.

At times, Martin would also act as a father figure to students, Winn said.

“He was more than just a teacher,” Winn said.

Martin left such an impact on Winn that he became something of a mentor to her, she said.

“On my spring breaks, or any breaks I had and they were still in school, I would always go by and see him,” Winn said. “If I ever had any questions I emailed him. All the way through college, all the way through grad school, even into the beginning and starting my career, he was always there.”

Board member Cheryl Harris, who represents the district that includes Lower Richland, would often drive by and see Martin’s Jeep parked in Lower Richland High’s parking lot as he worked into the night, sometimes until 11 p.m., she said during the board meeting.

Martin had a relationship with every student he came across, Harris said. One of those children was Harris’ daughter, Evani. The last thing Martin said to Evani was a comment about mispronouncing her name when she walked at graduation, something that was an inside joke between them, Harris said.

“We can’t replace him. He was loyal and he was faithful to every single child. You don’t see that a lot in the world,” Harris said.

It wasn’t just the students who valued Martin either. Harris said a teacher had called her crying about Martin’s death.

“Right now it feels like we have lost a family member, because we have,’” Harris said.

It’s unclear what Martin’s cause of death was, but Harris said he got sick about a year ago.

While Richland 1 will fill his position, “I don’t think there will be anyone to replace him... He was an amazing person,” Harris said.

The Lower Richland Alumni Foundation will be holding a memorial service for Martin on Saturday, March 20, at 2 p.m. at the Richland 1 Stadium at Lower Richland.

This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 10:12 AM.