Honoring Our Spartan Retirees

At the close of each school year, St. Stephen’s takes time to celebrate its talented and devoted retiring faculty and staff members. This year’s retirees served St. Stephen’s for a collective 61 years. Although their presence on campus will be missed, their inspiring legacy will be long-lasting. St. Stephen’s wishes each of these Spartans good health and great happiness as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.

Christopher Colvin, Ph.D.

Christopher Colvin, Ph.D., has served the St. Stephen’s community for 28 years and has been a long-time faculty member in both the history and math departments.

Colvin joined the St. Stephen’s community in 1995 as a parttime history teacher and quickly advanced to full-time faculty, teaching both history and geometry. He served as faculty co-sponsor of Model United Nations, a simulated diplomatic conference where students represent countries to discuss global issues. He also facilitated mock trial, a simulated courtroom activity that allowed students to present and argue a fictional legal case. In his six years leading mock trials, the team won the Central Texas regional competition all six times and competed in the state competition in Dallas. Colvin has been a consistent participant on St. Stephen’s West Texas trips and has served as a chaperone on many student trips too.

“A couple of decades ago I was asked why I stayed at SSES and my answer then as now was: the faculty,” said Colvin. “Students are the worthwhile project but that is true of all teaching. Schools have character and that does not turn over every four years. It is the faculty who make and shape the educational institution. I have learned much, as we all have, from our discussions and conversations; those are our education and we in turn educate the young — at least that is our effort.”

In his retirement, Colvin hopes to continue his learning and teaching. “[I plan to] continue teaching philosophy as long as I can (I do so in the summers). Spend my remaining brain wattage coming to terms with neoplatonic thought. Try to recover some of the languages I studied at one point or another, particularly Greek and Italian and Turkish. Translate a fine book on Thinking ("Denken"), much needed in the hysterics around AI,” he said. “Mostly I shall be working with/for my wife on her manifold projects.”

Baldwin Flamar

Baldwin Flamar has been a long-standing and dependable member of the security team at St. Stephen’s for 15 years.

Flamar is a native of Yap, an island in the Federated States of Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean. In 1979, he moved to the United States, settling in Hawaii. Flamar lived in Seattle, San Francisco and Portland before moving to Austin in 2008. When he joined the St. Stephen’s community in May 2008, there was no front gate or St. Stephen’s Drive, and two guards were on shift 24-hours a day, 7-days a week in a tiny green guard shack.

Flamar has not only had the opportunity to watch St. Stephen’s grow but he has also been a constant presence amongst the St. Stephen’s security staff. During his time on The Hill, he was a devoted and steadfast member of the school community, and he has always been selfless.

“The thing I enjoyed the most about St. Stephen’s is the people. This campus is beautiful too. All the people here, they’re like family to me. This is a very good atmosphere, and I feel good when I come here. I’m going to miss it,” he said.

During his tenure at St. Stephen’s, Flamar’s dedication, perseverance and respect for the dignity of others embodied the school’s mission.

“I came here in May of 2008, so I’ve been here exactly 15 years. It’s time for a new season in my life, and I’m looking forward to the next chapter. I want to find something to do that I love doing and something I look forward to getting up for every day,” said Flamar.

Ron Rathke

Ron Rathke served as St. Stephen’s Payroll Manager and Benefits Coordinator for 18 years.

In addition to activating payroll, he assisted in administering the school’s benefits and onboarding programs and served as the Safeguarding record-keeping administrator. Rathke has also supported a myriad of human resources and accounting functions.

“I joined the St. Stephen’s staff on May 10, 2005. I was born and raised in Austin, and I had never heard of this school before. I came out for an interview, and I took an accounting test, and I was the only person to catch the reconciliation that was out of balance. I have only served in one role here, but I also organized the faculty and staff golf tournament for eight years,” said Rathke.

Like his fellow retirees this year, Rathke enjoys the many relationships he built during his time at St. Stephen’s. “What I have enjoyed most about my time at St. Stephen’s is the people I work with — they are great. The people all around the campus are great too,” Rathke said. “I enjoy being with them and talking to them and helping them with their benefits or any questions they have about payroll. I will miss the people here in my department the most.”

Rathke departs with well-wishes for St. Stephen’s:

“My greatest hope for the school in the future is continued success and running the business office like a well-oiled machine. When I first came here, I was told the business office was the ‘no’ department — ‘No, you can’t have that,’ and ‘No, you can’t have that.’ I brought humor to this department.”

Rathke is an avid golfer and sports fan. The St. Stephen’s community came to expect that he would give everyone a run for their money in the school’s annual golf tournament, something he plans to participate in as long as he is able after his retirement.

“In my retirement, I want to get back into the gym and work on my health. I want to play a little more golf, and I want to learn to play pickleball,” said Rathke.